Winter 2019/20 has arrived

Are you ready for it? Crampons checked, ice axes sharpened, gloves dug out! I had barely landed from America and the snow was on the way. Like most cases early season, the winter conditions in Scotland come and go. I managed to grab 3 days of good climbing before the thaw arrived. So a good start to the season.

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.