Braid Hills

It had been my first attempt at the winter season and I had managed to pack in a bit of winter walking  (with some group leading) and my first winter climb. There had been a great deal of snow and quite a harsh winter, but the temperature is quickly rising and there is now the sense of spring in the air. The crocuses were out across the road and it was a lovely mild night - too good to waste.

Crocuses in Morningside, Edinburgh

Crocuses in Morningside, Edinburgh

Crocuses in Morningside, Edinburgh

Emily and I headed out straight after work in the hope of making the most of the fading light. We decided to do the usual circuit: first heading up Blackford Hill, down through Blackford Glen, then up to the top of The Braids before coming back down to Morningside.

Looking North over Edinburgh from Braid Hills

It was a very mild night and the air was extremely clear. We had a great view over Edinburgh in all directions from Blackford Hill. We were perfectly comfortable in our short sleeves as we huddled with the crowds of got-walkers through Blackford Glen.

Looking Northeast over Edinburgh from Braid Hills

By the time we got to the top of The Braids, the light was fading and views over Edinburgh were even more dramatic. We were reminded that winter was still in the air as the temperature quickly dropped and the last of the light disappeared. A lovely evening.

At the top of Braid Hills, Edinburgh

Skiing at Glenshee

After a great day bagging Driesh and Mayar yesterday, most of the GWC staff were heading back down the road to Edinburgh to get back before dark. However, as we were this far North I wanted to make the most of the time we had in the wintery conditions. A few of us decided to head to Glenshee to get a day in skiing. I had been skiing in Andorra and Austria before a few years ago but I had never skied in Scotland; this seemed like a good opportunity as there was so much snow about.

A snowy Glenshee with all lifts open!

A group of us left early, said goodbye to the others and set off up the road to Glenshee. As we approached the ski centre, we could see just how good the runs looked; they all had a good covering of powder. I had driven through this way a couple of times in winter in the past but the runs never looked anywhere near as good as they did today. It was also clear that many other folk had the same idea as we did - the car park was rammed with families.

James adjusting his skis, Glenshee

After we had braved the crowds to hire skis, boots, poles and purchase our lift passes, we headed for the slopes. I was a little unsteady at first so took a bit of time to get my ski legs and ski head back on with a few easy runs down on the Carn Aosda side before heading up for a few runs on The Cairnwell. The runs were in great condition and the skiing was just as good (if not better) than what I remember experiencing in Austria a few years ago.

Glenshee skiing

After a while we headed across the road to the runs on the Meall Odhar side. I wasn't sure what to expect here because I had never seen these tows running before today. To my surprise, there seemed to be even more snow and even better skiing on this side! There was so much snow that you could pretty much ski on any part of the mountain and there was little to distinguish between what was a 'run' and what wasn't. We had great fun skiing down the small valley to the North of Glas Maol.

After a full day on the slopes, we were treated to a fantastic orange glow of the sun setting to the West above the snowy Cairngorms - what a day and what a weekend!

Sunset over Glenshee

Driesh and Mayar

Last night I joined up with a few folk from GWC who were on their annual Projects Staff Training weekend. This year the base was the Glen Clova hotel and bunkhouse. Richard G and I had been asked to lead a walk on the Saturday so we drove up late last night in Richard's car.

Looking back down the Glendoll Forest track to Cairn Derg, Glen Clova

Taking a breather in Glendoll before the assault on Mayar

From reading the conditions blogs on the web, I knew that there had been a lot of snow recently and there was even more still on the ground. With this in mind, we didn't fancy doing anything too serious so a circular route taking in Driesh and Mayar seemed like the easiest and most sensible option. In the morning, it meant that we only had a short drive up the road to the car park at Acharn.

Heading up the steep snow slopes in Corrie Fee, Glen Clova

Nearing the top of Corrie Fee, Glen Clova

There was a lot of snow on the ground, as we made our way through the Glendoll Forest and into Corrie Fee. It was a fine day with sun and a clear blue sky - a classic high-pressure day. Many of the group hadn't walked in snow before so Richard and I talked about how to use an ice axe for walking. We had crampons but we didn't need them because there wasn't any ice and the snw was deep and soft.

