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.

Still some great, well frozen conditions on Bowfell and around the Lakes.  Due to 2 sunny days the crags aren’t frosted up as they were on Tuesday, many routes are still really good though.  Some of the steep mixed routes may be looking a bit stripped in places.

Today Brian Davison and myself went up to make the first winter ascent of the summer route Gibli on North Buttress.  The route made a great winter route with some great positions and despite a worrying guide book description wasn’t as hard as we expected.  We thought VII/7 or maybe 8.  We also had time to do a new route on Bowfell Buttress at about IV/5, this gave a good pitch up a crack and steep corner for about 35m followed by a series of turfy groove lines.

Keep an eye on the Epicentre Blog to see how Steve Ashworth is doing on his winter BG round…

Some good ice starting to form at Kirkstone Pass, climbers on there today.  Could be worth a walk to Blea Tarn by now, as well as other higher gills or ice that is fed by snow exposed to the sun.

Conditions are stable so little has changed up high, many routes that were in yesterday are most likely to still be good.

After another cold night with cloud blowing through from the East some Lakes crags have come into great condition.

Today North Buttress Bowfell, Bowfell Buttress and Cambridge Crags were all in great condition.  The turf was well frozen and the crag frosted up in the wind.

We got on Sword of Damocles (VIII/8) which was fantastic!

The Gnomon (VII/8) was also climbed today as well as Bowfell Buttress.

Should be some great climbing conditions over the coming days, Gable should be good, Engineers Slabs was climbed yesterday and was good.  Get there while it lasts!