Today was Matt and Alex's final day out with myself, working for Abacus Mountaineering. With tired legs and a drive to the airport tonight, Aonach Mor was the suitable option. We jumped on the 1st gondola up and had a swift up-lift on the chair. We were the first to arrive at the top ski hut where we geared up as the vast numbers of climbers flowed in. A quick stomper down Easy Gully (I) saw us traversing the bottom of the crag to find our route of choice free for taking, Siamese Twin (IV,5). So after the guys built a belay I headed up the first pitch finding nice ice and good runners. Matt and Alex flew up too, both climbing really well, I could only just keep up with the belaying! The main pitch was brilliant too, good ice for axes and feet and ok for screws. Again Matt and Alex dispatched well! One final pitch saw us on the top for elevenses! Another stomper and traverse later we were building more belays on the bottom of White Shark (IV,4). This route was fantastic! Having never done it, it was hard to tell who was more excited to do it. On the approach the guys saw a climber swinging through the crux and they wanted to be there! So 3 pitches and some great steep climbing saw us at the top to see a rescue going on somewhere above the twins area. I hope everyone involved is ok. So over the last 3 days we climbed 810m of grade 3 and above ground, ticked off 12 stars, one Cold Climbs classic and climbed at 3 different venues. Not bad for some mild weather! Well done to Matt and Alex!

It was another mild day in the Scottish mountains, woolly hats were not needed for today's Abacus Mountaineering team consisting of Matt, Alex and myself. With several teams around the mountain this morning, we were lucky enough to find Green Gully (IV,3) free for taking. After yesterdays outing the guys were super keen to get a little pumped. The route was nice and soft taking good sticks all the way up, ice screws were good to and the Ice was a little stepped here and there but still great fun. On the last pitch I took the guys up a steeper finish which really gave them the most pump of the day and also Alex reported a good stint of disco leg! Big smiles all around on the top and a leisurely walk down the Red Burn. I don't think we hit the freezing level today until we reached the top of the route, there was a slight crust forming on the snow but it felt pretty mild today. Comb Gully was reported to be in good shape. Castle Ridge, Wendigo, Ledge Route and others were climbed. We just need a good cold spell to freeze everything up.

Today was the first day for Matt and Alex's 3 day climbing course, I was working for Abacus Mountaineering. With a wet and mild forecast on the west coast we decided to head a little further east to Creag Megaidh to avoid the dampness. It paid off, we were in the cloud all day but it never rained on us. Our plan was to head up Staghorn Gully (III). On the approach we passed some avalanche debris from the base of the gully however once we got into the gully the snow was wet but stable. It was nice and soft all the way up so we were able to move up most of the way un-roped. On arrival to South Post Direct (IV,4) we could see that the ice looked continuous and good enough to climb on! The guys were well psyched! They were happy to put the Cold Climbs classic off for another time and climb something a little steeper. The route was brilliant, a really cool cave half way up too! Mike was on the Pumpkin (V,4) which sounded very brilliant fun.

What a wild day on the East! The forecast was due to be warm in the afternoon on the west coast so Kenny and I decided for an early start to get over East. On arrival it was very windy and it was clear that it was going to be hard work. Not what we wanted on our rest days. Anyway, heads went down and we battled into Coire an lochain to have a look. On arrival the upper parts of the crag looked great, so we planned to head round to number 3 buttress. On crossing above the great slab we came across some spooky wind slab so instead we headed straight up to the base of number 2 buttress. We decided to climb Central Crack Route (IV,5) which was a great little number. Good boulder problem start into some nice steady grade 4 climbing. We were relatively sheltered from the southerlies but got blasted on the top and coming down the goat track. Many teams in T-sneachda, mostly all suffering in the foul weather. Lochain had survived the Strong winds much better and was looking much whiter! A great day to be back at the car at 1pm. Unfortunatly no photos today.

Today's weather was fantastic compared to the weekend so Craig, Graham and I decided to head East to the Cairngorms for a nice short walk in. Whenever I go climbing with Graham, I usually do most of the leading so today Graham and Craig guided me up a route. As the route went on they had done enough leading and I led 3 pitches, Graham led two and and Craig led one. The route was in great condition with a good covering of snow. There were reports of good climbing on Hell's Lum with Tim climbing Brimstone Grooves with his client and other climbing Deep Cut Chimney. Fiacaill Buttress looked great however getting to it may be tricky as there was a reasonable amount of spindrift lingering around the bottom of the crag. A great day out in great sunny weather.

Today was our second and final day of the winter meet and fortunately it did feel a little more wintry. Our original plan was to traverse the Aonach Eagach however a last minute decision saw us heading towards the Lost Valley heading for the Zig Zags on Aonach Dubh. With the mixed abilities of the group, this was a good option as some members took the lead and others were happy being on the other end of the rope. After topping out on Gearr Aonach, we then proceeded to the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochain. The weather was a little better than yesterday but still quite blowy. The buttresses were starting to look black, people were out in the gully's and also Crest Route got an ascent. A great finish to a nice weekend.

Today was the first day of the Winter Meet that I put together for the Austrian Alpine Club. We didn't have a particularly big turnout but this was a nice sociable event. Unfortunately the weather didn't play ball so the dreams of Tower Ridge, Aonach Eagach and Point 5 gully were soon diminished. With high temperatures and high winds we headed into the Mamores. It was raining at the start and raining at the end and pretty much all the time in between. We headed up to Stob Coire a'Chairn (981m). On arriving at the summit the group were more than happy to head down for tea and cakes, a good choice I think!

Today was another fantastic day to be working in Lochaber, blue skies, light winds and fantastic climbing conditions. Due to a little slip on the descent from Stob Coire nan Lochain yesterday, Izzi wasn't feeling on top form and on our approach into Ben Nevis we agreed that we needed some Vitamin D in our lives! So we opted for a quick ascent of Number 3 Gully to the sunshine, instead of heading for our other objective of Green or Comb Gully, both of which had many teams on them. We headed up to the summit as this was Izzi's first time up there.