Approaching the top of Mayar with cornices on Craig Renner and Craig Mellon

Looking west from Mayar over the snowy Cairngorms

It was a bit of a slog up the gully at the end of Corrie Fee but once at the top the ascent was almost done for the day. At the top of Mayar we had a fantastic view over the Cairngorms and we were able to see just how much snow there had been; the hills were covered and well-rounded. We could also see quite a few large cornices at the top of the crags surrounding Glen Clova.

The group on the summit of Driesh

Looking North from Driesh over the snowy Cairngorms

After bagging Mayar we tramped over to the summit of Driesh for more stunning views of the snowy surrounding hills. Our descent took us along the ridge over the Hill of Strone before heading down to the bealach between Cairn Inks and Cairn of Barns. From here we descended Northwest back down to the Hotel for hot showers. A great day for everyone.

On our way down from Driesh, Cairngorms

Glen Clova - Driesh and Mayar from Chris McMorris on Vimeo.

Isle of Man - Port St Mary to Port Erin

This weekend Emily and I have been back in the Isle of Man visiting my folks and catching up with some old friends. I like visiting the Island at this time of year because the climate is usually much milder due to the Gulf Stream. However, it seems the weather is doing crazy things recently as yesterday was almost like a spring/summer day and very mild, but this morning we woke to 3 inches of fresh snow that had fallen overnight - crazy...

Setting off from Port St. Mary towards the coast

Looking back towards Port St. Mary

I wanted to make the most of the great day yesterday so I suggested that we all take a walk from Port St. Mary to Port Erin around the coast. My folks only live in Ballasalla so we only had a short drive to leave the car. The main reason for me choosing this route was because I wanted to check out the infamous Chasms along the coast. I had never been here before, despite living and growing up here until I was 18, and I had read about some of the climbs there so I wanted to take a closer look.

The Chasms, Isle of Man

Looking out into the Irish Sea from The Chasms, Isle of Man

It turned out to be a fantastic day out and it was a great way to catch up with my folks. The weather was absolutely stunning and the Chasms are certainly a sight to behold. Apparently they were a big tourist attraction back in the day and there was even a cafe - no sign of any of this now but definitely worth a visit, I'd say. In terms of the climbing, I could certainly spot plenty of lines up the cliffs, but I'm not sure how hard any of them looked - it would certainly be an amazing setting.

Looking down into The Chasms, Isle of Man

Above The Chasms, Isle of Man

The path around the coast is excellent and well signposted. The guidebooks show the coastal path continuing for 90 miles all the way around the Island so this is merely a small section of it, but probably the best of it. We also had a nice lunch in the cafe at Cregneash before heading onto Port Erin and taking the bus back to Port St. Mary to get the car. My Dad is quite keen to get into the walking a bit more after I took him up Clisham back in July last year so I think this has shown him the way and given him more confidence to get out and do more by himself on the Island.

Herbie and I at The Chasms, Isle of Man

Emily and I in front of the Calf of Man, Isle of Man

Port Erin from the coastal path, Isle of Man

Like father, like son

Heading down towards Port Erin, Isle of Man

First Winter Climb

Today was my first experience in the field of winter climbing... and I loved it!

Nearing the top of Patey's Route IV 5*, Coire an t'Sneachda

Richard T had suggested that we get a group of us together from GWC to do some guided winter climbing. Wanting to gain more winter experience I immediately jumped at the chance. In the end, seven of us were keen so we headed up to Nethy Bridge on the Saturday evening in a school minibus. We had booked three guides for the day: Adam, Nick and Matt. We left early to meet them at Cairngorm ski centre car park at 8am. As we drove up to the ski centre, it became clear just how much snow there had been; it was stacked at least six metres high on either side of the road! I remember thinking: we could just get out and do some climbing here!

We geared up and headed Southwest along the already-cut track, through the deep snow towards Coire an t'Sneachda. It was a classic high pressure day: clear sky with little wind. As we approached the base of the corrie, I could not believe just how white everything was. We stopped and were told to put on our harnesses, helmets and crampons. Adam said that he would take Jamie and James and climb something fairly serious and that Matt would take Richard G and myself to climb something a little easier. Richard T was keen to look at bringing others up easy gullies safely so Nick said that he would take Richard T, Ali and Martin. With that, we split. Matt gave us a very short briefing and all of a sudden we were zig-zagging our way up through the deep snow to the base of a steep gully. On the way, Matt told us how to place our feet and use our axes effectively. I had never done this before so it was great to be shown how to do things properly.

