What a superb day - in fact what a superb winter (apart from road conditions etc.) Got the gondola from Aonoch Mor, climbed the ridge of death (Carn Dearg Meadhonach), which was in easily the best condition I've seen it - loads of snow but a good track / trench all the way. From there the I took the CMD arete on to Ben Nevis, eventually getting back at the gondola for 4.30 (luckily runs till 5 at this time of year). Loads of surface hoar on the snowpack - could lead to avalanche problems if there's more snowfall.

Oh not a good day to forget your jacket. Got pretty wet (snowed more-or-less all day) as I did my Sron na Lairig, Stob Coire Sgreamhach route in Glencoe. Snow conditions not great low down but plenty on the ridge. Hurried round in my wet duvet jacket - 4.5 hours.

Went to look at some grade I routes supposedly on Cam Chreag / Meall nan Tarmachan above Killin. Started out quite a nice day although things gradually deteriorated. Not sure that I ever found the routes (Fan Gully, Easy Gully) but there is a nice Grade II (Clark's) that I should check out with Andy some time. Made my way to the top, possibly by Easy Gully and had a nice walk along the narrow part of the main ridge, which was well snowed up as you can see from the photo. Did the "tricky" step which was icy and definitely not a "walk" at the moment.

Nigel and I went to Ben a Dothaidh, planning to do a route called Haar. Looked very thin though so we decided to investigate a nice thick ice smear on one of the buttresses. It gave a nice ice pitch which made me think a bit. After that easier ground weaved its way up to the summit ridge. Maybe a new route? we will see.

Did my little circuit around Ben Starav but this time continued on to bag Glas Bheinn Mhor. It was a pretty nice day although it clouded over when I was on the summit ridge. Great ridge-walking conditions; hard snow, good for crampons. 6 hours roughly.

Managed to go skiing at Glenshee on Monday- snow a bit hard but good cover. Went to Glencoe today to do one of the gullies on Sron Na Creise. There is a wide gully with well defined parallel walls that looks steep from the road but is pretty gentle in reality. The snow was a bit soft but this gully soon brought me out on the ridge from where I continued to Creise and Meall a Bhuidhe. Finding the ridge to Meall a Bhuidhe was quite challenging in near-whiteout conditions but I did find it after a bit of mucking around and was rewarded with good, hard snow - most enjoyable.

After a failed attempt to go skiing at Cairngorm on Monday - they didn't manage to open the road - I headed to Glen Shiel for more disappointment. Tried to do the Ben Fhada but ran into all sorts of problems; the farm road to the start was completely iced up and undriveable (first time I've needed to use crampons on a road!) , deep snow on the way up to the hill, gale force winds. It was all I could do to walk up to the corrie and have a look round.

Andy and I only went out for a quick walk in the snow in the Pentlands but needless to say we could not resist the snow covered crags under Caerketton Hill. We did an excellent little ridge (grade II?) then descended and did the gully next to it. Andy didn't have crampons and managed to get himself into some death-defying situations. We finally continued on our way to Flotterstone where Caroline picked us up - she's neat. A brilliant, unexpected day out!

Hatched a plan to look at the Bidean Nam Bian buttresses - Diamond, Church Door. Quite a long walk-in (tracks most of the way though) but a very spectacular spot when you arrive. Ended up getting to the top of Bidean via Central Gully which splits the two main butresses. The gully had couple of short ice pitches plus a lot of wading through dodgy wind-blown snow. From the summit I headed over to Stob Coire nam Beith in a gale of spindrift and descended into the corrie beyond. 6 hours.

Andy had to go home so I drove over to Creag Meagaidh to do the NE ridge of Beinn a Chaorainnand the outlying munro, Beinn Teallach. I walked in from Roughburn which was hard work as there was deep snow on the forest road, although thankfully large sections had tracks. There was a guided party on the ridge but other than that I had the place to myself. Nice scrambling to the top and then a long slog over to Beinn Teallach before another descent requiring a head torch. Only 8 hours today though.

