My previous post was in March as I took the opportunity to branch away from the confinement of my computer and enjoy the lockdown restrictions as well as I could. With a few months off work I was still eager to get out into the hills, climb and explore so when the ‘green lights’ were given we did exactly that. I think I recreated my child hood! For two months we lived quietly and simply, volunteered in the village, bike rides and swimming. The most painful task was cancelling and refunding all the upcoming booked work. Fortunately as the pandemic too its toll, restrictions were lifted and I was able to return to work where I made use of the local hills and crags. I had guided trips into the Cairngorm, Ben Nevis, the North West Highlands and the Cairngorms. Several guests we concerned about their fitness from the break they have had, however slowly and surely, confidence grew and everyone forgets about their fitness worries. They are not alone, I’m sure we have all been concerned about our fitness but rest assured, we can still have really good day in the mountains whatever fitness you may be. We just maybe have to build back up to that ‘big’ objective.

My alpine summer was dramatically ‘thinned out’ as many were unable to travel so I had only 2 weeks of very nice work. Firstly I climbed with the every enthusiastic Alan Watson who specifically wished to rock climb with only short approaches. Being based in Chamonix we climbed so many amazing routes up to 6a standard. These were mostly bolted routes but we have agreed that we will come back for more trad route this coming summer. Following on from Alan I teamed up with Anthony. Also very keen and very objectively driven by the Matterhorn. We had the hut booked and embarked on our training climbs in the Aiguille Rouge above Chamonix and one night from the Torino hut traversing some of the granite ridges. All perfect preparation for the Matterhorn however it was looking clear that the Matterhorn may be a little ambitious for Anthony on this trip. We would need perfect conditions. As Anthony was so driven by this mountain, maybe a little too driven, we pressed on and unfortunately we didn’t have the perfect conditions. We made it too the Solvay hut but had to return just below the shoulder due too high winds and Anthony’s condition deteriorating. The only option was to turn back. I believe this was a very eye opening experience for Anthony and the mountain told him a lot about himself despite his guide telling him before hand.

After these 3 weeks in the Alps I returned back to Scotland to a reduced work load however I guided and climbed personally on Isle of Skye, Isle of Lewis and Harris, the Cairngorms and on the East coast sea cliffs. Again the confinements of Covid started to take hold which brought more cancellations and the unknowns of the future but fortunately we had the task of moving to the Alps to keep us occupied.

Moving to the Alps in November was fairly stressful, moving to France in the middle of the pandemic and on the eve of Brexit caused a major headache (and still is) but now we are settled here. Regretfully none of my clients have been able to travel to the Alps so I have been working at St Georges International School leading the holiday camps. The boarding students who cannot return home because of Covid spend their holidays doing a whole host of activities such as skiing, ice skating, paragliding, go-carting, rock climbing, sledding to name a few. A different pace of life but great to share these experiences with young people and see them develop.

I have a very busy summer booked and I really hope we can all enjoy it together.

Stay safe and see you all soon!

This evolution is the 4th edition on the Hard Rock series. An outstanding collection of British rock climbs that Ken Wilson has deemed as an important library of routes. The collection spawned from when the first edition was published in 1974, over 5 decades of evolution.  If you are not familiar with the previous editions then you will be informed in the opening pages as to where the vision and fantasy came from. 

The Hard Rock ‘ticking’ bonanza had been created, now many rock climbers are aspiring to tick ‘the list of all lists’ . This is an obtainable list for many but a dream to many more. Little do many know, a ‘tick list’ was not Ken’s vision, this book was a “call to action”, an opportunity to open up a catalogue of some world class climbing on our very small island.  For this reason, you will see that some changes have been made to the original lists (which will excite the list-tickers), as some routes have fallen down and thirteen new routes have been added.  For the avid ‘ticker’, this new edition will bring some new inspiration, whether it is reading about a route you haven't done or sharing the experience of the ones you have.

Captivating authors and photographers share their experiences on the Hard Rock routes.  A list of names which promise an absorbing story and many of my hero’s share their tales in their well known style.  The likes of Martin Moran, Hamish MacInnes, Jimmy Marshall, Ken Wilson, Nick Estcourt, Jim Perrin, Peter Crew and many others will carry you through the routes with enough detail and excitement to spark the planning juices.  To be honest, the updated photography will do just that. When can I next go to South-west England? Can I do all the remaining routes in one trip?  Will I ever complete the list? I'm sure the book will spark these same thoughts when you are able to get a copy.  