I didn't own a set of crampons so I had hired a set from Tiso from the weekend. The chap in the shop had told me that they had just been sharpened - I didn't doubt him, as they looked razor sharp. Last week, Richard T had got a good deal on a set of Edelrid Excalibur Pros (Adze and hammer). I had a bit of extra cash and figured it would be a good investment. Probably overkill for what I would ever need but everything else that wasn't quite as aggressive was actually more expensive anyway. On another lucky note: a few weeks ago I had been at the EICA with the GWC climbing club and spotted that Tiso were selling off some of their pairs of Scarpa Mantas (something about them having changed the GSB crampon attachment or something?) for dirt cheap and there just so happened to be a pair in my size - result!

So I had all this new gear but had never used it, but I was now loving being shown how to put everything to good use and how to use it the correct way. Mat was great and very encouraging, which made things a lot easier and very enjoyable. The route we were climbing was Patey's Route IV 5* and as I stood belaying Mat as he disappeared in a flash up the snow covered gully, the whole situation suddenly seemed very real and overwhelming. Was I really doing this? What an amazing situation to be in. I was certainly going to give it my all. Mat climbed first on each pitch and then brought us up second; one slightly ahead of the other each time. Each pitch got steeper and it certainly was 'proper' climbing - to me it was anyway. At one of the belays, as Richard held onto Matt's rope, I took the time to take in the surroundings. I looked around the corrie and realised that there were teams of climbers everywhere; black specs dotted about the white crags all around the corrie. It also struck me just how much noise there was folk shouting to their team members on the climbs. I looked below us and saw that there was a team of two climbers waiting patiently at the previous belay - a busy day in Sneachda! As the gradient increased and the ice became firm, I tried my best to use the front points of my crampons and keep my heels down, like Matt had shown us.

We were soon at the top and I was glad because my gloves had frozen solid and I could just about feel my numb fingers. We all congratulated each other and then headed along the top back to Fiacaill a' Choire Chais. I knew where were where at this point, as I had been up here before with Emily in October 2008. We came across some evidence of a winter ML training course and there were plenty of snow bollards that must have been used to practice abseiling. Mat explained how they worked and said that it was a shame that we didn't have more time because he would gladly have shown us and got us to try it out for ourselves. It looked really cool and I had only every read about it so I will certainly add my winter ML training to my list of things to do... it's a very long list...

We met up with the others back at the car park and we were all beaming at each other all the way back to Edinburgh. I loved every minute of the day and hopefully I can put my new skills to good use in the future - no I know a little bit more about what I'm doing.

More details of the day on Adam Hughes' Blog.

The Snowy Pentlands

After a tough intro to winter walking in The Lakes, I was keen to get into the mountains further North and do some more winter stuff. Ironically, there had been a ridiculous amount of snow - too much in fact. So much snow that it was hard to actually get up the road to Aviemore and access the bigger mountains. The weather was frustrating me and I wanted to get out in the snow and do 'something' before heading back to school for the new term. To my delight, there was a clear high pressure day so we made the short drive up the road to Flotterstone.

Heading up Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

Turnhouse Hill and Glencorse Reservoir from Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

We met James at the car park at the Ranger Centre - which was absolutely rammed with folk walking their dogs. James had brought his skis and was keen to make the most of the deep powder. We headed up the road past Glen Cottage and around the North side of Glencorse Reservoir. Turning off to the right, we headed steeply up the track by the woods up towards Castlelaw Hill. We climbed higher still, as we wanted to gain some height. The weather was perfect; sunny and fresh but without wind. I couldn't believe just how much snow there was and as we struggled higher, the fresh powder came up to well above my knees.

