Tower Ridge

August 26th, 2010 • 2 comments Rock Climbing
Tags: Ben nevis, climbing, Nevis, Rock Climbing, scrambling

Sometimes there’s nothing for it: down tools and head for the hills.

I’ve wanted to take in Tower Ridge on the Ben for years now, and it finally occurred to me just to go and do it. An old mate, Andy Yuill was up for it and since he just finished his masters he actually had the time too. We met at the King’s house on tuesday night about ten minutes after the bar shut (poor planning) and minced for a while taking photos of the Buachaille while we polished off a couple of bottles of Deuchars that Andy had brought.

After a remarkably poor night’s sleep (top tip: don’t forget your sleeping bag) and breakfast at Morrison’s in Fort Bill we started the slog up to the CIC and the Douglas Boulder. The weather was pretty good but the rock still wet and slimy enough in places that soloing the VDiff direct route up the boulder in hiking boots and rucksacks had a little more spice than we’d signed up for…. It all went well though and the rope stayed in the bag, thanks in part to Andy’s technique of chucking a sling tied to your harness over any tiny nubbin that showed itself. I’m fairly sure that if you have to hold it in place it’s psychological protection at best, but it kept us happy enough at the time to carry on.

Once you get off the Douglas Boulder and onto Tower Ridge the ground gets much easier. With the rock at an easier angle and significantly drier we could put a lot more time into enjoying our position and less into bowel and bladder control. The weather towed with us from time to time but it was just playing, testing our resolve rather than teaching us a lesson. And it’d wouldn’t be a day out on the Ben without getting rained on at least a little, would it?

It was surprisingly quiet up there yesterday. We met two groups on the route: one couple gearing up at the bottom that never did seem to top out on the Douglas Boulder, and two lads on their third big ridge of the day and a bit of a mission. We could see a group of three on the North East Buttress from time to time and the occasional tourist poked their head over the skyline as we neared the top. It can’t be often that you get the north face of Nevis almost to yourself, and that combined with the lurking weather made the day all the better.

A fine route, finished with a wee dram on the summit and a spectacular sunset on the way down. You can’t really ask for much more. Except maybe a sleeping bag.

A grand day out on the Buachaille

May 27th, 2010 • 3 comments Hill walking, Rock Climbing
Tags: agag's groove, Buachaille, Buachaille Etive Mor, climbing, curved ridge, Glen Coe, glen etive, scrambling, solo, Stob Dearg, walking

I’ve spent the best part of the last two years living down in the Lake District, so it felt like a return to the motherland as we cruised up the A82 past Loch Lomond and onwards towards Glen Coe. The sun was splitting the skies and the hills through Bridge of Orchy and the Black Mount were looking magnificent, putting on a fine show for a long overdue reunion. As we came round the corner and sighted the Buachaille looming in the distance, I finally told Keith where we were going and what we were going to do.

Keith’s a good friend, an old friend. James and I nearly killed him on a walk up the Cobbler about four years ago (“just two more minutes!”), though he loved it afterwards and talked about it for months. Since then we’ve only ever managed gentle wanders together, normally with a group of his work colleagues who all appear to be scared of mud. Keith is moving to Sydney in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to take him up one of Scotland’s classics, show him what it was really all about. The idea was to give him a day to remember and hopefully not scare the crap out of him along the way, just give him some quality memories of the hills he would normally drive past. I thought that Curved Ridge would fit the bill.

I admit that I’ve also had a wee hankering to try to solo Agag’s Groove since trying to lead it a few years back and having to ab off to help a friend who was hit in the head by a falling rock. I chucked my rock shoes in my bag, telling myself I was just going to go and have a wee look at it – much too early in the season to be trying that sort of thing.

The car park was full to bursting, though we didn’t meet anyone on the walk in until we were directly below curved ridge. Keith has been putting in some serious fitness training in the years since our day out on the cobbler and was cruising on up there with a complete absence of swearing, complaining or whining. We stopped to say hello to a film crew making a movie called “a lonely place to die,” and moved on again quickly as they seemed busy (mostly snoozing).

Keith totally cruised up the initial steep start to the ridge, and any lingering concerns quickly evaporated. I’d brought a rope and enough gear to rig a belay just in case I was asking too much of him, but it was clear that it wasn’t going to be necessary. Far from being terrified he seemed to be loving every minute of it: excited, exhilarated, but moving confidently and I began to wish I’d dragged him up here years ago rather than accepting his excuses. We stopped for lunch on one of the large ledges across from the Rannoch wall and I pointed out some of the classic routes, embellished with tales from past days out. Then I got to Agag’s and damn, it looked perfect. Clear, dry, not a soul on the whole wall. I walked down the ledge to better pick out the route – inspecting it for another day when I’d try the solo.

Then I went down to the large block it starts from to check out the opening moves. I took my rock boots with me, just in case I fancied bouldering the start to see how it felt.

It felt good.

All of a sudden I was sitting on the large ledge at what would normally be the second belay, watching Keith watching me. The third pitch looked kind of steep looking up from the ledge, but looking fown from it the first two pitches also looked pretty steep. I’d heard that there was a bit of a hairy step out into a very exposed situation somewhere up there, and I hoped it was around what appeared to be a slightly overhanging bulge. I certainly didn’t want to have to climb over the bulge anyway. Nothing for it really, just got to suck it up and give it a go. It was faint in the distance, but I swear I could hear “you’re nuts,” being muttered in soft weegie tones somewhere nearby. I topped out the route below Crowberry Tower with a curious lack or relief but considerable satisfaction. It had felt good; controlled and comfortable rather than reckless and terrifying.

I think Keith got something very similar from his day when we topped out on Curved Ridge. He achieved something that he will remember for years to come, had a day that other days will be measured against. As he said himself, he raised the bar. I don’t doubt that the next time he drives past the Buachaille, he’ll feel a little differently about it. It’s a funny thing though, I spent two years thinking about that solo but at the end of the day I think I felt more satisfaction giving Keith his big day out than from my climb. It was, I think, a fitting farewell.

Patagonian Wanderings

May 11th, 2010 • 3 comments Around the World, Camping, Hill walking
Tags: Argentina, Camping, Chile, Patagonia, trekking, walking

It’s ironic really. You save all your pennies, finally book the Big Trip and fly out to Patagonia for four months of trekking through landscapes you’ve spent years reading about and dreaming about, and what happens? You time your trip of a lifetime to coincide with the best Scottish winter in 20 years…. Sounds like you guys have had a cracking winter!

Not that I’m complaining you understand.

Patagonia was still everything you could ever hope it would be. The landscapes really are as varied as they are magnificent: you can be walking among perfect towers of granite one week and boiling pools of mud and volcanoes the next. Sometimes surreal, often majestic and always beautiful.

I was down there working primarily on a landscape photography project (the exhibition opens next week in Keswick if anyone’s interested) but I thought that I’d try my hand at some video too, partly to try to broaden my horizons from a creative point of view, and partly because it was a great excuse to stop and put my bag down from time to time. Misha suggested I post the result on here so, well, here it is….

I hope you enjoy it.