For today we were looking for a good grade 3 ridge leading to a summit. The weather forecast wasn't as good as yesterday but low winds and moderate avalanche forecasts gave us a few different options. After a recommendation from a friend we decided for the North East Ridge of Stob Ban. On leaving the Glen Nevis car park it was snowing heavily and this continued for most of the morning. The route began by crossing a snow slope into a NE facing gully. Whilst I was ascending I triggered a small slab avalanche but managed to move over to a rocky area quickly. At the belay we witnessed the leader of the team behind us set off a further slab avalanche on the higher section of the gully. We continued up the fantastic, alpine style ridge mostly pitching due to the massive amounts of soft snow. The route contained adequate protection and opportunities for consistent belays. The visibility cleared slightly at the top giving fantastic views over the Mamores and Glen Nevis.

Today Katy and I headed into Glencoe armed with sunglasses, an axe and crampons and hit Curved Ridge (III). I had thought (or hoped) that it had an ascent yesterday and put a nice tracks in, unfortunately there wasn't, so today required a lot of digging. Fortunately I remembered where most of the spikes were and some of the cracks. Katy was keen for leading too, so she got on the sharp end a couple of times which was great. Saved me doing all the digging! We didn't see anyone else on the route but saw some tracks on the summit. There was lots of avalanche debris around the bottom of the route but every part of the route was nice and solid. Going up behind Crowberry Tower was fine too. From the summit of Stob Dearg, we had a look at Coire na Tulaich but as there was quite a lot of soft snow at the top. So we headed down the ridge, which allowed Katy to practice some winter skills coaching and route finding for her forth coming Winter Mountain Leader Assessment. Great colours on the Aonach Eagach whilst we descended!

Today Katy came over to visit. It was her first day out this winter, after working non-stop over in the North-East. With a great forecast we had lots of options but we agreed that we wouldn't do anything too big and get too tired. So we had a leisurely stroll up to the CIC hut, then onto the SW ridge of the Douglas Boulder (III). Today we saw Ken and his mate on Fat Boy Slim, John and his mate skied up ledge route and down something else. Two guys headed to the base of number 4 and then headed back and there were a few teams on the CMD arete. It was quite a social day with Craig and Graham coming up behind us.

Today Mandi and I headed up the North Face of Ben Nevis to see what was going on. The forecast stated high winds in the evening so I thought we would be able to get a route in. At first I was going to head for the SW ridge of the Douglas Boulder but there was a team already heading for it so instead we went up high and climbed Glover's Chimney (III,4), which I hadn't done before. We topped out just as it got dark and a blizzard started. This made getting off the top both exciting and hard work. The mountain was very quiet, with only one other team out. Conditions were good on the mountain. The ice routes were looking good but there was a lot of snow being blown around. Whilst climbing, I heard three significant avalanches somewhere below us. Then we were swept off our feet and partially buried whilst descending the Red Burn. Lots more snow was falling with high winds.

Today didn't go quite as expected! Last night Tony and I decided to head over to the Cairngorms for a look over at the Shelterstone. On arrival it was clear that both of our possibilities were in. It was either Sticial face or Citadel. We opted for The Citadel (VII,8). Everything went well and we moved quickly. The climbing was tricky and felt very bold, as neither of us were able to place much gear. The route is very sustained but with two significant crux's. A lower crux and the top crux. Tony had got through the top crux just as it got dark... School boy error, we both left our head torches in our rucksacks at the bottom of the route. Tony couldn't see where to go or what he was hooking on and was unable to proceed. Instead we abseiled pretty much the whole face of the Shelterstone in darkness back to our bags. We were just one pitch from the top and pretty sure we had done all the hard climbing. So near but so far. A team to our left had a good day on Stical Face which looks to be in good condition. Coire an T-sneachda looked great to with lots of teams out today.

Today our plans changed last minute as we soon realised the Corran Ferry road was closed. So we weren't able to get down to the Southern Highlands for plan A. Instead we loaded up the bikes and headed up to Stob Coire an Laoigh. We couldn't get the van very high as there were too many fallen trees on the road and when we cycled up there were lots of trees down in the forest. On arrival to the crag it looked fantastic, We could tell on the walk-in that the turf was going to be bomber. Kenny and I agreed it was some of the best turf we climbed on, perfect condition. We had both done the classic Taliballan before so we opted for the awesome line of Centrepoint (VI,7). The route was brilliant, 3 pitches with the second one being the crux. The whole crag is in great condition and there is now a track in, well worth the early start. Fantastic views on the tops and to make the day better all the trees were cleared from the track so we had a rapid decent on the bikes!

Today was the test to see if I have eaten too many cakes over the summer! On the walk in to the North Face of Ben Nevis, I was starting to think that I had. I just couldn't keep my knees above the snow. After 'swimming' up to the CIC hut, I realised that its not my 'winter weight' that was the problem but the vast amounts of snow up there. Kenny and I swam up to Fat Boy Slim (VI,6) on Secondary Tower Ridge hoping we would find tracks from Blair and Dave the day before. Unfortunately there were none! We did the route in two pitches, I did the first in a long 60m section, covering some great mixed terrain and an icy gully. The top pitch had a fantastic squeeze which we just managed to get through with a little bit of grunting! If you climb with a rucksack you will have to push it through first! A quick abseil down Vanishing Gully led us back to our packs for another swim down to the car.

John and our hire car

Over the last two weeks I've been in North-East Spain - with a strong team from Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales - trying many different venues. First we visited Terradets, which comprised stacks of amazing tufa climbing. It took a while to adjust to this style of climbing, which provided us all with many challenges. I didn't want to red point any routes. I just wanted to onsight everything I tried. Alas, I was not quite as strong as all the others, so I only managed to flash one 7b (which I was really chuffed with). Every route I did was brilliant.

Terradets - La Bruixes

Ian Small on yet another 7c!
Dave wishes this was his hire car

The second week we went to Margalef, which was a whole new ball game. No tufas to be seen. All pockets. It was fantastic! I found this pocket climbing much more achievable for me and managed to get up all the routes that I tried - not always in the best style but I did get up them.

Callum and Dave at Margalef

It wasn't all climbing. We had to take rest days because our arms began to feel like soggy newspapers after a couple of days. This gave us an opportunity to read, go shopping, drink coffee, beer (coca cola for Calum). I think we played a thousand games of cards when it was raining or to find out who would be doing the washing up. A great holiday - just what I needed before moving back to Scotland.