Polldubh 25th May

No photos for this one but Ron and I climbed Resurrection, Iche and Damnation before being driven away by the midges!

Tower Ridge 24th May

On Saturday I got the chance to join Al and Campbell with their clients from the Ice Factor. For me, it was a great learning opportunity.
More photos from Al's blog here http://alanhalewood.blogspot.com/

Schiehallion

Sunny Schiehallion today. It's just a pity that the memory card wasn't slotted into my camera properly so no pictures from me!
Cat and Amanda were climbing Schiehallion as part of their aim to raise £10,000 for the Schiehallion ward of the Yorkhill Children's Hospital in Glasgow so it was nice to join their team along with Bob, Tom and Oscar, the spaniel.
For Cat and Amanda, the next big goal is Mont Blanc, so they are getting in training for that.
Have a look at their website at http://www.catmanddo.com/

Logiehead, 7th May

After a weekend of being of here, there and everywhere it was nice to be back at home.
The weather was so good I went climbing at Logiehead with Ron and Walter. We had good fun doing routes that got our heads back into rock climbing again!

Pentlands rescue Friday 2nd May

The Pentlands are an area that are easy to get to for anybody in the Edinburgh area and it is so easy to forget that this is a potentially a remote area if things go wrong.
Lawson is an experienced hillwalker but had one of those days that could happen to anybody. He slipped on a muddy path, fell awkwardly and fractured his ankle. Ken and Denise were very helpful in getting a rescue quickly sorted but it still took a while before Lawson was rescued by the helpful crew from an HMS Gannet helicopter and he was airlifted to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
He is now out of hospital and looking to a period of enforced rest which will probably drive both my Mum and Lawson mad as they are both very active people.
Thanks to Ken and Denise and everybody that was there at the time and some stunning photos to follow, again thanks to Ken.
When Lawson arrived in the helicopter, it was to be met by a camera crew for Channel 5 so it seems that his experience will be shared! The lengths that some folk will go to get on tv!
Anyway, best wishes to Lawson and hope he is out and about quickly which knowing Lawson, he will be!

Glencoe adventures

I've just had three great days over in Glencoe. Ron had two clients, Laura and Robin from Rotterdam, who wanted to experience a bit more of the Glencoe peaks and ridges so we headed off for some adventures!
On Tuesday we wanted to go up to Bidean nam Bian by Stob Coire nam Beith but some roadworks on the main Glencoe road scunnered that plan so we walked in to Coire an Lochain and scrambled up to Stob Coire an Lochain. The amount of snow on the approach to Bidean nam Bian was very Alpine in apearance with the a very beautiful snow arete but as it was perhaps a bit more snowy than we had bargained for, we came back down to do some impromptu winter skills practice!
Wednesday saw us heading up Coire na Tulaich to Stob Dearg on Buchaille Etive Mor and here, the step kicking into snow practised the previous day came into its own. We climbed up the snow on the steep corrie headwall, the ordinary route up to the summit, to be able to climb onwards to Stob Dearg. Snow began to fall and the winds picked up so we all opted for a descent back down the way we had climbed up and we were soon back at the cars. The corrie headwall was certainly not the place to be without an ice axe and a good pair of boots!
Thursday was the day when the weather was looking a bit dubious so we went up to Glen Nevis and had a very enjoyable day on Sgurr a' Mhaim and Sgurr an Iubhair and the narrow arete of the Devil's Ridge.
Photos to follow!