A brilliant book which I will keep dipping into, maybe one day I will complete the list.

Other important reading from the late Ken Wilson

Classic Rock

Extreme Rock

Cold Climbs

For your lock down reading, head to www.v-publishing.co.uk

So after lots of cancellations, re-booking of accomodation and arriving in Scotland, we donned our ski’s and headed out in 50mph winds to kick start our Scottish ski week. We agreed to be flexible with activities and fortunately everyone was keen for a little mountaineering as well as skiing.

Our first day we went into the Cairngorm’s and skied Lurcher’s Gully which was a very fitting objective due to the weather conditions. No-one saw the benefit in prolonging the day.

As the weather continued to blow, we opted for the East Ridge of Beinn Choraine. A good option in the strong westerlies and very suitable for the group as some do no mountaineering or have lapsed for 20 years. We divided into two rope teams and made a fun ascent before hitting the whiteout which required careful navigation to get back down. It was a tough days for the hardened skier, they may be converted…or maybe not!

Finally we were blessed with some slightly more settled weather and we did the Corries loop skirting around all the northern corries and around the south side of Cairngorm. A windy day but rewarding as we pushed through some tough gusts and icey traverses.

The last day was surely the best, great weather and a superb journey on to Breariach. A good Munro to bag on ski’s. A fun and challenging consolation to skiing in the Alps but we are already looking forward to doing the trip next year. Thanks for a great week team! Working for Frost Guiding.

I always look forward to the ice climbing trips in Norway and this season was no exception. I knew it wasn’t going to be the ‘best’ season, because like Scotland, it had been quite warm and snowy. So not the best recipe for building great ice conditions. However, we knew of good reliable places and we explored some new venues and were able to climb plenty of routes.

I was out for two weeks and I just managed to land before Storm Ciara did her worst. Unfortunately, none of the guest’s made it and they all experienced diversions, delays, cancelled flights and some didn’t even make it. After alot of faffing at the airports, we regrouped the next day and we went climbing. I was climbing with regular guest Sean who has never climbed ice cascade so for him to climb WI5 on his first trip is flipping brilliant!

The second week I was climbing with Katya and David, both of whom I was climbing with last year, and we got stuck into all sorts of WI4 and WI5 routes. It was a little tricky this week as conditions were poor and it went pretty warm. We had to go to the climbing wall one day and then for the last 3 days of climbing we ended up in Hemsedal, a popular ice climbing destination.

As always, I’m already looking forward to next year where we are going to revamp the courses. Here’s hoping to a brilliant season.

As November and December are typically quiet times of the year, we make the most of going climbing in the mountains if they are cold, hostile and snowy. I climbed some great routes with Murdoch and fortunately the weather wasn’t hostile, it was just cold. Over a couple of days we climbed Houdini (VI,7)*** and Overseer Direct/Hoarmaster (VI,6) combo giving two fairly contrasting days. Good no the less and great to use the ice axes again.

As per this season, a thaw was close behind. The cold weather came back and I had a day with Shaun and Stephen, introducing them to the winter mountains. Crampon training, ice axing and we made an ascent up the Fiacaille ridge as the days finale. This is their first steps in climbing Mont Blanc with me in two years time!

Another thaw hit, so my next work day was on Curved Ridge with Alan. We wanted to maximise time spent on technical ground, so we also went up the Crowberry Tower. And rather then topping out on the summit to the strong winds, we opted to scramble down Curved Ridge, which is always good fun and good to practice. The thew stayed around for a while and it was another week until I went back out.

Coming home from the Lake District, Lou and I decided to climb on Lochnagar. I had never been here so it was nice to check it out. We slept in the van and woke to 3 inches of snow. We waded in and opted for a route on the Cathedral called Sepulchre (V,6)**. I wasn’t too convinced about the grade and whether we were off route or it was a high gravity day, I felt there wasn’t much change from VI,7! With all the snow, a long walk in and a buried route, we had a long day. Navigating off in the dark whilst contending with the blowing snow. It was one of those days where your glad you made the effort and glad to be back in front of the fire.

Unfortunately Alan has been timing his days badly and again he was booked in for some unsavoury weather. We opted for an easy and safe option of the Zig-Zags in Glencoe which was pleasant and very snowy.