Andy & I got a rare climbing day in and went for the Aonach Eagach in Glencoe. Hard work getting to the start in deep-ish, unconsolidated snow. We almost had the ridge to ourselves - one other party - and moved unroped apart from the pinnacles. It's a long day out in winter though and despite making reasonably good progress, the last part of the descent was completed in darkness (with my wind-up head torch - thanks mum). 9.5 hours despite having a car at both ends.

Went to do the Pentlands traverse from 9-mile burn to Flotterstone with Mum and Stef. However, it was hard going again in deep-ish snow (ski-tourers were out) and after a himalayan ascent of West Kip we decided to head back to 9-mile burn. This involved a highly dangerous walk along the A702 - there's too much snow to walk at the side of the road.

Unbelievably cold and clear day so Mum & I went to Tinto in Lanarkshire. Lots of people out enjoying the excellent snow cover. We didn't set off till after noon and the heavy going meant we only just got back before dark.

I started out with grand plans of climbing Sgurr Eilde Mor and then traversing the ridge over to Na Gruagaichean and back to Kinlochleven. However, the trail from Kinlochleven was unbroken and the road up to Loch Eilde under deep snow so all I could manage in the end was an ascent of Na Gruagaichean and that took 4 hours! Brilliantly quick descent down the snow-filled gully between the two summits of Na Gruagaichean.

Stayed in Glen Nevis YHA and did my Devil's Ridge circuit (in reverse). Deep snow made the ascent of Sgurr a Mhaim hard going, but the Devil' ridge itself was in the best condition I've seen it - and great views. I followed tracks till half way up Stob Ban after which the going got much harder. The descent from Stob Ban was fiddly - fresh snow on rock. I ended up back at the car around dusk. -9 degrees in the car park, a sign of things to come.

Did Glas Tullaichean from Glenshee, this time via Loch Nan Eun, descending the road from the top (hard to find

Went to the Ben Lawers visitor's centre and did Meall a Choire Leith, which I'd failed to do previously when I got blown off (well nearly), Meall Corranaich. Plenty of snow about and navigating over the tops was quite difficult in near white-out conditions. Found a good descent back to the top of the resevoir All in all this could make a nice little outing if you started from close to the dam.

Attempted to Bynack Mor with Smiler- his training walk ahead of some guiding work - but the winds were very strong and we didn't make it far beyond Strath Nethy!

Did the usual circuit from Drumochter - Sgairneach Mor , Ben Udlamain and A'Marchonaich. Pretty good snow cover on the tops. The weather was cold, windy but bright.

Beinn Bhuidhe above Loch Fynne. Somehow I knew I wasn't going to enjoy this one and I didn't! The forecast was for strong winds and showers. To me "showers" means it will not rain for some parts of the day!

Added to near-storm conditions, there's been quite a lot of snow and some quite deep drifts already but all wet and unconsolidated, which is always hard going (especially when you're not used to it!) To cap it all, I made a navigation error and took in the subsidiary summit before realising my mistake and retracing my steps for the munro. Followed by a long walk back in the dark, mainly on a good tarmac road you could drive a 3-wheeler up. Hey-ho.

Another windy day so we decided on Middle Fell, which is a little lower and less exposed. It's a nice rugged little hill though and the descent was made interseting by some serious fording - river-crossing techniques coming into play!

THe traditional ascent of Great Gable. It was forecast to be very windy, at least early on, so we ascended via a path called Aaron Slack, which was sheltered by the mountain itself. It's actually a nice way up but when we got to the top, we found the wind wasn't that strong and we descended the normal route to Sty head and back to Wasdale head. Dramatic views.

Mother, Eliza and I took our annual trip to the Lakes. The weather not so promising this year.

On Saturday, Mum & I went up Harrison Stickle and Pike O' Stickle but we didn't get to Langdale until around noon and the descent via Stake Pass is quite long , so we ended up coming back in the dark. All part of the fun (and we had torches anyway). Mountain rescue were all over the valley as a group seemed to have got themselves into trouble.

Sunday was a washout. Driving out of Ambleside was quite exciting through deep puddles and the train's were messed up due to a landslide at Shap.

Finally, the elusive Beinne Fhionnlaidh ! After a long and very boggy walk up to Carn Eige, I traversed round to Beinne Fhionnlaidh and actually got some views. The weather was fairly unpleasant later on and I made an ill-advised descent off An Leath-chreag before the long walk back. As the people in the B&B had warned me ... "a big day".

