Winter ML Prep

Scottish Winter requires essential skills and 'The Winter Mountain Leader' is the national award for those who wish to take parties into the winter environment.
I have been working with Hugh over the past two days in the Glencoe area. We were covering all the essential skills prior to his assessment this week.

Posted by Ronnie

Scotland at it's best

A quick update from Scotland.
A bit of climbing and a couple of days work have come together when the weather and conditions are pretty good.

John McD and I arrived late on Thursday night and went into Stob Corrie Nan Lochan. Skies where blue and the crag looked pristine. We climbed Tilt VI 7.

Steep & Sustained

Today Saturday we decided to avoid any crowds so we went to Lost Valley Buttress. We certainly avoided the crowds as there was nobody else there. Great decision and we climbed Neanderthal VII 7. One of the best routes one could do!!
I had seen pictures in climber many years ago when Rab Anderson and Graham Nicol made the first ascent and had been inspired to some day get up and climb it. Great to get it to ourselves and in good condition.

Posted by Ronnie

The joys of Scottish winter

first pitch of overseer direct V,6

I have just returned from a short stint in Scotland where I had a week to climbing with John Orr.  We based ourselves in the East at Aviemore and were hoping to tick lots of classic.  Unfortunately conditions and weather were awful to say the least.

We arrived up late on New Years day and with no accommodation sorted so we just stayed in the car at the Cairngorm car park. We had an early start (7ish) and headed in to Corrie an Lochan with No 4 buttress as the intended area.  With the slopes below No 4 completely loaded we opted for Overseers Direct a 2 pitch V,6.  We had a bit of shelter on route and the spin drift was bearable and the route was very pleasant.

top pitch Overseer Direct 

The next day 3 days were plagued with high winds 100mph on the plateau and fluctuating temperatures.  We ventured out and tried to get on routes but it would have just been a suffering match!  Below are a few pictures from the week.

Loch Avon on not so nice a day

The Orr getting sorted in the Car Park

The variation approach to fiacaill buttress!!

Happy New Year

A Happy New Year from the team at Rock & Ride.

Let's hope for some great adventures in the hills on bike and crag for 2012.