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We had a pretty good view of the ridge and only saw one walker the whole day. To be fair, it was touch and go whether it would be white enough and I'm sure lots of people wouldn't have wanted to take the chance. Taking the chance worked out this time but it doesn't always!
Well that was a weekend of contrast. A day at Stac Pollaidh, one of the most easily accessible winter crags in Scotland then a day on Beinn Dearg (Ullapool) featuring a 4hr walk in and 3hr walk out in heavy snow.
So this weekend and next week..... Tell me
Got the week off and were thinking Udlaidh then Cairngorms but the forecast is now for immense snow near Tyndrum and apparently Ullaidh isn't in as it's been too dry.
Metcheck is also forecasting Cairngorm warming up next week too.
Clearly the forecast at present have insane levels of uncertainty, but it's not looking ideal currently
Anyone got any suggestions on a decent destination for easier (3&4) climbing ?
@spin - in your 3rd pic, is that a pair of Mt Equip Guide gloves, the ones with the pile lining? I'm surprised they're warm enough.
in your 3rd pic, is that a pair of Mt Equip Guide gloves, the ones with the pile lining
No idea TBH. He climbs in a weird mix of stuff!
Got the week off and were thinking Udlaidh then Cairngorms but the forecast is now for immense snow near Tyndrum and apparently Ullaidh isn't in as it's been too dry.
Met Office doesn't seem to be forecasting big snow in that area. If the ice isn't in then Southern Highlands mixed like Beinn an Dothaidh should be fine. Glencoe looks decent too.
Met Office doesn't seem to be forecasting big snow in that area.
Yep. It keeps changing at one point metcheck had 70cm for next week, but it has since calmed down.
If the ice isn't in then Southern Highlands mixed like Beinn an Dothaidh should be fine.
Yep, that was exactly our plan.
Glencoe looks decent too.
Hmmm. Less convinced on this score. Desperate mixed climbs seem to be 'in' but with the caveat that there's almost no ice to glue things together and everything is shockingly loose
Less convinced on this score. Desperate mixed climbs seem to be 'in' but with the caveat that there's almost no ice to glue things together and everything is shockingly loose
Only if you go to crags with loose rock. The Buchaille is pretty solid in most places.
Good point well made 🙂
I've got the chance to go climbing with a guide on Saturday/Sunday AM in the Fort William area, not sure what is planned. It'd mean a 9hr drive Friday afternoon/night and all day back on Sunday. I'm on the fence atm, is it going to be awesome enough to be worth that much driving?
I've got the chance to go climbing with a guide on Saturday/Sunday AM in the Fort William area, not sure what is planned. It'd mean a 9hr drive Friday afternoon/night and all day back on Sunday. I'm on the fence atm, is it going to be awesome enough to be worth that much driving?
Current conditions look decent, MWIS looks decent for the weekend, SAIS looks ok with sensible precautions. Impossible to say it will be awesome, but I suspect getting out somewhere this weekend might be better than not.
@molgrips if you're with a guide I'd say conditions will be pretty good and therefore a great opportunity to use their experience to get something decent done.
I've got the chance to go climbing with a guide on Saturday/Sunday AM in
Saturday looks good. Sunday looks awful on met office and definitely not a day I'd go out on. MWIS not up yet. So I guess it's down to whether you think it's worth that drive for one good day.
I'm thinking conditions look to be deteriorating significantly. We're currently thinking of rerouting to Norway instead. If wbo is about and fancies opining on conditions there then I'm all ears.
So far it looks like it's been shit in rjukan but hopefully will get better in the freeze.
Birifeltet looked reasonable and suggests good things further north.
Oppdal was good according to AshleyZ, but is a helluva drive and I don't have the guidebook. Thinking of going to Ringebu and checking out the Otta stuff.
Other option is Dolomites but it looks to be warming up there and I don't know the area that well.
Saturday looks good. Sunday looks awful on met office and definitely not a day I'd go out on. MWIS not up yet
Great input spin. What's your view on midweek next week? I'm seeing plus2 on metcheck in most places but up to +7 or 8 on Met office for First William etc. Am I being overly pessimistic to say that's not a forecast to be booking a week off work for?
<I appreciate that there are two slightly parallel parts to this with both grips and me asking the same thing for different dates>
What's your view on midweek next week? I'm seeing plus2 on metcheck in most places but up to +7 or 8 on Met office for First William etc. Am I being overly pessimistic to say that's not a forecast to be booking a week off work for?
Hard to call, as you know! One of the reasons I live where I do is so that I don't need to think about booking weeks off and can just do day or weekend trips.
There's an awful lot happening from Sunday onwards and also the usual forecast uncertainty.
A big dump, with high winds, on places that already have 'considerable' avalanche risk followed by rising temps is not a great combo and makes for complicated decision making. Wind in the south will mean that many crag aprons and top outs will be loaded.
I think that if you could come up north and be super flexible you'd get stuff done but it would require a lot of careful thought and potentially some driving around.
I'm worried that Saturday will just be waist deep powder and not much of actual climbing. Am I wrong?
I'm worried that Saturday will just be waist deep powder and not much of actual climbing. Am I wrong?