A bit of a mixed forecast but I drove north to tie up some loose ends from my previous trip to Glen Affric (Toll Creagach and Beinne Fhionnlaidh). I did a nice little circuit of Toll Creagach and Tom a Choinich on the first day. The weather was reasonable, if damp later on, and it is wet underfoot.

Andy & I went to do Beinnn Tullaichean at the end of loch Voil (in support of his "bagging" activities). The weather was forecast to be bright with very strong winds but the wind wasn't so bad in reality.

Rather modest day forecast so we thought we'd nip up Sgurr na Sgine (again in Glen Shiel). The weather was indeed poor (Andy has no waterproof overtrousers!) and the route took a bit longer than we thought - around 5..5 hours but at least the car worked when we got down.

The new bagging team headed up to Glen Shiel do do three relatively accessible munros above Loch Cluanie: Carn Ghluasaid, Sgurr nan Conbhairean and Sail Chaorainn. It was a nice day, great air clarity, and the paths are up to the usual Glen Shiel high standards (except the final descent from SnC). All good till we got back to the car. Despite Subaru making this virtually impossible to do, I managed to leave the lights on and the battery was flat. After a couple of failed attempts to jump-start, we called the AA and, after a couple of hours, a truck arrived from Kyle of Lochalsh and got us going.

Andy & I went to do Carn Dearg in the Monadh Liath - seems like we're both on the baggers' trail. We took a devious route "round the back" which was probably a mistake because it was very wet underfoot. The ridge is ok but only dubious reward for all the bog-hopping. Not great weather as you can see in the photo. the way back by the standard route was pretty boggy too.

Went with Ian to fulfil his ambition to climb Ben Lomond. It was a fairly miserable day, as per the last time we went out. His Mum had done bl recently before which made it all the worse when we got turned back by ferocious winds no more than 75 m from the top. My new boots from "Go Outdoors" leaked badly - will post on how I get on with them over that!

Very windy day forecast but I thought I might be able to sneak up Dreish which I'd foolishly left out on a previous trip to this part of the world - Glen Clova. Although the climb up Kilbo path was a bit worrying on account of the threat of falling trees (!) the ridge itself was manageable and I ended up going over to Mayar as well to complete the "circuit".

Went over to do Mount Keen - the most easterly of the munros - partly to escape rain in the west. The weather wasn't great here either but it's a nice walk along the glen followed by a fairly short ascent so no great problem. Got followed down by a wild(ish) horse/donkey who stopped every time I looked round - what's the name of that game ? Grandmother's footsteps ?

Good weather holding out so we decided to try for Tower Ridge on the Ben. To be fair Andy had given me plenty of warning that this might happen, but he decided that he preferred a sleep outside the CIC hut so there he remained while I nipped up the Ledge route and met him in Glen Nevis.

We stopped at a campsite in Glen Sheil and drove to Skye in the morning. We had planned to do some climbing on the Chioch but it looked dripping wet (although it dried out during the day). Instead we got onto the ridge via the An stac screes, under Sgurr Mhic Choinnich via Collie's Ledge and then up King's Chimney to the summit of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich (my 2nd time this year!). King's Chimney is a nice pitch, definitely undergraded at "Diff". We descended the ridge (damp in places) and back to the car at Glen Brittle.

Andy came up with a crazy idea of doing North-east buttress on Ben Nevis. Actually a pretty good idea as it turned out. Conditions were good - the rock much drier now and, after some initial route finding problems, we made steady progress up the ridge just using the rope here and there. The notorious "man-trap" was no problem (might be in winter though!) and we were soon up "40 foot corner" and onto easier ground to the summit. We descended the zigzags track which people were still setting out on well after 5pm.

High pressure well in control now and I had a free day to fill before heading north with Andy for the weekend so I went to do Ben Vorlich / Stuc a Chroin from Glen Ample. Stumbled across a nice "gill scramble" on the burn leading up from Glenample. It was that sort of day - hot and tiring but good for the tan.

