Having moved to the Alps and lockdowns becoming a popular decision and flight restrictions were in full force, I sourced alternative income and tried to get into the mountains as much as I could. The ski lifts were closed so everywhere we went we had to walk, skin and ski. The mountains were quiet and some of the ice climbing was in amazing condition. We took mini breaks sport climbing and ice climbing and many day trip skiing in between work stints. The great part of lift closure is that we are forced to seek out new areas and put the vertical meters in ourselves ..read more

With the global pandemic taking hold across the world we have all taken the opportunity to discover aspects of our lives which we may give little or no attention. Lockdown’s aplenty have meant our ‘normal’ has been disrupted, sometimes for good and sometime for a depressing out look. My previous post was in March as I took the opportunity to branch away from the confinement of my computer and enjoy the lockdown restrictions as well as I could. With a few months off work I was still eager to get out into the hills, climb and explore so when the ‘green lights’ were given we did exactly that ..read more

“Hard Rock is the best of British Climbing” This evolution is the 4th edition on the Hard Rock series. An outstanding collection of British rock climbs that Ken Wilson has deemed as an important library of routes. The collection spawned from when the first edition was published in 1974, over 5 decades of evolution.  If you are not familiar with the previous editions then you will be informed in the opening pages as to where the vision and fantasy came from.  How many have you climbed? The Hard Rock ‘ticking’ bonanza had been created, now many rock climbers are aspiring to tick ‘t ..read more

With COVID-19 taking quite a hold across Asia and into Europe, my first ski touring trip in the Alps was starting to look doubtful. We were due to go to the Queyras, an area we hadn’t been to before. I spent weeks planning this trip but the plan was suddenly slipping through our fingers. I was in the Lake District, visiting family before jumping on the ferry for 7 weeks of ski touring. From Cumbria, I decided to make the call that we wouldn’t go to the Alps. I proposed a week of skiing in the Highlands. Given that 2 members of the 4 strong team had already dropped out, they were happy to rejoi ..read more

7th March 2020 Nope, it wasn’t me this time. And neither of these two achievements had my involvement other than encouragement but they were the successes of the winter for Lou Reynolds (my girlfriend). She worked tirelessly this winter to get herself in shape for the British Mountain Guides (BMG) Winter Test. I’m really pleased for her. An 6 day undertaking where the assessors push your capabilities as far as they can go to prepare you for a lifetime of guiding and the next steps of the Mountain Guide training process. This is a pass, defer or fail test. Lou and Phil Stevens were the only tw ..read more

February 23rd 2020 I always look forward to the ice climbing trips in Norway and this season was no exception. I knew it wasn’t going to be the ‘best’ season, because like Scotland, it had been quite warm and snowy. So not the best recipe for building great ice conditions. However, we knew of good reliable places and we explored some new venues and were able to climb plenty of routes. I was out for two weeks and I just managed to land before Storm Ciara did her worst. Unfortunately, none of the guest’s made it and they all experienced diversions, delays, cancelled flights and some didn’t even ..read more

February started with a couple of foul days, the sort of days I wanted to sit on my hands and give the drying room some respite. Fortunately the foul weather gave way to some reasonable icey conditions on Ben Nevis. I have had many days arranged with Alan this season but for one reason or another we haven’t been able to climb in good conditions. Fortunately we managed to get a good route in on Ben Nevis. Our first plan was Comb Gully (IV,4), the Cold Climb classic but we were pipped at the post by one climber and his mate. Fortunately there is plenty of good climbing in the vicinity so we went ..read more

Sitting here writing about all the things I have done since my last post may well seem like quite a lot. And it is. But it still seems that the winter here in Scotland hasn’t really built a great deal of momentum. We’re currently undergoing a thaw which has pretty much completely stripped the Cairngorms of its snow but hopefully it will help build ice on Ben Nevis. As November and December are typically quiet times of the year, we make the most of going climbing in the mountains if they are cold, hostile and snowy. I climbed some great routes with Murdoch and fortunately the weather wasn’t hos ..read more

Are you ready for it? Crampons checked, ice axes sharpened, gloves dug out! I had barely landed from America and the snow was on the way. Like most cases early season, the winter conditions in Scotland come and go. I managed to grab 3 days of good climbing before the thaw arrived. So a good start to the season. First up was Hobgoblin (IV,7) on Number 3 Gully Buttress on Ben Nevis with Tim Oliver. With the freezing level at about 950m, we had to go to a cliff which was high and fortunately it was cold and covered in snow. We did 4 brilliant pitches of early season mixed climbing to bring us ont ..read more

With a reasonable amount of down time between summer and winter, we decided to take 3 weeks in America to enjoy some of the brilliant rock climbing. Our plan was to share our time between Colorado and as it got cooler, head to the desert so sandstone climbing. The desert was the highlight of the trip, this diverse and in many respects, hostile area is home to a wealth of climbing, culture and history. A beautiful place to stay, camp, socialise and relax after a good days climbing. We mostly focused our attention to the single pitch cliffs and difficult crack climbs but some days we explored th ..read more