Today, I was working for Mountain Motion over on the East coast. Rich, Al and I took Moffat MRT on a training day covering a wide range of winter skills. Rich and Al took an advanced team apiece while I worked with the probationers. The members of my group had either done little or nothing in the winter, so it was great to introduce them to the very wild conditions that we are currently experiencing up here. We took the Funicular up the hill, as this gave us quick access to some snow. We then navigated over to Ciste Mhearad, where we could get a little shelter from the wind. This location gave us the opportunity to practice moving on differing slopes and gradients, with and without crampons, cutting steps to cross the icy sections. We also had a really useful avalanche session. The group were particularly keen to learn more about this. After lunch in a snow hole, we tried to practice some self-arresting but the weather made this unproductive. Instead, we navigated back over to the top lift, only to find that the Funicular was closed due to high winds. So we walked back down the hill - a great opportunity for consolidating our use of crampons and a walking axe.

After another slog up to Stob Coire nan Lochain we found ourselves at the bottom of East Face Direct Direct (VII,7) after following some nice tracks from a team on Central Grooves. Central Grooves was our first choice but didn't fancy queuing, even though they did make a quick ascent. We did the route in 3 pitches, with John linking the first two which gave some hard sustained climbing on tenuous placements. This set me up for the 40m crux pitch which was very bold but on what seemed to be good hooks. After cutting loose a couple of times and doing pull ups on them I was happy they were secure. Phew. I was very close to being sick after exerting so much! Adam took the top pitch which was fantastic. Good hooks on a steep wall and pretty much always good footholds. A strong lead by everyone! Keith brought his clients up Ordinary Route, a team on twisting Grooves, Twisting Gully and Original route. Plenty of snow was falling most of the afternoon and temperatures were rising all day. Got a big soggy after a while. Forgot my camera today.

Today's weather was due to become foul as the day went on so Adam, John and I opted for an early start to get the bulk of any climbing out the way. We headed up to SCNL with a pretty open mind as none of us have done many of the harder routes up there. On arrival we could see that we had plenty of options. Adam suggested Unicorn (VIII,8). Adam dispatched the crux pitch, unfortunately took a little slip but got back on and finished it. John climbed a short pitch of VI,6 which just ate lots of runners then I took us to the top in a long pitch of sustained VII,7. The winds were picking up as we climbed, circulating alot of snow around the coire. Graupel was falling as well so snow slopes will be feeling pretty spooky out there.

These winter climbing days just seem to be getting better and better! Today Kenny suggested that we go and have a look over on Ben Nevis's Little Brenva face and it was fantastic. So without getting a too early start, Al, Kenny and I shot up. On arrival to the crag we were armed with all the right equipment and sweets, the only thing we didn't have was a guidebook. This wasn't a problem as visibility was great. We sought out the best ice and a line of reasonable resistance finding a nice route with good climbing pushing close to grade 5. It was another fantastic day climbing in the sun, the ice was brilliant, in some places too hard for my blunt crampons but amazing fun. We topped out just before 1pm and went for a wander around and down number 3 Gully. Lots of teams out on various ice routes, heaps to go for at the moment!

Today Katy and I went for a wander over in the Cairngorms. We got as far as Coire an Lochain and decided to go climbing. We started off on Ewen Buttress (III) where I took the reins and led Katy up. We descended The Couloir (I) and Katy then led me up Milky Way (III), her first III lead!! Busy day on the crag, lots of routes getting climbed but things were starting to get black. Rosie climbed Andromeda (IV,4), Keith and Tim climbed The Crack (VI,7) and Grumbling Groove (VI,6) plus many other hard routes got done. It was a stellar day again, a little more wind and a beautiful sunset. We finished the day by descending Fiacaill Ridge (I).

Today Graham, Ben and I headed over east to see what was going on over in Hell's Lum. On arrival we could see that some of the easier lines were in with teams on them. We opted for Brimstone Groove (IV,4). After the first pitch we followed the best conditions and ended up on Towering Inferno (VI,5) then onto Nobodys Fault (IV,6). The routes on their own probably would either not be in good condition, or just super sporting! We combined the 3 routes getting up to the top in 4 pitches at about V,5. After topping out we nipped over to Coire an T-Sneachda and climbed up Honeypot (IV,6) which was brilliant! A fantastic day!

A great day to be out today, the best of the season so far for me! Blue skies, good ice, hard neve, great company and a top quality route. Couldn't ask for much more! Today I was working on Tower Ridge with Kenny. We took out Andy, Paul and Callum, all of whom had quite varied abilities. On arrival to Tower Gap Kenny and Andy abseiled down and shot over and climbed Indicator Wall whilst Paul, Callum and I carried up to the top for some fantastic views. It was busy today with many roues getting done Good Friday Climb, Indicator Wall, Smiths, Tower Scoop, Two Step (Luke said it was quite thin in places), Comb Gully, White Line, Green Gully and I'm sure there were lots more. Another great day with great conditions tomorrow. Hello weekend warriors!

There was a really good atmosphere up on Ben Nevis today, its always great when you see lots of people you know. Kenny, John and I headed up into Observatory gully with quite an open mind. Word had got round that some ice routes were quite fat. They were not wrong. There were several teams ahead and behind us, all heading up into the same area. At first it looked like 3 teams were heading for Smiths but fortunately they all went their separate ways. One them headed up Tower Gully (I), Luke and Conrad went up Indicator Wall (V,4) (reporting back good conditions, a little bit wet though) and the the other team joined the queue on Good Friday climb. Steve and Gill went and joined the queue on Tower Scoop and Matt and Emma followed us up Smiths Route (V,5). It was the Icicle variation which looked best today, which was great because I hadn't done it before. After we topped out we headed down Tower Gully and had a team solo on the Upper Tower Cascades (something around grade III) we then headed along the top and abseiled into number 3 gully to check out some other routes. Johnny climbed Number 3 Gully buttress which he said was good, teams were on Green Gully also. Thompson's looked climbable to. All the buttresses were black.