High pressure moving in so Andy & I decided to try to get some climbing done - we've not managed a lot this year. Today was not the day though ... we carted the gear up to the east face of Aonach Dubh (Glencoe) and Andy even set out on a route (Eve's arete) but he only got about 6 feet off the ground. Everything is so saturated from the recent heavy rains that the moss covering on the wall was soaked and basically unclimbable. So we walked over Stob Coire nan Lochan instead, which is enjoyable but hard with the packs.

Good walking weather (not great, not terrible) Went to Glen Feshie and climbed Mullach Clach a'Bhlair, trying to peer into the narrow Coire Garbliach on the way, then over to Carn Ban Mor and a steep decent back to the road head.

A little window of better weather so Andy & I went to the Hawcraig for bit of cragging and did some of the usual favourites; Maureen, 3-step corner, Destiny's groove, Ugh, Fishhead arete.

Went up to Laggan to do Geal Charn (Graham says he definitely detects munro-bagging - what rubbish, only one more Geal Charn to do!). A pleasant enough day / mountain ok but quite a long walk-in and had to wade across the Markie burn (sic) which would definitely cause problems in wet weather.

Alps 2009

Saturday 25th July -30th July

Very pleased to meet with Mcgloven and get going to the Europahut on the first leg of our leisurely journey to the Dom hut. This is when my problems began. It started as a sore throat and a bit of a light head overnight and but the time we headed up to the Dom hut the next morning I was labouring. I felt a bit shaky all day but managed to sleep a little so we got kitted up at 3.15 am and started off for the Dom.

It was harder work than it should have been and I moaned at Graham, especially over the more strenuous sections like the Festijoch. But I did find some energy in the end and we got to the top around 8.30 am (still first party to the top, gloat).

Graham pretended to be tired too, just as well he wasn't 'cos he more or less had to carry me down - I was shattered. I was in no state to carry on down to the valley so we stayed a second night in the hut and went down the next morning.

The plan for the first part of the trip was to get acclimatized and find a Swiss guide to take me up the Weisshorn, a very long-standing ambition of mine, then to meet Graham for an assault the Dom.

Things started OK. I got to the Flue hut on saturday evening and on sunday did a nice long walk around the Spizi Flue, down to Taschalp and back to Zermatt. The next day was my practice climb (which they like you to do). I chose the half-traverse of the Breithorn which is a nice little rock climb, all done in crampons. As a bit of a treat, I stayed that night at the Riffelberg hotel and did the ridge from the Gornergrat to the Stockhorn, which takes a fair while. So the acclimatization was going well but the news from the guides office was not so good; a lot of snow and unsettled weather forecast. I kept training by going up the Gross Castel - I was staying in the nice campsite at Randa by this stage - but the Weisshorn just wasn't happening. I ended up on Pollux on Friday morning with a guide called Giani and two guys called Paul & Steve. It was a enough nice day but not the Weisshorn! Which is now unfinished business of course...

Took my bike to enable an ascent of Maoile Lunnaidh from Craig. Otherwise you have to go from Glen Strathfarrer which has some weird access restrictions. It was too hot for cycling (or anything else for that matter) and I ended up pushing the bike part of the way. The ascent of Maoile Lunnaidh via the west ridge was wearing but OK and a gentle stroll brings you onto the summit. Much more fun on the way back!

Finally, the In Pin. If you've got nae mates you've just got to do it - a bit scary but luckily dry as a bone. I continued along the ridge over the multiple tops between Sgurr Dearg (Inaccessible Pinnacle) and Bruach na Frithe. This section is a lot longer and more sustained than I'd realised. It was very instructive to see the state that people doing the whole ridge were in by this point, particularly those on a one-day strategy. It ended up being a 12 hour day for me, just doing part of the ridge. Would have been more too had it not been for a very kind guy called Donald (a local guide) who I'd chatted to earlier in the day and drove up from Glen Brittle to offer me a lift.

Back in Skye ... must be a good year. Met Clare & Graham and friends (& Molly) in the campsite at Glen Brittle on Saturday night. Sunday morning we left early, with Ruth, to do their penultimate munro - Sgurr Mic Choinnich - which they walked past on their ridge traverse some years ago. A really hot day and made even harder by the ascent of the An Stac scree - awful - but the ridge is great and I think Clare may have rather enjoyed what was her first outing in a while...

