Turning around

Objective: NC Gully **(II), Glen Coe

Day 5 dawns and marks our final day on the winter mountaineering course. Thoughts of blisters vanish with excitement as Clive arrives and announces that he thinks we are ready for something a bit tougher – we each trade in our walking ice axe for a pair of technical ice climbing tools from the storeroom at the hotel.

Lay: To be honest my feet are in a bad way today – Ali has done a great job of patching them up with Compede and padding but the long walk in takes its toll. In the grand scale of things the pain isn’t that bad but my heels are red raw – still I only have to get through today and then I can take it easy on my feet for a while.

Progress is slow for me on anything but the flat path – Ali and Jonathan are striding out ahead happily talking together. I am in my own world of pain, finding even the easiest of terrain difficult. Clive has dropped some way back behind me, perhaps to give me some space but I suspect he is assessing my ability to continue. Well that’s fine – I’m not giving up and continue the plod upwards determined to have a crack at some technical climbing.

As we reach the snow line I take the lead and dig deep pushing ahead of our group. Unknown to me Clive raises his concerns with Ali below and they discuss how I would react to being turned around. Ali responds by saying that she knows I won’t quit but if he calls a halt I will respect his decision.

We reach the coire at the foot of NC gully and we stop for a break. Clive takes me to one side – I suspect what he is about to say. We discuss the route – I am more worried by the broken scree leading to the gully rather than the technical climbing. He is kind enough to say that he thinks that he can get me up but since we are already an hour late to this point we will probably be descending the mountain in the dark. The choice is mine – however, I know that there is only one real option – I should descend. We decide that Ali and I will turn around together and Clive and Jonathan will attempt NC Gully alone.

I feel disappointed but it’s the right decision – I encourage Ali to go with them but she is not having any of it – we do it together or not at all. Our party splits and Ali and I make surprisingly quick progress back to the car.

At 4pm we sit in the Landrover and watch as Clive and Jonathan return from a successful ascent. We all head to the Clachaig Inn for a final beer together and to discuss our future plans.

“Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are nothing without prudence” - Edward Whymper

Ledge Route, Ben Nevis

Objective: Ledge Route ***(II), Ben Nevis. First ascent by an SMC party, Easter 1897

Day 4 and we head back to the CIC hut in high spirits as today we tackle the best route at its grade on The Ben. On the path ahead we catch sight of a Ptarmigan - an odd little bird in it's white winter plumage that appears to prefer walking away, under the camouflage of falling snow, rather than summoning the energy to fly.

At the hut we again take a short break – Lay offers eagerly to eat an old Mars Bar that Clive finds unappetisingly squashed in a recess in his rucksack – well it has been to the summit of Kilimanjaro!

From the hut we rope up at the foot of the mighty Carn Dearg buttress rising almost vertically from Coire na Ciste. Our intended route is to bypass the lower reaches of the buttress by starting up Number 5 Gully immediately to its left and then traversing rightwards.

Clive leads, followed by Jonathan, Lay and this time Ali is at the back. We move together quickly up the beginning of the gully - No.5 is prone to avalanches and Clive is keeping a careful watch out.

The pace is sapping on the legs and a tricky ice step looms ahead. Lay swings his ice axe high above his head and gains comfort from the solid "whack" sound as the pick digs securely into the ice above the step. With a strong arm pull, a grunt and three front pointed steps he is over the obstacle and moving ahead to belay Ali.

Lay’s concerns that the step may be too high for Ali quickly evaporate as she hauls herself up – she is confident in the rope and commits herself to the move.

We continue upwards and with relief move out of the gully onto a gentle ramp leading above the Carn Dearg buttress. The ramp leads out above the top of The Curtain onto a broad, almost horizontal ledge which fades out to the right. Clive picks a sheltered spot for us to regroup. He sits, surrounded by a curtain of three foot icicles hanging from the rock wall behind him, to admire the view out across the north face of Ben Nevis.

All too soon we leave the security of the ledge behind us and venture out to traverse a steep snow slope – Lay marvels at the exposure and looks back to share the moment with Ali but she is engrossed in watching her footwork.

The route now follows the ridge and is in places very narrow – we are exposed to the wind here. At the top of one pinnacle Lay ducks his head for protection against a particularly strong gust of wind. Clive is similarly sheltered by rock but between them, in the middle of the snow covered ridge, Jonathan bears the full force. Unable to advance or retreat by the tight rope he is forced onto all fours, digs in with his ice axe and has no option but to wait for the wind to abate.

We press on feeling that we are on similar terrain to that which we enjoy for summer scrambling. Exposed but secure in the rope. A further connecting ridge eventually leads us to the summit of Carn Dearg where we can again regroup for a photo.

