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Glencoe mountaineer: North Buttress, Glas Tholl

http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2015/02/north-buttress-glas-tholl.html

Monday, 16 February 2015. North Buttress, Glas Tholl. The view to the An Teallach ridge from Glas Tholl. Days on An Teallach always seem to deliver. Of everything that I love about climbing in the NW Highlands, I think it is the solitude amongst incredible scenery that attracts me the most. The beautiful North-West. Liathach from Loch Clair on Saturday. It had been almost 2 years since I'd climbed such iron hard neve. I managed to find snow-ice on a lot of the routes I climbed last winter but most of...

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Glencoe mountaineer: January 2015

http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2015_01_01_archive.html

Monday, 12 January 2015. One last caving trip. Water Icicle Close Cavern - the North West Passage. Life at the moment is one of packing boxes, bus journeys, letting agents and chaos. My thoughts are of our imminent return to living the Highlands, winter routes, new possibilities and the start of a new chapter. My caving rope and SRT harness has been bundled up underneath the kitchen table since November, gathering dust instead of mud. Large and colourful cave formations. I sat on the edge of the entrance...

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Glencoe mountaineer: June 2014

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Friday, 20 June 2014. Skirwith and Great Douk Caves. Climbing the 15ft waterfall pitch in Skirwith Cave. After emerging from the magnificent cave of Ibbeth Peril, I'd expected that the really memorable part of my day was now over. However Skirwith and Great Douk Caves both exceeded my expectations and I'll remember them well but for different reasons to the beauties of subteranean Dentdale. Ribbons and columns in Skirwith. The well known flowstone cascade. A long and knee-deep pool caused me to traverse ...

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Glencoe mountaineer: An incredible cloud inversion on Ben Nevis (posted by James)

http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2012/03/incredible-cloud-inversion-on-ben-nevis.html

Monday, 12 March 2012. An incredible cloud inversion on Ben Nevis (posted by James). A cloud inversion on Ben Nevis today. The winter that is now coming to an end has been a very good one for me. But there is no denying….the last few months have been very short on sunshine, to say the least. But I had a strong gut feeling last night as I packed my rucksack that today would be special. So at 5am I was walking the boggy path up towards the Carn Mor Dearg Arete to see what would happen. Suddenly a hole appe...

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Glencoe mountaineer: Back to the Scottish winter

http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2015/02/back-to-scottish-winter.html

Monday, 2 February 2015. Back to the Scottish winter. Back to the beauty and the cold of Scottish winter climbing. A climber amongst mad ice scenery on The Croc, Beinn Udlaidh yesterday. After weeks of moving-house related muddle and chaos, my yearning to make a return to the Scottish winter had reached boiling point. I felt bitter envy as a stable high pressure arrived the week we were moving, only for it to end the day I became free to climb. Dawn light over the Southern Highlands. I've missed this!

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Glencoe mountaineer: The hobnailed boot

http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2010/09/hobnailed-boot.html

Saturday, 25 September 2010. Imagine what the route must have been like xx years ago, climbed in hobnailed boots.". It's a phrase heard often enough down the pub, but how often does the person saying it know the difference between 'hobnailed' boots and the 'nailed' boots used to make the first ascents of many classic British climbs? They were also used by early Alpinists up until the invention of the Alpine Clinker. The era of the Clinker nail- which is specially designed to protect the sole, provide...

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Glencoe mountaineer: September 2014

http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2014_09_01_archive.html

Thursday, 25 September 2014. The Kingsdale Master Cave. Abseiling the pitch into the impressive Kingsdale Master Cave. My solo trip down Magnetometer Pot two weeks ago had been a testing experience. At times I'd been briefly convinced I'd bitten off more than I could chew, and it had taken a fair degree of control to stop doubt from dragging me straight back out the entrance shaft. Had I pushed it too far? Often the perspective gained from doing an easier trip would help clarify things. Many cavers exper...

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Glencoe mountaineer: The day I didn't solo S.C Gully

http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-day-i-didnt-solo-sc-gully.html

Wednesday, 8 October 2014. The day I didn't solo S.C Gully. The one and only Stob Coire nan Lochain, Glencoe. S.C Gully is the steep central gully. The first of two reflective pieces on my experiences of Scottish winter climbing whilst living and working at the Clachaig Inn in Glencoe between 2009 and 2013. Asked Alex. "Got any valium? February 2013, Glencoe. A normal day for February 2013. Would it quench that irrepressible thirst I had to be climbing everything all the time? I glanced at the streak of ...

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Glencoe mountaineer: February 2015

http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2015_02_01_archive.html

Monday, 16 February 2015. North Buttress, Glas Tholl. The view to the An Teallach ridge from Glas Tholl. Days on An Teallach always seem to deliver. Of everything that I love about climbing in the NW Highlands, I think it is the solitude amongst incredible scenery that attracts me the most. The beautiful North-West. Liathach from Loch Clair on Saturday. It had been almost 2 years since I'd climbed such iron hard neve. I managed to find snow-ice on a lot of the routes I climbed last winter but most of...

glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com

Glencoe mountaineer: Alpine conditions on Bidean

http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2015/02/alpine-conditions-on-bidean.html

Sunday, 8 February 2015. Alpine conditions on Bidean. Winter perfection on Bidean nam Bian on Friday. Friday was an amazing day to be out climbing or hillwalking in Glencoe. No matter how many blue-sky winter days I see from the summit of Bidean, they are always immense. Plans A and B didn't work out so I found myself climbing vaguely the line of North Route (II) on Diamond Buttress. I wasn't really fussed what route I climbed as I knew the views would be the highlight, and I wasn't wrong. The new Grivel...