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.

Still feeling a bit ropy but the weather great so headed to Ben Lawers hoping to do Cat Gully but foiled again - the one gully that didn't have snow in it (south facing) . So I went over the SE ridge which was very nice then on to An Stac, which I foolishly tried to descend direct. I now know why it has such a reputation! Ended up climbing back up and taking the usual detour. Finished up over Meall Garbh and back to Lawers village just as it got dark.

Despite some good weather, my holiday excursions were rather limited by poor health (m-flu).

Got out on Christmas eve to Ben Ledi which seemed OK at the time but prompted a relapse....

Between some pretty poor weather (well we're owed it), I noticed that MWIS forecast "a weak ridge of high pressure" for the lakes and, knowing they'd had quite a bit of snow, headed down to do Sharp Edge on Blencathra. There wasn't so much snow but enough high up to make the ridge worthwhile. The steep section, which can be hard when wet, proved easier than in summer (I had been worried) as the shallow chimney to the side had become a staircase of firm snow. The summit was glorious, maybe best I've seen the lakes ? Eventually though I had to head down Doddick Fell back to the car.

Great weather again. I noticed on the way up to Glencoe on Tuesday evening (stayed in the Glencoe YH) that there was a lot of snow on the Ballachulish horsehoe, which doesn't normally see so much. So I went for that, most enjoyable as always, but a very different snow profile to Beinn an Dothaidh - lots of new unconsolidated snow which made everything laborious. Ended up climbing Beinn a Bheithir twice so I could descend its N ridge, good fun until the forest - usual nightmare.

Good weather around Bridge of Orchy so I set out with the plan of doing the remote munro Beinn Mhanach but it soon became obviuos that I didn't have enough daylight. So I went of Beinn an Dothaidh intsead, which was very nice - hard compacted snow on the ridge. I descended the Central Gully which is long and probably better that the usual West Gully line although it wasn't quite "in" lower down.

Andy I stayed in Bridge of Orchy and made a daylight start on North Buttress on The Buchaille, as he had to get home early. However, there was masses of new snow and it took us 3 hours to get to the start of the route so we ab-ed off. I think it would have taken us hours ...

Highly miserable. Drove to Achnasheen to do Moruisg and Sgurr nan Ceannaichean. It poured all day. These hills actually proved a good choice as they are just a bit lower than the surrounding hills, which really kopped it. West-to-East would have been better though, given the strong westerlies. Thoroughly soaked (wet?), I drove home.

A great day in prospect so I headed north stopping at Loch Laggan to do the two hills at Creag Meagaidh that I've never managed to do - Stob Poite Coire Ardair and Carn Liath. Not much snow, except for the "Window", which always gets it, so I ascended that, up to SPCA and over the tops via Carn Liath back to the car. Highly enjoyable.

A rather modest day but serviceable so I headed to Chrianlarich to have a close up look at Y Gully on the face of Cruach Ardrain, which I've been meaning to do for a while. To damp to actually do it though. Up twisting ridge, over Cruach Ardrain and down from the col on the far side, traversing under the face to check things out. Managed to get through the forest no problems (usually a problem on this mountain).

Monday 4th August

Alps 2008

Set out early on Saturday with Graham, met Jason at Geneva airport and set out for the Ecrins national park in the southern french alps, arriving at the Glacier Blanc hut just in time to be told off by the guardian for being late... protestations useless.

Sunday 29th June (early this year)

We left the Glacier Blanc hut at 4 am to do our warm up peak - Pic de Glacier d'Arsine - before continuing up to the Ecrins Hut. The peak exceeded expectations with a nice little ridge to finish.

After a good meal in the Ecrins hut and a few hours' kip, we all headed up the glacier to Barre des Ecrins. Unlike 2003, conditions on the glacier were ideal - lots of snow still around being so early in the season. Unfortunately we soon lost Jason (he turned back, tired). Graham & I plodded on.

Within 2½ hours we were at the breche (col) below the summit. However, now the amount of snow played against us; the normal route, the west ridge was out of condition. The few ascents that were being made were being made via the north face route so we had a brief dalliance with that before thinking better of it and consoling ourselves with the subsidiary peak , Dôme de Neige Double unfinished business...

Persuaded the lads that we should have a look at another peak - Pic de Neige Cordier - which we would do on the way back to the valley (Ailefroide). It turned out to be an interesting little route, with some problems caused by the amount/softness of snow. The visibility was also quite poor at times which added to the fun.