Lay is slow in the descent above the zig zags – with the adrenaline of the climb gone his focus has shifted to the pain of his blisters. Over steep mixed ground, uncramponed he is struggling to keep up. There is some relief as a short section is passed by a seated glissade – great fun to be sliding through the snow using the axe as a brake. A great end to a memorable winter day on The Ben.

Aonach Mor

Objective: Skills and practice day on Aonach Mor

Today marks the half way point of our winter mountaineering course and promises to be an easier day than yesterday. Today we focus on crossing ice, snow belaying and avalanche awareness.

To make life easier we take the Gondola up the flanks of Aonach Mor. Strapping on crampons we practice crossing frozen water ice - at first Clive's instruction about positive foot placements seems counter intuitive - all our previous experience tells us to tread anywhere but directly on ice. However, it's quite a remarkable feeling to stamp each boot onto the bare ice - the crampon points bite easily in to provide a secure footing. Within a few minutes our confidence has increased and we are happily front pointing up quite steep ice.

Next Clive gives us an introduction to avalanche awareness. We discuss slope assessment and hazard evaluation and the effects of past and present weather on the snowpack. We get hands on by digging a snow pit and checking for weak layers and finally perform a hand sheer test.

Now we have a good idea of the stability of our chosen slope we can move out into the middle to practice snow belays - various methods to protect a party descending a steep snow slope.

First up is the bucket seat belay which requires a lot of digging with the adze of the axe - perhaps a good reason to bring a snow shovel. Once constructed the bucket seat proved remarkably strong - indeed it easily held three people's weight on the rope. However, any snow anchor is only as strong as the snow its constructed in. Today we have ideal neve snow but that wont always be the case so we reinforce the bucket seats with a horizontal buried axe indirect belay.

Next we look at a Stomper belay which is much quicker to construct as it simply involves burying the axe vertically in the snow and holding it in place by standing on it. Quick but not as secure. That said a similar belay was successfully used by Pete Schoening 8000m up K2 in 1953 to halt five men sliding simultaneously for nearly a hundred metres down a 45-degree slope. A feat that earned him the nickname "Mr Belay".

Finally we look at constructing snow bollards which have the advantage of not leaving any gear on the hill during descent.

During our day it was interesting to note how much snow a party climbing 200m above us dislodged as they kicked steps. By the time it fell down to us it was moving at a blistering pace and we were glad to be wearing climbing helmets!

"Practice is the best of all instructors" - Publilius Syrus, first century B.C.

The camaraderie of the rope

Objective: Ascent of a gully on the north face of Ben Nevis

Only day 2 and Lay is suffering with heel blisters from his new boots. Probably caused by having the laces too loose yesterday rather than any inherent fit problem. We strapped them up as best we could and hope that they don't get too much worse.

Today we head for The Ben, the highest mountain in Britain. We head up the recently improved path along the side of Allt a' Mhuilinn stream. Sweat is the enemy in winter so we have to force ourselves to keep the pace nice and slow. Eventually the path terminates at the CIC hut and mountain rescue post (GR 167 722). The hut was originally built in 1929 as a memorial to Charles Inglis Clark who died during the first world war but has since been upgraded to include a wind generator and solar panels but alas no toilet!

From outside the hut we peer into Coire Na Ciste and the semi circular amphitheatre of rock that rises from its head - welcome to the north face of Ben Nevis! Well we came in search of winter experience and it looks like there is more here than we can handle. Glad we have Clive to show us the ropes. We walk thoughtfully but purposefully up into the coire.

Pausing briefly to attach crampons we discuss the route. Our objective is the easiest gully hereabouts - the unimaginatively named Number 4 Gully a simple winter grade I snow plod which is currently hidden from view making us a little apprehensive.

As we round a corner the gully comes into view but is already chocked with climbers which will slow our pace considerably. Clive suggests an alternative - it's neighbour - Number 3 Gully - at Grade II a more serious proposition. We discuss it and agree that whilst the overhanging cornice may force us to retreat we'll have a crack at it!

We traverse the steep snow slope practicing kicking our steps with boot edges but unlike yesterday we do this now with crampons. We zig zag up to the foot of the gully unroped. Ali is aware of, but trying her best to ignore, the exposure and is employing a no slip philosophy! Lay is feeling confident after yesterday's self arrest practice but has a firm grip of his ice axe.

We stop to rope up as a four. Clive leading, then Lay, Ali and Jonathan. Each of us kicking to reinforce the steps made by the previous person. It feels good to be on the rope together both as a security measure and a symbol of our little team.

