Tuesday 14 April 2015

Spring not quite sprung (and my 2 seconds of fame)...

This time of year can be strange with one day in the mountains feeling like Spring, the next day feeling Winter. Saturday was definitely one of the latter! I was out with Matthew, Elaine and David on Ben Nevis. It was Matthew's 14th birthday so he was celebrating it with a day to remember! There's no path beyond corner 6 on the zig zags, and with still some hard snow ice around, ice axe and crampons were essential. We managed to dissuade a few folk from continuing on and also a few cheeky people from 'tagging along' with us. Visibility was poor but actually felt pretty good compared so days this Winter. Well done to Matthew and his Mum and Dad on a great day!



 On Sunday I was out at Huntly's Cave on an MIA teaching day.We climbed Right Hand Groove, Cave Route in 3 pitches and Diagonal. Despite the odd snow shower, it was pretty pleasant!


Yesterday I was out with Nigel and Judith. Nigel told me he's wanted to climb Ben Nevis for 50 years so it was his big chance! We had the mountain to ourselves until we were on our way down. It was windy, with a lot of spindrift but otherwise quite nice conditions.Again, some hard scoured snow on the plateau so crampons were still worn. Some scarily large fragile cornices forming with the fresh snow blowing around.
The predicted rain arrived bang on time and the waterproofs came out for the final half of our descent. A superb effort from Judith and Nigel and one big tick off the list for Nigel!
 
Drooping fresh cornice over Gardyloo!

A happy couple!

On another note the advert I was involved in with Vodafone a few weeks ago whilst working for Abacus Mountain Guides has gone on air! You'll find my 2 seconds of fame at 0.50s !





Vodafone - Let's Go! from Grey London on Vimeo.

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