I've not been out in the FW area so I can't offer much insight into conditions. There certainly doesn't look to be much ice about and there is a lot of soft snow in places.
Can you get in touch with the guide and ask what the options are?
The snow has been heavily wind distributed in the places I've been and some areas a bit further south have much less snow so it may be that they know of some less wadey options. They may even know of some in condition ice. Ice has formed in some mid altitude places so it's not impossible.
With so many options of altitude, aspect and venue type a guide really should be able to come up with the goods on a day like Saturday.
Did you go Molgrips? Shat out quite a lot earlier on Skye than forecast.
Blea Tarn today was bloody marvelous. Never ever seen so many people on one climb. I reckon about 40 people on Birketts at one point. Guess perhaps 60 people climbed it in total.
People relaying messages up and down the crag constantly and climbing 3 abreast in loads of places. Sounds absolutely hellish but it worked really well apart from one old tool who kept getting lowered down various pitches from the top to top rope them, oblivious to people leading up.
After the rush....
Two days on Bla Bheinn. The good weather photos are from the first day! Had planned to go down Glen Brittle but road was shut due to sheet ice.
Stunning
Blea Tarn today was bloody marvelous. Never ever seen so many people on one climb. I reckon about 40 people on Birketts at one point. Guess perhaps 60 people climbed it in total.
I was astonished to see two other parties on the same crag as us. Of course we knew all of them!
Joking aside, I'd love to do a winter route in the Lakes at some point. Specifically, Bowfell Buttress.
Well there's some ice at least!
Going to take a punt on some NW ice on Sunday but not massively confident.
Nice in the Northern Corries today- although new snow still quite soft, less secure placements. 
Jerbil V,5** in Coire na Caime on Liathach today. Worthwhile route, great day out.
^^^ looks like a fab day out.
It's a brilliant corrie that and hardly anyone goes there. Jerbil was pretty much the only thing in nick above grade II yesterday. It was bloody windy going along the ridge to get to the descent gully!
I'm going to be in Aviemore this coming weekend and potentially free on Sunday, if anyone's keen and needs a partner for something not too tricky (~grade 3) in the area - not necessarily the Corries.
Keeping an eye on the forecast for now.
Looking like some stuff could be coming good by the weekend and not just in the usual places.
Wee jaunt into Seana Bhraigh yesterday. Not very good nick and pretty windy as you'll see from the last photo! A great place to be though and solitude guaranteed. Had a night at the Schoolhouse bothy and rode our bikes as well.
Anyone fancy doing something in the Aviemore area week after next (16th on)? My nephew can't come.
Good pictures. We're just finishing week 5 of consistently subzero conditions so a lot of stuff is 'in' , but it's barely snowed and most of what was there has sublimated so we're in the interesting position of climbing stuff that's a streak of ice, surrounded by green grass, moss and trees. No white at all
If I put pictures of this on UKC a lot of people would say that it isn't in condition, but it very certainly is...
If I put pictures of this on UKC a lot of people would say that it isn't in condition, but it very certainly is...
Where are you? Conditions in parts of the NW Highlands basically haven't changed for a similar length of time.
I think he's in Norway, the lucky beggar.
Anyone fancy doing something in the Aviemore area week after next (16th on)
Would love to but currently nursing a broken finger from the last trip.
Edit: obviously it was my last trip, as I wouldn't have gone on a trip since with a broken finger...
Yours, pissed off of Manchester
I don't mind doing a walk if that's what you can do. I don't fancy going up on my own.
I went for a walk yesterday in the lakes
And ****ing fell over on the last section and hurt my bloody finger again. Not sure how badly, but I need to limit my extreme walking activities 👿🥵🤮
6 days off work, some of the best conditions of the season and here I am at home with the lurgy. 🙁
It's the general season for uflaks I think - todays sport cancelled as the trip was spent bush fixing the car after a block of ice tore off the underside protection.
(Uflaks is Norwegian for unlucky)
Went to Meggie last weekend for a wander up Raeburn's Gullly. Folk walking out already as we left the car park with talk of rain and falling ice - it was 
pretty grim but we stuck with it. Decent conditions higher up, nice day out.
I have the chance to go up this weekend to climb Sunday and/or Monday. I had in mind Pinnacle Gulley grade 1 on Shelterstone Crag. Would you go up given the forecast? The Ben Macdui forecast is 36mph winds with 46mph gusts on Sunday with heavy snow showers and slightly better on Sunday. Of course that's the summit so it might be better lower down, although the wind is from the West so might be hard walking up and it's a fair way over the top and down to Loch Avon to do the climb. Assuming there's enough snow to climb on, what do people think? Any better suggestions?
MWIS now forecasting 70-80 mph in morning on Sunday falling to 50.
Was the forecast you quoted met office? There have been serious issues with them getting the windspeeds wrong of late. I thought it was fixed but there's a pretty big discrepancy there!
and it's a fair way over the top and down to Loch Avon to do the climb.
That was my immediate thought. I would love to do a climb on shelterstone but know I never will. It's just too far for the older me.
Having said which, you know you, and Spin knows Scottish climbing so I'd lay my point of view firmly to the side.