Black Hill and Bell's Hill from Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

James checking out the slope on Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

As a result of the deep snow, our progress was slow; I headed on while Emily slogged up and James struggled to climb in his stiff ski-boots in the deep snow. Eventually we reached the Southwest shoulder of Castlelaw Hill and were treated to an amazing view of the wintery scene that lay before us. Every thing was totally white and we could clearly see that the reservoirs had frozen and were also covered in a thick layer of powder. It brought home just how much snow there had been in the last few weeks. We could see lots of other folk walking up and dow the tracks below us but we had the hills to ourselves.

Enjoying the thigh-deep powder on Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

James skiing down Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

James put on his skis and set off down the slope but it was clear that he was having difficulty in the deep powder and it wasn't long before he was on his back laughing at how much snow there was. He had another couple of goes and Emily and I watched him reach the bottom safely. Meanwhile we had brought our homemade sledges with us; Ikea bags and some old cushions. We started to slide down but it was pointless, there was just too much powder to sink into and we ended up just rolling and tumbling down the snowy slopes. It was perfectly safe, as there was just so much soft powder. I knew James wouldn't be bothered to hike up the hill for another go on his skis and we were happy enough so we headed back to the carpark to meet him. As usual, Emily had time to make a snow angel and get the most out of all the snow. Great fun!

Emily enjoying the deep snow on Castlelaw Hill, Pentlands

A rather snowy Pentlands from Castlelaw Hill

The snowy Pentland Hills and me

Emily's snow angel, Pentlands

The Lakes in the snow

After completing my SML assessment last month, I was on a bit of a high and felt inspired to get out into the hills more this winter. Steve Spalding had suggested that I head down to the Lake District to do some winter walking. Keen to take his advice, we headed down to Keswick on 29th December for a couple of nights. I knew there had been a large dump of snow in the last week so I was pretty psyched to get up a proper mountain in the snow. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very favourable and we spent most of our time wandering around the streets of Keswick. The best of the weather came on our last day but it was rather blustery. As we were meant to be driving back to Edinburgh later that night and because the weather wasn't perfect, I didn't want to attempt anything too serious. After all, I didn't have much experience when it came to winter walking... but I wanted more.

I suggested that we have a go at getting up the Saddleback (Blencathra). Emily quite fancied getting out into the snow but said that she wasn't up for anything too serious and neither was I, as I knew I had to drive back to Edinburgh later. So Blencathra seemed like the sensible choice.

Enjoying the cold at Gategill, Blencathra behind

We were packed and on our way just after 10 am and it was a short drive from our B&B to the Threlkeld turnoff. We parked near the farm at Gategill and got out to gear up. It was cold. I could feel my ears hurting as I packed our bags. We slipped our way along the minor road up to the farm and up the track through the woods. The going was slow and it was a bit of a slog as the snow got deeper. It was soft and powdery and icy underneath the fresh layer (about 10 inches deep). Now out of the trees, we headed up the steep slopes of Hall's Fell - the snow got deeper. We had crampons in our bags but the snow was deep rather than icy, so I didn't think they would improve things. The summit was covered in cloud from about 500 metres. Emily was doing really well and we pushed on through the snow. When we reached around 550 metres, the wind really picked up from the East. It was constant and bitterly cold. We did up our jackets as high as we could and tried to shield our faces from the wind. The wind got stronger as we climbed slowly higher. It was so strong now that it was difficult to walk and stay upright - relentless wind. I knew it was no good and I knew Emily wouldn't stand it for much longer so we turned back and headed down the hill.

Looking up to Hall's Fell from Doddick Fell, Blencathra

When we reached the bottom, I suggested that we head further East towards Doddick Fell and see what it was like. After following the traverse path to the East above Doddick, we turned up the steep slope and into deeper snow once again. However, it wasn't long before we were in the same situation; getting battered by the freezing wind. It was no good, we were fighting a loosing battle. We headed back down in defeat - cold and battered. Emily made numerous snow angels on the way down, making the most of the deep powder.

Heading up Doddick Fell, Blencathra

Looking up to Blencathra summit between Hall's Fell and Doddick Fell

We took a bit of a battering but it was a good experience and gave us a taste for what full in winter conditions can be like. We were in good spirits as we headed back to Edinburgh with pink faces...

Emily enjoying the snow, Doddick Fell