For Christmas, Lou and I headed to Chamonix for some skiing and probably too much eating. The skiing was really good as we had a dump of snow as we arrived and the ski resorts we not too busy.

After a nice little break I was back into work, this time working for Frost guiding with Andrew and Jane. These guys were great fun to be out with, in a previous life they had both done a fair share of winter climbing but it has lapsed for 20 years. The weekend was all about re-sparking the fire and training them back up so they can be self-sufficient again. They have set themselves a goal of climbing the Matterhorn too, so we had a busy weekend of up-skilling. Unfortunately we had very poor conditions so we climbed a snow gully on day one and a ridge on day 2.

Scotlad has been good, but it has also been better but fortunately a two week trip back to Chamonix meant some good weather and good skiing. Despite it not snowing for 3 weeks, I was able to find 5 days of brilliant skiing with Carol and Ewen. If you are an avid fan, you will remember I was out with them last year for 3 days. We skied all around the Chamonix valley, touring away from the pistes and finding un-tracked or chalky snow.

Beyond good and evil - Has to be, to date, my in my top 3 favourite Alpine route I have climbed. One other being the North Face of the Eiger and the other being the North Face of the Dru. I was buzzing with excitement when I heard that this was in condition but I was also slightly gutted that I had travelled out with only my ski gear. I asked, borrowed and begged climbing gear off my friends, arrange to climb with Ross Hewitt and we went for it. We left the bivi hut at 3.45am, ensuring we were on the route first. it was 11 pitches of heaven. Continuously interesting, hard and bold ice. Everything the the route had lived up to with a remarkable history and reputation. We were so pleased to get this route in the bag and if i didn’t climb anything else this winter, Beyond Good and Evil (ED3) would make up for it.

Back in Scotland after a few days skiing, it was back to work and I was out with Sean for a few days. We had a day in the Cairngorms doing a coupe of the classic lines as Sean’s introducing to the east coast climbing. We then Went and climbed North East Buttress on Ben Nevis which is Sean’s 4th ridge with me. Plans are in the pipeline to finish the 5th ridge on Ben Nevis, Observatory Ridge.

The final day out from this chapter was yesterday. A day off coincided with brilliant, hard mixed climbing conditions. The day before, I went into the Cairngorms to solo some routes and clocked that it was in brilliant condition. I was teamed up with Steve Holmes, a mate from over in Fort William. I have wanted to do Nocando Crack (VII(I),8) for quite a while but it becomes very icey, very quickly. Making for a very icey and bold excursion. Fortunately we were able to place gear, ram cams in cracks and made very swift progress up this 3 pitched grade 8. As we left the crag, the thaw came, it rained and hasn’t stopped. Winter is certainly on hold for 48 hours. Time to rest recuperate and plan the next few trips!

Now see if you can link the images below to the story.

First up was Hobgoblin (IV,7) on Number 3 Gully Buttress on Ben Nevis with Tim Oliver. With the freezing level at about 950m, we had to go to a cliff which was high and fortunately it was cold and covered in snow. We did 4 brilliant pitches of early season mixed climbing to bring us onto the summit of Ben Nevis.

The next day, Mar Chadwick and I walked into the Grey Corries, Stob coire an Laoigh and climbed Talliballen (V,6) which is a brilliant route. I have climbed this before but many years ago so it was nice to reacquaint with it.

As conditions were so good, I stashed the climbing kit, and I came in the following day with Lou Reynolds. We opted for a route called New Labour (V,6) which gave one meaty pitch in the middle and some really good climbing. This crag sits at 1000m and is a good option when it has been cold for some time. It is very dependant on frozen turf so must be in good condition to climb here.

The desert was the highlight of the trip, this diverse and in many respects, hostile area is home to a wealth of climbing, culture and history. A beautiful place to stay, camp, socialise and relax after a good days climbing. We mostly focused our attention to the single pitch cliffs and difficult crack climbs but some days we explored the Towers, the canyons and the starlit nights.

It has been a great season in the Alps, a little warm and as a result some permafrost is melting away, glaciers are retreating and some parts of the mountains are falling down. So this season was mostly about careful route choice. During the first heatwave, I played it safe and focused on the mid mountain routes which proved to be a good idea.

I’m not really sure how to sum up 3 months with out turning this into a big list of routes etc.

After the Eiger prep week with the two Andrews (They didn’t summit the Eiger due to weather), I took a week off and had a lovely time climbing around Chamonix with Lou. She was keen so a mini break from Wales where she is preparing for her first Guides exam.

