I hadn’t been winter climbing before. Sure I’d been walking in the snow, even on some iced turf in the hills, but axes and crampons were something entirely new to me and I wanted in.
Some mates in my university mountaineering club who’d been the previous year were planning a trip and asked some of us winter noobs wanted to go. I’d seen their posts form last year and jumped at the chance!
So we all met and talked about gear (as we all love to do), the usual cold weather attire of course, head torches for descending in the dark, enough food and drink for possibly an epic etc.. The climbing gear was the mostly the same as for multi pitch trad routes which I’d done a bit of in the past, but then we came to boots. It was then that the letters and numbers started flowing, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, C3 T rated… I was introduced to the crampon/boot combinations B1 boots are normal walking boots but stiffer and take a C1 crampon that straps on. B2 boots are stiff and have an attachment at the heel for better crampon fit, these take C2 (see a pattern here?) crampon and are more secure on steeper ground and edges. Lastly B3 boots are pretty much solid, insulated, and have attachments at both the toe and heel for a C3 crampon. These are for the proper climbs. Don’t even start on axes! That is for another day. So we thought we’d better have a dry run to make sure we were all on the same page. We roped up in one of our gardens and traversed from the patio to the washing line and back, using proper calls. ON BELAY! form the bush. CLIMBING! then SAFE! at the stance by the wall. THATS MEEEE! and so on. It was mad fun.
We flew from Dublin to Glasgow then drove up to Fort William, and after stopping at the Aldi settled in at the hostel. A couple of us had left a few days before and were already sampling the winter conditions. When we arrived we found out that they had yet to return from a traverse of the Aonach Eagach ridge! Slightly disconcerting. We managed to get hold of them and make sure they were alive and on the way down, but it was already 23:00! A true Scottish epic.
The next day we split up, myself and the other summer softies went on a day course with a winter mountaineering instructor to learn about avalanche risk, moving on snow and ice and what to do if you fall and start sliding. Even on the Nevis range ski area we were dealing with near white out conditions at times. After the training day I felt that now I really wanted to get out there and do some classic routes!
The weather wasn’t in our favour, warm and moist conditions meant that the routes were rather slushy, not frozen peat and hard compact show. We decided to go for a very easy grade II route CMD arete. Taking the ridge line opposite the North face of Ben Nevis with stunning views back down the valley and across to the gullies and ridges on the Ben. The terrain was mostly level after the gentle climb at the start, steepening for the final climb to the summit of Ben Nevis (the highest peak in the UK) . We didn’t make it easy for ourselves by bringing far too much gear that was not needed! Looking back there was no way we would have needed a rope! Once at the top the wind chill froze our gloves and jackets solid in seconds! Time to head down, as the day drew in. We slogged down the ‘tourist track’ in the fading light slipping and sliding on wet show patches as we went. Legs burning from the constant descending and mentally drained from focusing on every step on the wet path else go flying. Finally we returned to the road and the hostel in the dark ready for whatever dinner we could throw together and bed. Epic.
Day 3 we started early, driving to Glen Coe (quite possibly the finest view in Scotland) with the objective of climbing Curved ridge III. We’d all been together on the previous days adventure but now we were just 4, the others saying in bed. Bless.
It was raining from the go. Fantastic! Squelching in the boots already during the walk in does little for the moral. Still we could see the line, or so we thought. So up we went. Our route seemed to be half waterfall to begin with, and the rain still fell. We kept going up and up until the ground got steep, so steep that we thought it a good idea to use the rope. Minor issue was we hadn’t put our harnesses on already, so had to balance on little rock ledges while removing them from our packs and donning them. Lesson learned. After roping up we moved in 2s, either moving together or pitching sections. It felt harder than it should and we seemed to have moved off the ridge and right into a small gulley. Route finding mistake noted. It was at this point we came to a strange bit. At the top of this little gulley section there was a little lip then a flat that joined the main ridge again, however the lip was smooth rock and while only a single move was very awkward in the loose snow. To protect this move We set up an unusual belay anchor inside a small cave under the lip to prevent me falling down the gulley. Maybe it was only a psychological protection, the gear was not very good… it was never tested as I grovelled my way over the lip. Joining the proper ridge again the going was a lot easier! The final section was a snow slope, nothing but foot foot hand hand foot foot hand hand and so on. It was amazing how out of condition snow feels when trying to kick steps into it at a 45 degree angle, very insecure. The elation at the top was quickly savoured as we froze solid in the wind. The way down was again via a track, the lower section of which had been reclaimed by a stream. We just walked knee deep in the water, at this point we were wet through any way. Another descent in the dark!
And that was it for the trip. We’d made the best of not so ideal conditions, learned some lessons that would make future trips run smoother, and had a real type 2 fun hit! There wasn’t a night back in the hostel where we weren’t all laughing and recollecting the days events, even the ones who’d been out on the ridge the day we arrived and got back to the hostel at mid night came through the door with smiles on their faces!
On the way home someone asked me “so what did you think of this winter climbing then?”
I replied:
“I’m hooked”
Fun Once Its Done 