Things feeling fairly damp on the Scottish West currently.  We had an instructional day in the Ice Factor yesterday which worked well.  Today we rapped up in Gore-tex and headed to Corrie Lochan.  Lots of people out despite the weather, mainly walking and skills courses.  We climbed a busy Dorsal Arete which gave a good adventure in the wind and rain!! Still fairly good snow cover on the arete with useful snow.  Easy Gullies are still complete but there is a lot of evidence of rock fall about and Forked Gully has had a big wet slide come down.

Looking better for Thursday and Friday with a cold weekend forecast…

After a hard freeze and some fresh snow the mixed routes on Helvellyn came into great condition.  Any old snow was solid, there was ice in places, and the turf was bomber…

Today was day 2 of a weekend climbing course and after learning about leading yesterday the guys were keen to find their limit on something steeper.  Tom took Gian and Jamie up V-Corner which was in good condition.  I climbed with Nilesh and Gareth who liked the look of one of the harder routes on the crag, Rape and Pillage IV/6, so we went for that.  The route was in good condition, turf solid etc.  This was a great effort for the guys as their first mixed route.

Thanks to the team for a great weekend!

Back in the Lakes today and the plan was to have a look over some leading.  Finding snow was going to be the first challenge, so we put all our money on Custs Gully.

A fresh dusting of snow and drop in temperature to below freezing gave the day a wintry feel, but there was still a lot of water running off the crags after overnight rain and a general lack of old snow about.

Pulling around into Custs I was surprised by the amount of snow still in it, there was a few gaps and mixed steps but it was generally all good, even some ice to place screws in and make some threads…

The other main Gullies were not complete but there was still some old ice about.

Yesterday we did Tower Scoop on the Ben.  The route was in great condition still as were many of the higher ice routes.  Snow was blowing in from the West and the rock was looking fairly white when we left.  Steeper mixed routes may be worth a look…

With fresh snow blowing in and some wind slab building in Tower Gully we abbed of some ice threads at the top of the Scoop.

With some bad weather coming through this morning and the team keen to do some coaching and give the knees a rest we opted for a visit to the Ice Factor, a great coaching facility.  We covered movement and placing screws and then did some rope work followed by a dry tooling session.

The afternoon cleared out to be nice and sunny.

After a weekends mountaineering course in the Lake District, which still had plenty of snow about despite warmer temperatures, I headed north to the Fortwilliam area.

Running an Intro to Snow and Ice course this week, we have so far had 3 great days out.  We had a skills day in Lochan on Monday when we finished with a climb up Forked Gully.  The crags were very black but all the easier gullys seemed good.  Routes climbed were Boomerang Gully, Dorsal Arete, NC Gully, Twisting Gully amongst others..

Tuesday we went to the Ben.  The ice up high was good, Smiths, Hadrians, Indicator Wall, Green Gully, Thompsons, the Cascades all looked good as well as many others.  However the lower ice routes were much thinner, Central was one which a couple of teams abbed off.

Today took us to Aonach Mor.  There was still plenty of good ice about.  White Shark looked good and was climbed.  We did Tunnel Vision which was great, first time placements all the way, the cornice was passable on the right above Morwind.  Rob Wills did Forgotten Twin and said it was good also.

Generally fairly warm here so easy angled mixed routes up high are looking OK, but lower down and steep routes are black.  High snow and ice routes are good though, still plenty in.  Looks like things are set to cool however towards the weekend with some snow.  The forecast has suggested the freeze line to be hovering around 900m, though its felt warmer with some drizzle on the summits, will be looking good for the ice after another freeze.

Had a great day today climbing on Great End.  The sun was out and the Gullies were in really good condition, the snow was well frozen and useful and the ice was mostly very good.  Quite a few out climbing today, all the classic Gullies getting ascents.

I climbed Central left-hand, South East and Window Gully with the Icefall finish.  All these routes were really good and Custs Gully worked well in descent.

The easy angled mixed routes still looked OK as well and would be worth a look, steep stuff was stripped.

Much less snow in the North Lakes than in the South Lakes.  After Great End I went over to Red Screes (by car) to meet photographer Dave Willis who was keen to get some night climbing shots on ice.  The ice there was good also.

Shoulthwaite Gill also looked complete from the road but may be thin, not sure…

Hard to say what the coming days will bring with a bit of a mixed forecast…

Great weather and conditions on the route today.  St. Sunday Crag today gave well frozen turf, and the snow was in good condition, after being wet it had frozen up well and was hard and icy in places.

Jane and Tish had a great day and stepped up to the challenge of their first winter route with ease (mostly..)

Thanks for another great day!

This weekend I have been running a winter skills course.  Saturday gave a fairly wild day on Helvellyn with some fresh snow blowing in from the S-SW giving some areas of slab.  We also had a climbing course running, Wes had an exciting day on V-Corner and the reports were of some dodgy snow on the exit slopes.

Today we went onto Blencathra.  Today was a much more settled day and ideal for going over some mountain skills such as self arrest.  However things were also feeling fairly warm and the snow even on the summit was fairly damp.

Still some climbing about up high I’d think and plenty of snow in places…

 The ice up at Blea water is starting to look good.  Today I went up and did left and right falls on Blea water main Gill, and Birketts Gully.  The main Gill was probably the best with the 2 ice falls high up on the left of the cove looking good.  The ice is thin in some places so screws won’t be on tap…

I also went over to Rampsgill Head, I did a couple of the grade III mixed routes which were in good condition, the gullies and steeper routes are worth avoiding, though ‘Friends Above’ V/7 still would go.

Some cloud rolling in as I was leaving so steeper routes may come in again if frosted up.