After Lou jumped on the plane, I went to meet my guest for the coming week. I was working for High Mountain Guides with one guest. It was aimed as a teaching week for up to a group of 3, unfortunately someone dropped out so we were slightly limited to what we can do. A trip to the Albert Premier Hut followed by the Arete du Table (AD) started proceedings and the remainder of the week was to develop the client to be self sufficient in the mountains. Which is nice for me, as I get to be led around the mountains for several days!

After this week, I was over to Switzerland to work for Frost Guiding . I did a total of 4 weeks working with various guests and racking up some good vertical meters. With several ascents of the Matterhorn, Eiger, Zinal Rothorn, Wiessmies, Lagginhorn to name a few. It really is brilliant in Switzerland. The mountains are amazing, chocolate is exceptional and the conditions were very good too.

My final week I was working for Jagged Globe on a Chamonix Climbing course. This was brilliant fun and a great finale to the season. Every day we sought out a cool route or two and over the 6 days we only did one route I have done before, the Cosmiques Arete. Everything else I had saved for guiding days and they didn’t disappoint. Beaming smiles all round at the end of this week. Then I jumped in the van and drove to North Wales…

So on our first day we dodged the thunderstorms and made a quick ascent of the Jegihorn via Alpendurst. En exercise in rock climbing in big boots which got the guys tuned in to precise climbing. Day 2 and 3 we made our way into the Vignettes Hut for an ascent of L’Eveque (The Bishop). A brilliant AD ridge with plenty of interesting glacier to negotiate. Another brilliant peak below 4000m.

Days 4 - 6 we based ourselves at the Wiessmies hutte, brilliant location, great staff and really good food. We climbed the South Ridge of the Lagginhorn, the Fletchorn and the Jegihorn Via Ferrata.

So a satisfying week with plenty of ground covered to prep for the EIger. I said my farewells and the weather looked promising for their ascent in a few days time. Unfortunately, the weather did turn and they had to go for plan B. Maybe next time. Sometimes it doesn’t always work out.

The weather was very good to us which meant we could use the rest days evenly so after 3 or 4 days of climbing, we were able to put our feet up and enjoy the hospitality of Saas Fee and go sightseeing.

This is what we managed to climb

Day 1 - Alpendurst 4c- 14 pitch Rock climb on the Jegihorn, day hit.

Day 2 - Brandegrabe 5b - 5 Pitch rock climb above Saas Almagell

Day 3 - Allalinhorn 4027m - in poor weather

Rest day

Day 4 - Walked to Almageller Hut and climbed traversed the Dri Hornli (AD)

Day 5 - Traversed the Weissmies 4017m SE Ridge (PD)

Day 6 - South Ridge Lagginhorn 4010m (AD)

Rest day

Day 7 - Drove to the beautiful Arolla Valley and walked to Caban Tsa (beautiful hut)

Day 8 - Climbed West Ridge of Dent Du Tsallion (AD)

Rest day

Day 9 - Walked to Weissmies Hut and did the Jegihorn Via Ferrata

Day 10 - Climbed the Grande Gendarme and traversed the Jegigrat (D)

Day 11 - Climbed Panorama 5a - 12 pitch rock route on the Jegihorn and then had beers and rosti in the hut.

At 3.50am we left the bivi and set on our way, the TD gap was bone dry and went with ease, we went along Collies (hart’s) ledge as we missed this last time and made a quick ascent of An Stac and the In Pinn by 8am. We picked up our water stash and the rest was a blur. After climbing Am Bastier, Alan was happy (and shattered) so we didn’t go up Sgurr nan Gillean (we did last year) and made our way down arriving at the Slig at 5.30. It’s amazing what one can do in their 70’s, I hope I will be able to do the same!

Finally sat down, with the rain falling outside and I finally get too have a rest day. Sometimes the good weather is just too much!

Day 1 : Lou and I went Sport Climbing at the Camel

Day 2: we went to DIabeag, ticked all the 2 0r 3 star E2’s on the peninsula crag. Amazing rock there, well worth the walk! But watch out for ticks!

Day 3: We went to Creag Dubh, it would be rude not too, it’s on our door step.

Day 4: I met up with Kenny and Mikey B, we went sport climbing at Tunnel Wall.