As we work our way up the right hand side of the gully the ground steepens and Clive is forced to cut out pigeon steps with his axe. Twenty metres from the top we dig in to secure ourselves while Clive continues up to inspect the cornice - in a flash he is over the top and fixing a belay. A tug on the rope and Lay knows its time to tackle the crux of the route.

The Ben is notorious for bad weather - in an average year its top is shrouded in cloud for over 300 days. Today we emerge from Number 3 Gully into glorious sunshine. We've done it! Exhilarated we walk to the summit feeling like part of an exclusive club of real mountaineers. Its been 24 years since Lay was last here with his dad. We pause on the summit to watch climbers completing Kellett's route (Grade VI***)

Stob Coire Nan Lochan (1,115m)

Objective: Practice crampon and ice axe techniques on the gentle snow slopes above Glen Coe.

We parked Clive's 1978 Landrover in the layby on the A82 (GR 168 569) from where Stob Coire Nan Lochan dominates the view to the south west between Aonach Dubh and Gearr Aonach

We start with a short descent to the river Coe following a series of steep wooden steps, which required care in rigid new four season boots, down to a footbridge (GR 174 564). From here it's a long steady ascent up a well defined path on the left bank of the frozen Allt Coire Gabhail.

After about an hour the path levels into a massive flat valley which was hidden from view below. We have entered the "lost valley" (GR 164 554) - a hanging valley formed by the weight of ice unable to escape as the last ice cap flowed down to the sea through the pass of Glen Coe from off Rannoch Moor.

The valley is known locally as Coire Gabhail or "Coire of the Capture" as reputedly it was where the MacDonald's hid the cattle that they had rustled from neighbouring, more wealthy, clans. In summer the valley is transformed into a grassy meadow - a Highlander's Shangri La perhaps - but now, in winter, it's a barren and windy place. We shelter behind a large boulder and share a sandwich and a flask of hot chocolate.

We cross the flat valley floor moving quickly over the glacial moraine. The head of the valley is truncated by a buttress of Bidean Nam Bian but we turn westward before reaching it and continue our ascent until finally reaching the snowline and another flat area enclosing a series of lochan (small lakes) at 875m (GR 148 544) some two hours after leaving the car park.

It is a relief to see so much snow up here! It feels firm and compacted underfoot. Later we will learn that this type is called Neve or melt freeze snow and is usually forms a very stable layer.

Clive instructs us on how to strap on our crampons. Ali has borrowed a pair of winter boots from the Adventure Peaks storeroom at the hotel and I have just bought a pair of Millet Alpinist 4 season boots - I am feeling a bit self conscious as they are bright red and show no scuff marks yet!

On a gentle 30 degree slope we practice walking with spikes on our feet for the first time - using a wide gait to avoid snagging our waterproof over trousers - John Wayne impressions fill the air.

We practice "French Technique" or flat footing - ensuring that all our points enter the snow at the same time regardless of the angle of slope, "German Technique" or front pointing and a hybrid called "American Technique" where the uphill foot front points and the downhill foot flat foots - a seemingly efficient way to directly ascend moderate slopes.

For stability we plunge the spike of our ice axe vertically into the snow on the uphill side with the adze pointing forward and changing hands each time we change direction.

Without crampons we practice cutting steps with the edges of our boots and basic self arrest techniques using the ice axe.

With practice over we rope up as a four to tackle steeper ground leading to the col between Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Nan Lochan (GR 146 544).

At the col we unrope, turn north east and plod up the gentle snow ridge to reach our objective - the summit of Stob Coire Nan Lochan pausing briefly to remove crampons on the mixed ground before the top.

A quick summit photo and we need to descend before the light fades - down the north ridge, past some more lochans (GR 153 552) and gaining a path down through Coire Nan Lochan. A long descent with the car park visible from over 3km away!

Ballachulish

We arrived at the Ballachulish hotel in Glen Coe, our base for the week, around 5pm today. (http://www.ballachulishhotel.com/)

Worryingly the snow cover on the surrounding hills looks very lean and we are both a little concerned about how much winter mountaineering experience we will actually get this week.

We met up with our instructor, Clive Roberts, for a pre-course briefing and equipment check. Clive's unassuming nature hides both his depth of experience and his laconic Irish wit. He has recently returned from successfully leading a group of Adventure Peaks clients to the summit of Kilimanjaro (5,895m)

Scotland bound

En route to Glencoe to start our winter mountaineering course with http://www.adventurepeaks.com/ we called in on Clare and Tony in the Lake District. Taking advantage of the sunshine they took us on a great walk up to Allcock Tarn - thanks guys!