26th & 27th March 2014 - Two Day Winter Skills Course

Loch Linnhe and Loch Eil from Aonach Mor

John visualising his self arrest

John practicing his self arrest

Digging a hasty pit

Enjoying a stunning first day

A lovely panoramic shot

The weather looking grim on Day 2

The crux peeking out between showers

Putting on crampons

John negotiating the narrow section of the ridge

Evidence of cornice collapse on Stob Ban

The weather clearing a little bit

The weather coming back in....again

I think its safe to say it has been an interesting winter. Interesting by the fact that the climbing conditions have been mostly rubbish, the avalanche count has been sky high and the number of days I have had off have been far too few!!! I have been running skills courses for West Highland college, and working at Outward Bound and Kilbowie in the meantime.

However, on Wednesday and Thursday I was out working with John, who I had the pleasure of guiding over the CMD arete during the summer. He had come back up to Bonnie Scotland from the Lake District for a 2 day Winter Skills course, and he was keen to be treated like a complete amateur. With this in mind, and with a decent forecast, we opted to take the easy route up Aonach Mor using the gondola. At the car park, we spent some time looking at winter kit and how I personally pack it in my bag and why. On the gondola we discussed pre-planning each winter day we go on, and discussed the necessity to look at weather and avalanche forecasts and to understand snow conditions in the lead up to your trip out.

Once we got out of the Gondola station we made our way towards the Nid Ridge, looking at boot skills, weather and snow interpretation and walking axe use. At the base of the ridge we found a likely spot to look at self-belays, which we practiced a few times, before progressing onto self-arrest techniques which we spent quite a lot of time practicing and refining. John certainly seemed to have great fun sliding around in the snow in all directions!

We had a quick snack and headed off up the ridge towards the fence posts, looking at different tactics when moving on snow (including avalanche prone slopes). We discussed avalanche awareness, and techniques to analyse the snow pack, including hasty pits, trench tests, axe plunges, slope angle and basic snow pack interpretation. John was thirsty for as much information as possible and we certainly crammed loads in.

We then made our way back down the line of the ski lift, looking at descent techniques and possible hazards under the snow. Time for tea and cake, and a recap of the day before discussing plans for Thursdays mountain day.

On Thursday, I picked John up nice and early, and we headed up Glen Nevis to have a look at our target of Stob Ban. It looked in reasonable condition, with enough snow cover to tick the final learning boxes which we required.

We made steady work going up the steep north face, finally reaching the top where the ground eases off. The wind was quite full on at times, with strong gusts making walking and talking a bit difficult. As we approached the crux of the ridge, we got our crampons and helmets out and discussed the different types of crampons, and the boot/crampon compatibility issues. After a bit of practice moving around in the crampons, we made our way up the mixed terrain and onto the short narrow section above. John took this all in his stride, easily overcoming the difficulties and thoroughly enjoying the challenge the ridge provided.

A quick jaunt up and onto the summit of Stob Ban for a spot of lunch, from which we enjoyed some fine views and a few more strengthening gusts of wind. Then down on our way to Mullach nan Corraine. We had great opportunities to discuss crampon and ice axe limitations, where and when to use this equipment and practicing putting them on and taking them off.

We made the summit of Corraine, and made a hasty exit as the wind and hail increased, making things a bit more difficult. A long stroll saw us safely back down to the car, where we had a bit of a recap of the two days to ensure that John had his expectations met by the course.

It was great to see John again, and we had a really enjoyable two days in the Scottish hills. It was lively, educational and exciting at the same time. Thanks John!

27th February 2014 - ATM Winter Workshops

Today i was working for West Highland college, running a basic winter skills day. I had john from outward bound shadowing me as he prepares for his winter ml, and two of the students have recently done a winter skills course with me so i used this opportunity to allow peer to peer learning by getting these guys to teach the others throughout the day. We based ourselves around the nid ridge on Aonach Mor, looking at snow pack analysis, testing and techniques. The wind really picked up and several inches of snow was deposited on us within a very short time frame. This additional soft snow also made self arrests near impossible, so we chased mike's helmet back down to a lower level and discussed basic avalanche awareness, and practiced some snow probe techniques. As the weather really turned fierce we headed for some lunch and a bit of a dry, after which we headed out and John ran a session on emergency shelters. We discussed the building of the shelters, dug some of our own and then discussed the pros, cons and application of emergency snow shelters, finishing off with a cracking buried bag snow shelter.we were then joined by dave and his team, and wrapped things up for the day with a debrief back at the college. A great day with John and the students, well done guys!!

19th February 2014 - Winter ML refresher & the Fort William Mountain Festival MRT fundraiser night

Today i headed up to Aonach Mor with Graham, John and Lawrence to refresh some winter ml rope work skills in preparation for their upcoming assessments. We headed up towards the Nid ridge, and found a suitable site to go over some sliding, before looking more in depth at winter anchors. The guys built snow bollards, buried axe anchors, practiced stomper belays and dug loads of bucket seats. Hopefully the day was good for them and gave some good pointers for the assessment. I have no doubt they will all pass no problem.

After tea and cake I heard home to prepare for the evening. I was the compere for the Lochaber Mountain Rescue fundraiser night at the Ben Nevis Inn as part of the fort William mountain festival. It was a great night, with some inspirational films bring shown, a fun raffle and a superb presentation by Joe Beaumont who has come from a serious climbing accident to take on some serious challenges that even fully able bodied people would seriously struggle to complete. We look forward to seeing Joe again later in the year as he completes one of these challenges. Read more of Joe's story here.

It was a really nice evening and great to see people turning up to support the team!! Check out the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Teams new revamped website for more information on what we do, where we do it and why!

The next few nights we will be at the festival in the Nevis Centre promoting the Carpe Diem zone which is offering people the chance to get free guiding on a number of routes to the top of Ben nevis with a qualified guide. In return, all wet ask is that at the top we spend some time picking up rubbish to leave a cleaner mountain for future visitors. The guiding day is on the 20th September 2014 and is in association with Friends of Nevis and the John Muir Trust, so why not come along to the exhibition area and get involved!!

Self arrest practice

John building a snow bollard

Furious digging to create a bucket seat

Beginning to build a buried axe belay

Joe Beaumont giving his presentation

14th February 2014 - winter skills up at Aonach Mor

Today was day two of the winter skills course with the first year students from the ATM course at West Highland college. I headed out with three of the students from yesterday to consolidate and expand upon the techniques we looked at yesterday. Due to the experience of the team i opted to focus our time on learning and discussing skills and strategies rather than going on a long journey. We headed up the gondola quite early,and i was keen to get the guys thinking about suitable venues, along with potential hazards and other considerations with forecasts in mind.

We spent the day looking further at kit, in particular boots and crampons. We practiced using the boots as tools on varying slopes, and looked at reserving energy and moving efficiently. We then dug hasty pits and explored the snow pack,getting the guys to consider what might be changing in the pack considering current conditions. We then found a good slope to practice self arrests, and the lads had a great session developing their techniques. We practiced on our backs, fronts, upside down, out of control and with no axe. All of which the guys had plenty of practice of.

We then looked at cutting steps both up and down slopes, managing a group and using snow proves before heading east to find a good vantage point from which we could look safely at the east face of the nid ridge and is substantial cornice and scarp slope, discussing features to look out for on a loaded slope.

Then it was back to the gondola station, beside which we found a cracking little spot to dig some emergency shelters, which the lads really enjoyed. A great end to a great day thanks guys for your banter and input over the two days!!