Day 5: Feeling tired now! Walked up to Garbh Beinn (2 hours) and climbed with Andy Nelson at one of the best mountain crags in Scotland

Day 6: Got the Ferry to Isle of Eigg and climbed a route called Psycho! Scary!!

Day 7: Climbed several routes of Eigg and then went fishing

Day 8: More climbing, takedown camp and ferry back to the mainland.

Day 9: Spend all day feel content and smug as its now raining outside.

We climbed on the south west coast, a place close to Lou’s upbringing and a place I have seldom visited. We mostly climbed but also braved the seas for some surfing which was baltic! But the weather was great!

We had an overnight stay in the Argentiere hut which enveloped us in a storm so it was exciting getting too the hut and leaving it. Going up really high wasn’t an option. Fortunately on the last day we had some good powder and spent the day putting fresh tracks and working on Sean’s technique.

I took the direct line to the Alps and after a couple of warm up ski days, I met my clients for the next 7 days. On the cards was the famous Chamonix to Zermatt Haute Route and I was working for Alpine Guides.

The first comments from the clients were regarding my photo on the Alpine Guides website. They thought I was too young…perhaps I should change it to a more rugged look?

With a 7 day itinerary, to complete a five day trip meant we had a shake down day at the start. And given that we had members from the USA, Australia and the UK meant there could be all sorts of problems with kit etc. So a tour in the Aiguille Rouge meant we could have a nice ski, answer any questions and allow the clients to know that I’m not as young as I look!

We were very fortunate on our traverse, we had fantastic weather throughout. Unfortunately our ski day into Zermatt beckoned foul weather so we knew we had a specific time window. We were unable to delay and make use of our 7th day because that was even worse! We needed to leave early, be efficient and have quick transitions. I think it was an 8+ transition day (transition - changing between skiing down hill to skinning or climbing uphill). We did it by the skin on our teeth! We got too our final transition (downhill all the way) and the cloud enveloped around us, leaving us with a rather precarious ski down through the glacier which homed huge crevasses. A huge relief for the whole team as we made it through in poor visibility.

Beers, burgers and cheers in Zermatt. We did it!

Our final day we had some nice powder skiing around Chamonix and was a great finish to the trip. Looking forward to more next year.

Fortunately Norway delivered it’s ever reliable ice. It was however, leaner than usual which left myself and fellow guides scratching our heads for some alternative ideas. For the first time in 8 years of visiting here, we went on the hunt for dry tooling options, mountaineering objectives and even some rock climbing crags. Fortunately out of the 10 guided days, only 3 days we didn’t ice climb. Over two weeks our 3 teams climbed 7 new lines and many really cool ice routes. We retreated of some due to the heat wave and rotten ice but still managed to cover lots of pitches.

Fortunately, just before we left, it went cold again and we had a brilliant 3 days of ice climbing to wind down with.

Check out Moran Mountain if you’re interested for next year’s courses or alternatively HERE if you would like some private guiding.

After what has felt like a very ‘on-off’ Scottish winter, this week provided Sean and I with some good climbing. On Sean’s previous trip we did a day of winter skills on Buachaille Etive Beag, then climbed Ledge route and followed that with Curved Ridge. This week Sean was keen to introduce to mixed climbing and ice climbing so day one required a bit of a shake down. WIth plenty of snow around I opted for the East Ridge of Stob Ban. This is usually a grade II or III but I like the ‘sit-down’ start which warrants grade IV and requires some stiff pulls.

Day two we went and climbed North Buttress IV,4. Many teams only do a few pitches and abseil off but the upper section has some fantastic mountaineering terrain so we pushed onto the summit. Again we had great conditions and this 3 star route was in its prime.

Day three we went onto Ben Nevis and climbed the uber classic ‘The Curtain’ IV,5. As it was mid week we decided to call it a day after topping out on the route and as the weather was coming in, we didn’t see the point on pushing onto the summit on this occasion.

Day four we went to Beinn Udlaidh and climbed some chewy ice. A two route day with South Gully of the Black Wall IV,4 (brilliant by the way!) and Quartvein Scoop IV,4, also brilliant! This was Sean’s second day ice climbing and he was really getting the hang of it…and loving it!

Our final day was a no brainer. Into the Ice Factor for ice climbing in the freezer and dry tooling on the rock walls. A brilliant way to hone in some technique and get the forearms and core working really well…next time we will be stronger and we’re already planning some classic grade V routes.

Until next time Sean!