Me on Snowflake Photo credit Nadir Khan

Went to a brilliant new venue today for a spot of sport climbing.  Maybe one of the best sport crags in the country.... I joined Murdoch and we also had Nadir Khan, a talented photographer who was getting some photos for an up coming article in Climb magazine.  The gneiss at Goat Crag gave fantastic varied climbing and felt pretty sustained, even the easy routes!  We started on Hydrotherepy (6c+) to get warmed up then we both did Mactalla.  I got it on my second go and to be honest it is the best 7a+ I have ever climbed. Just amazing fun!  Murdoch went on to climb Fun Prow (8a), amazing effort! The Prow LH Finish (7c), also impressive and I did a  few more 6's to get a bit of mileage and have a bit of a rest.  Unfortunately before I could try anything else, the wind dropped and the midges came out in force.  We had to do a rapid crag evacuation!  Cant wait to get back!

Murdoch ready for his 8a

Murdoch cooling down on Snowflake

Murdoch on the Prow

Back to work today and the choice of venue was the sea cliffs of Elgol.  I took the Younger family, all of whom have never climbed on rock. Sophie, Malcolm, Elizer and Annabel all kept hopes high as we walked in through the rain and climbed Fertility Right (Severe) in the rain.  Fortunately the rain subsided and the rock dried super quickly some everyone climbed Fertility Left (VS 4c) and we finished on one of the classics of the crag Jamie Jampot (VS 4c).  Unsurprisingly we had the crag to ourselves, we had a great view of the Cuillin and turned out to be a brilliant day.  Its hard not to love climbing when you climb at Elgol!

With the weather being horrendous on the west coast, I headed over to the sunny side of the country to meet up with Murdoch, Gaz and Andy for some sport climbing.  We went to Brin rock, a very exposed crag, where we were getting a blasting from the full force of the wind.  I warmed up on Captains of Crush (6c) which is a great little route and then made a speedy onsight of The One and Only (7a).  It had to be speedy as I only had 3 minutes to climb before a band of rain hit us.  I climbed through the crux quickly but got massively pumped but fortunately there was a good rest to use before the final moves and clipping the chain.  A really good steep route on fingery holds.  I then had a couple of goes on Pink Wall (7b) which is just amazing climbing.  Unfortunately I didn't get it but I think it will go in another trip.  Shame its so far away!  I finished off by climbing The One and Only again but was a bit pumped so had a brief rest on the way up.  Another new crag for me with more fantastic sport climbing! Here's a picture of me on The One and Only from Murdoch's camera.

A slightly disappointing day today due to uncontrollable circumstances. I was out with Nigel who was keen to summit the Northern 3 Munros on Skye. Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir and Bruach na Frithe.  We knew from the off set it was to be windy, grass was pushed horizontal, streams were spraying water onto us as we walked by, my sun glasses were blow off my head and taken to the depths below. On arrival to the base of Sgurr nan Gillean, the wind was strong, accelerated over the col, we pressed on but only to be blown to the ground. We were not going up today. We salvaged the day by summiting Bruach na Frithe and left Am Bastier for a calmer day.  Rain on the ridge is manageable, strong gust on the ridge is playing with fire! I didn't want to get burnt! As disappointing it is to bail out of an objective, it is good to come back in one piece knowing that the mountain will be there for an ascent another time.

Nigel enjoying a bit of shelter

Looks nice but the wind was howling through

Sunny over there but not here

No view on our fisrt peak

Best view of the 2 days

After an absence of ridge traverses, today I was back up there. We made another successful two day traverse. Unfortunately the weather was less than optimal. Visibility on the tops was down between 10m-50m, sometimes more, but mostly less. The first day was damp and dank, meaning a bypass on the TD Gap and Kings chimney. The Inn Pinn went fine. We bivied near Sgurr a Ghreadaidh after a full day of moving steadily through the mist and moisture. We were blessed with a peaceful and dry night but woke to mist and the threat of rain. After 10 minutes if setting off it rained...and it did so all day. The rock was slimy, simple sections became icy ponds, slabs became death traps. Our eyes were on stalks and our concentration levels became almost tiring. We pressed on, slowly and surely, the thought of bailing was ever present but I kept it locked down. Safety was my main concern, Andy and Pete were still smiling and happy to make progress. We pressed on. The intensity of the rain increased and decreased throughout the day, boots were full of water, gloves were soaked and the rope doubled its weight with the water. Our finishing point was the Sligahan where we were greeted with a round of applause, a round of beer and a round of whiskey. It was worth it! Not one view from any of the summits. The magic of the Cuillin was hidden from us this time. I don't need to put too many photos up because it was just grey!

Evening clearing

Home sweet home

Alan laughing at his own jokes again

Perfect mountain cragging conditions

Alan cruising up the 3 star classic

Me leading up Spider Right Hand

Murdoch cruising up another E5

Today was a 'one route day' for us as we had to get back to Fort William and go for a swim in the Lochain.  We climbed Sumo (E3 5c) which was a brilliant route up the Far East Wall giving all 3 of us a great pitch.  It was great to see the mountain crags busy with teams on many or the other classics in the coire.  A brilliant location and cant wait to et back here and climb some of the classic routes.

Finally arrived at the lochain

Fortunatly the weather is holding so we decided to cash in on the fantastic mountain cragging Scotland has to offer.  Blair, Nona and I went to Beinn Eighe for a two day trip.  I have only every climbed here in winter, climbing on two of the Triple Buttresses, East Buttress and Central Buttress.  As we had a long walk-in from our night in the Ling Hut, we opted for a route on Eastern Ramparts.  Blair has done most routes so we went for the 2 star routes he hasnt done, firstly Pale Rider (E1 5b) and then Paleface Wall (E3 5c).  After these I headed into my bivi bag where I had the most unpleasant night in the mountains ever!  With a combination of midges and heat!

2nd pitch of Pale Rider

Blair ....smiling!