Nigel persuaded me to have a look at some routes in Ratho Quarry, just to the side of the climbing arena, which are mainly pretty fierce looking. We managed to get up Shoskred (over graded) and Monkey Puzzle.

After a less than impressive "early start", we all headed to a "roadside" crag called Carn Liath at about 11.30. The 40 mins walk-in the guidebook suggested was a hike in its own right. Due to lack of time, we only managed the one climb but what a climb - Mummy's Church - which starts in a cave system - headtorch required - before you climb out to daylight.

Went up to Skye to meet John Wright and his friends Chris and James. I missed a glorious day on Sunday. Anyhow, we went out on Monday to do the Pinnacle ridge on Sgurr nan Gillean, which started out very pleasantly. Unfortunately, it started to chuck it down near the top which made the whole expedition rather more dodgy than I like. We later found out that people were killed on Am Bhastair, daresay the sudden deterioration in weather was a factor. The chopper was in and out all afternoon.

Got up early and over Beinn Tharsuinn then a nice scramble up Bidein a Choire Sheasgaich and (starting to get hot now) Lurg Mhor . I descended via Meall Mor - steep - and then an exhausting climb back up to the Bealach Bhearnais where I picked up the gear, drank plenty of water and headed back for the road. About 9 hours.

We decided to make a go at Pillar Rock despite rather dubious conditions. After a very long walk-in from Ennerdale (3.5 hours), it was freezing at the base of Pillar Rock and the idea of climbing was not appealing at all. I'm afraid to say we chickened out again and settled for the quick scramble up Pillar and the very long walk back.

Not a terribly successful trip, rock climbing-wise.

Got up early and headed up to An Socach then made my way round to the very remote outlier Mullach na Dheirgain before heading over the main peak (height-wise) Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan. All nice ridges but again the weather was not great & a long walk back to the car. Just over 8 hours, which I was pleased with ...

Drove up to Morvich in Kintail and walked to the "most remote youth hostel in the UK" Alltbuithe. I walked over A Ghlas Bheinn on the way in in fairly unpleasant weather, wet and windy, finally reaching the hostel at about 6.45 pm which to my surprise was nearly full. Turned out to be a party of tree planters from "Tree for Life".

Went to Rosyth quarry with Andy; did Heathy (twice), Grenville, Chemical Warfare, The Flying Bink and Gold Foil. Both had little "spills" on the last twoo routes but no harm done.

First dodgy day for a while but I went over to do the Lawers round. I started with Meall Greig as I've never actually done it (it's too tempting to blow it off) . Got round the circuit (4 munros) in mixed weather although it improved in the afternoon, as shown in the photo. 5.5 hours. The only place I saw anyone was the summit of Ben Lawers.

Nigel & I went to Dunkeld - warm day again and did Holy Tree groove, Cuticle Crack, Kestrel Crack and Twisting Rib.

Andy and I nipped over to the Whangie, before he headed to Edinburgh to see a lecture by Richard Dawkin (or was it Stephen Hawkins?). Surprised we'd not been here before - it's a really nice spot. Andy led Cave Crack, then I had a miserable failure on teh arete next to it. Undeterred, we progressed to Back-step corner which is a strenuous b**r and then Ivy Crack, which is not as hard as it looks!

Mum & I drove down to near Biggar on the edge of the Southern Uplands to do Culter Fell. It was a superb day - it's been a good spell of weather - which was just as well cos the hill has the potential to be boggy. After we did Culter Fell, Mum insisted on doing the next one as well...

Aberdour today - nice weather. Did Fishhead, Ugh, Flake & Wall, Maureen, Destiny's Groove.

Went to Rosyth quarry with Nigel to see if we could get the rock climbing started. Did old favourites like Andys's, Drizzle, CND, Chemical warfare but got smoked out - someone set fire to the quarry entrance. A fireman arriving on the scene said "one of the usual spots".

Winter's back, just a little. Poor day forecast but I went and did An Socach, adding to my collection of Glenshee hills. Quite a long walk-in from Baddoch but not too much ascent.

