Phew, I have just got back from my MIC Assessment with Plas Y Brenin and I happy to report that I passed all areas of the course. So this now means that I hold the highest mountaineering qualification recognised for the UK. Not bad for a 25 year old! :-) It was a great week with a strong team and some great skillson display. The 7 candidate's all worked really hard and covered pretty much all the routes that were in condition on Ben Nevis. Over the 4 days I climbed Number 2 Gully, North Gully, Number 4 Gully, Ledge Route and Good Friday climb
Today I was working for Tarmachan Mountaineering and took Rafaella across the Aonach Eagach (Notched Ridge) in Glencoe. We had it all today, very little visibility, slimy rock, wet underwear and soggy sandwidches. Rafaella did fantastic today coping with the summer conditions. There was no snow on the ridge, we didnt even take crampons or an axe. Two new Munros for Rafaella and back in good time (7 hours car to car) so she could get back to Edinburgh.
Today John and I went for a quick look up Ben Nevis to see what was in. Unfortunately we couldn't see a thing. Finding routes was not an easy task. Good Friday Climb (III) was fantastic, great ice and great climbing. Probably the best grade 3 I have done on Ben Nevis. Kenny was out on Smiths with strong Andy and Callum. Other teams on Tower Scoop and Indicator Wall. We came down number 4 gully, noticing teams in North Gully. I'm sure there were more people around but we couldn't see them. No photos today as there wasn't anything worth taking a shot of.
Over the last couple of days I have been working in Wales assessing some candidates for the Summer Mountain Leader. An interesting transition from lots of winter climbing to walking around with the sun above us and talking alot about flowers and rocks. We camped out 2 nights around Snowdon, did two sessions of night nav and back down to the cafe for a bacon sandwich. Well done to all the candidates who all passed. It was good to be back in Wales working for Plas Y Brenin but now heading back up to Scotland to have someone assessing me!
Today we had blue skies and chilly winds. We headed up to 'the Grochan' for a little bit of mileage. We started on Brant Direct (HVS 5a), Kaisergebirger Wall (HVS 5a), SS Special (E2 5c), Mural (E4 6a) and did Brant direct again when Dan turned up at the crag. It was very cold today, fortunately none of us were hanging around, quickly up a route then down for the next one. Eventually the wind picked up and we retreated back for warm drinks and toast. After a while we heading back up Llanberis Pass and bouldered for an hour before getting rained/wind'ed/cold'ed off! Great to be back on the rock again. The next 3 days I'm off on a mini-break assessing a Mountain Leader Assessment for Plas Y Brenin.
Today John, Blair and I left Scotland early doors for a mini-break down south. Our final destination was Llanberis but only after a hit at Malham Cove. It was fantastic to be climbing in only a t-shirt but not so fantastic to have weak arms and fingers after a season of winter climbing. After falling off on a few routes it was just getting too cold to climb anything else so we headed back to the car and on the Wales.
Today I took Callum into the depths of Ben Nevis for him to develop his skills and confidence on steeper ground. Callum didn't want to do a route as such so we had a little tour around the crags and see what routes were in after the thaw. It turned out not very much. We started our journey at Number 5 Gully, headed up to the base of Glovers over some steep snow, traversed over to the Cascade and to number 2 Gully, down over to Comb Gully, up below Number 3 Gully, traversed below the Ciste and up and out of Number 4 gully. We abseiled back in off a snow bollard then dug several different snow anchors on the way back down. Lots of rock and ice had fallen into the coire. Very few routes were left after the thaw, as a result my MIC assessment was cancelled so I'm going down to Wales for a week of rock climbing in the sun! Hopefully it will be colder when I'm back.
Today I was back out with Jason and Willie, despite tired legs we opted for Ben Nevis again. The guys were keen for something of a similar grade to yesterday so I suggested Glovers Chimney (III,4). Conditions were damp again, with freezing level well above the summit and the snow and ice was slowly deteriorating. This meant that I found a brand new ice axe which is now in the post to its rightful owner. The ice pitch at the start was very mushy but still had good ice underneath and the top mixed pitch was fairly bare but had good ice choking the cracks. Jason knocked off a football sized rock from the chimney so be careful out there in the thaw. After getting to the gap, we finished up Tower Ridge and met Gaz and his team as they topped out on White Line. Comb Gully, Number 2 gully buttress, cascade all got climbed too. Today I was working for Abacus Mountaineering.