This winter has been pretty good so far, with quite a few climbs (Central Buttress on Lochnagar, a variation on Clark Gable on Gable Crag, Central Gully on Gable Crag, plus a couple of icefalls in the Dolomites) and some great ski touring in Scotland and the Dolomites. Nevertheless, I… Continue reading
Maria and I had 10 days staying in La Villa in the Dolomites in February, with plans for ski touring, ice climbing and pizza eating. Kofler Couloir After a long drive the previous day, we had a bit of a lie in, a leisurely breakfast and then set off for an… Continue reading
After plenty of fresh snowfall during the previous week, and with a good weather forecast for the SE Highlands, Maria and I decided to get the skis out and head out over a few Munros. There had also been strong Westerly winds, making Easterly aspects pretty avalanche prone, so we… Continue reading
After some stormy weather over the previous few days, the weekend of 3rd/4th Jan promised 70% chance of cloud-free Munros in the SE Highlands, so Lochnagar was calling us for the first proper route of this winter. Matt, Maria and I decided on Central Buttress, a 300m grade II route… Continue reading
With 3 weeks in Grindelwald, we had high hopes for this year’s trip to the Alps. The Eiger (via the Mittellegi ridge) was high on the list, as was the Mönch traverse, the Jungfrau via the Inner Rottal ridge, and the Finsteraarhorn. However, the weather had other ideas… I once… Continue reading
The Forcan Ridge of The Saddle and Beinn Udlaidh There haven’t been many good weather weekends this winter, so when the forecast for the 1st weekend in March referred to 70% chance of cloud-free Munros in the Northwest, a long drive beckoned… The Scottish hills are plastered with huge amounts… Continue reading
Scottish Rock – August ’13 For the first time in about 8 years, Maria and I didn’t go to the Alps this summer. In its place, we had a long weekend in Florence and a couple of weeks travelling round Scotland, trying to follow the good weather and get plenty… Continue reading
Recess Route (85m, Severe) – The Cobbler With some decent weather forecast for the late May bank holiday weekend (well, the first half of it anyway), Maria and I left York at 4:30am on Saturday to seek out a classic rock route on the Cobbler, just West of Loch Lomond. This… Continue reading
The Torridonian Alps Well, it may have been the NW of Scotland in February, but with blue skies, sunshine and snowy mountains, it felt more like the Alps… Slioch The week started with a great hillwalk, going clockwise round the horseshoe ridge of Slioch. … Continue reading
Monte Rosa & Mattertal 2012 Maria and I were lucky enough to have 3 weeks in the Alps this year. We based ourselves in Täsch (a few km away from Zermatt), and managed to get ourselves up a reasonable few mountains during the trip (in between the fondu eating and beer… Continue reading