Monday / Tuesday looking stormy but Tuesday worse so I got going on Monday morning and headed up to Dalwhinnie to Meall Chuaich. The weather was supposed to deteriorate in the afternoon (which it did) but I hurried along and managed to do the adjacent hill A'Mharconaich before it turned. Soaking walk back to the car though.

Glenshee again- more navigation practice and somewhat dull munros. Walked up Carn nan Sac in mist, then Carn a Gheoidh then over to Carn Aosda. Only cleared up on the way back to the car. Still, served the purpose.

Persuaded (conned) Andy to come and have a look at Y Gully on the north face of Chruach Ardrain. The walk in's not too far but when you get close you realise that the face is not all that. Added to which it was very damp. In fact, there was a distinct possibility of drowning in the stream running under the left branch of the Y so we headed up the right branch. An enjoyable if soggy plod up to the summit.

Monday was a bit of a write-off but Tuesday was supposed to be a little better so I went over to Glenshee to do Tom Buidhe, Tolmount and Carn an Tuirc. Actually the weather turned out to be nice, although much too warm and a bit misty in the afternoon. Pleasant for the half-term skiers, although slushy now!

Drove up to Killlin with Andy & Stefan to do Ben Lawers. Unfortunately, things have warmed up and all the excellent snow has turned to slush for now. That combined with strong winds made the going tough and we decided to call it a day at Meal Ghlas (although Stef later revealed that he would have liked to continue). Good day though.

Fulfilled my long-standing ambition to do Striding Edge in winter conditions. An even better day today, hardly a cloud in the sky & people all over Helvellyn - on the ridges, in the gullies. Striding Edge was great, care required but not too scary. We came down Swirral Edge and took in Catstycam before heading back to Glenridding. Superb

Jim and I finally managed to do our long-talked about winter trip to the Lakes. After some difficult driving conditions, we met up in Ambleside and set out, in cloud, for Fairfield. But the weather got better and better and with masses of snow, we got just what we came for. Lots of cramponing, falling over. .. Good day.

Long planned trip to Fuar Tholl after a night in the legendary Gerry's hostel in Craig (it's Gerry that's legendary, not the hostel). It's a great craggy mountain, must be lots of rock climbing in summer but the weather was not as good as the picture suggests. Continued over to Sgorr Ruadh and Beinn Liath Mor in increasingly foul weather. About 7.5 hours round-trip. Reasonable snow cover up here.

Finally got to Beinnn a Chlachair which involves a longish walk-in from Moy (Andy - Ardverikie wall looked dry). It was a pretty windy day as I headed up a little gully to the summit. I was wondering if I'd make it but things actually quietened down on the ridge. Funny that, across the glen, Creag Meagaidh was clear - I could only look on in envy.

I skied at Glencoe on Monday but conditions seemed a bit firmer than I expected so headed out on foot today. I went to Ben Challum, forgetting that I'd done earlier in the year. But, to my surprise, deep snow made the original plan (north ridge) a non starter & I ended up slogging straight up the flank. Nice at the top and on the way down!

A lull after the weekend storms, probably before the next one. Not much snow left in Glenshee (met the SAIS forecaster - cat 1?). Did a nice round up to Glas Maol, starting some way below the ski station, had a look into corrie beyond and then crossed over to Creag Leachach before heading back to the car.

A bit warmer but more cloudy and windy today. I went to have a look at the east face of A'Marchonaich. In fact, the weather was a bit brutal so I cramponed up the east ridge rather than try anything too hairy but it was a nice, quick way to the top. I plodded round the ridge to Beinn Udlamain, fighting the wind and drifting snow, all in cloud. This almost convinced me to skip Sgairneach Mor but I'm glad I didn't 'cos it was somehow cloud-free. Mind you, the wind really picked up on the way down and I was glad to get out before it got any worse. 5 .25 hrs.

Very cold today and the roads up to Cairngorm were pretty slow, especially the last part from Glenmore. I had planned to go over to Beinn Mheadhoin but it was hard going in deep drifted snow and I gave up half way down Coire Raibert, knowing what wa in store if I continued - no peak and a horrendous slog back up from Loch A'an. So I ended up doing good old Cairngorm and heading back to the car park. Usual sight of BMWs trying to scratch their way out of the snow.