Thursday 3rd/Friday 4th July

After dropping Graham off at Geneva, Jason & I drove round to Saas to do the Weissmiss traverse from the Amalgeller hut. We set out early-ish on Thursday and got to the hut around lunchtime, averting our usual last minute panic .

Friday started out unpromisingly - it was drizzling as we left the hut and we had concerns over the snow conditions. However, as we climbed above the Zwischbergenpass, we broke through the mist to reveal a classic inversion. Needless to say this did wonders for snow conditions / moral and we made good progress to reach the rocky section of the route. The scrambling was easy and most enjoyable and we finished off the last snowy section to arrive at the summit for about 10:15. We descended the north flank route which was very slushy lower down and hauled ourselves back to Hosaas for the cable car descent.

Got the first cable car/train up to Mittellalin with a view to traversing over to the Alphubel. Unfortunately, Jason was unwell and didn't get far. I ended up going up the Allallinhorn on my own - my 5th or 6th time I think.

A reasonable day forecast, though set to get worse, so I went to do route 53 in Storer's book - the Strathfarrar Six. What I didn't know (hadn't read!) was that there are weird access restrictions on the road up the glen - 9am to 8pm in summer and I didn't arrive till 12.15. Raced round the circuit as quick as I good, getting back to the car at about 6.45.

Rob & I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and the fact that he'd pulled out of the Edinburgh marathon to go hill walking together for the first time in ages. We completed my Tarmachan Ridge route at a pretty good pace. Lots of people about, best weather Rob reckons he's ever had in Scotland ... ?

Went climbing at Dunkeld with Tim and did the following routes: Cuticle Crack, Terminal Buttress (AL), Wriggle, Beech Wall (AL). The nice weather continues ...

Went climbing at Traprain with a guy called Tim and did the following routes: Great Corner, Left edge (TH), Via Dolorosa (afwul descent), MS Route (TH)

Went over Ben More & Stob Binnein, which are quite high and hold the snow well. I know everyone likes to say 'yah, alpine conditions' but it really was. Hot, sunblock, slushy snow ... a most enjoyable day out again.

My annual pilgrimage to Ben Lui ... a very hot day, plenty of snow but twitchy in the gully so I backed off (as did the guys in the picture, hope I didn't put them off!), and traversed round to the ridge, which had good snow cover on it too. As it was all too pleasant, I extended the day by traversing Ben Oss before descending to the farm at Cononish, collecting my bike and cycling back to the car.

Ben Lawers did it to me again ... Looked quite promising on the way in but deteriorated by the time I got to the lochan. Started up Cat gully but it had avalanched very recently - new snow on old hard stuff so I went for the east ridge instead, descending over Beinn Ghlas, traversing round to eventually reach Lawers village.

Headed up to Beinn an Dothaidh (again), thinking about doing one of the gullies I'd not tried before but large cornices in evidence (the picture shows where they exit) so I went up West Gully again, which has a reliable way out. Up to the summit and back down into the NE corrie. Fast - under 4 hours. Not a bad day if a bit breezy on top.

Nigel & I stayed in the CIC hut and did Good Friday Climb on Ben Nevis (after I rejected Indicator wall - too hard). The route was good with a nice pitch of fat ice at the crux. Pretty cold in the northerly wind and wild on the summit so we raced down the arete to the abseil posts and descended on good neve into Coire Leis and back to the hut. Very stormy on Sunday morning so we headed home - but did it improve? It was quite nice lower down but I guess that doesn't mean the Ben wasn't still stormbound...

A long walk up to Bealach Fhionnghaill then up the east ridge of Stob an Fhuarain - some awkward steepenings on slushy snow - then across to Sgor na h-Ulaidh, where snow conditions were much better. Doubled back to the col between the two mountains and descended good snow into the corrie below. A good day to start, gradually deteriorating. Rain/snow in the afternoon.

Another good day. I walked up the Leacann Gorton from Achaladair farm and into Coire an Lochain. I climbed the wide gully that rises to the col west of Beinn a Chreachain (some avalanche threat high up, I thought). Doubled back for Beinn a Chreachain in quite strong NE winds, and then continued along the ridge to Beinn Achaladair and back via Corrie Daingean. Superb views over to Cruachan, the Black Mount, Ben Nevis ...

Headed up Ben Chonzie from Loch Turret. A fair bit of snow on the tops but surrounding hills looked better (should have been on Ben Vorlich judging by the photo)! Great views

After the storms of Monday (not that bad in Scotland), a great day in the east so I went to do my long-hoped-for winter ascent of Glas Tulaichean in the Southern Cairngorms, up the SE ridge, down E ridge. Quite an easy proposition when the weather's like this but a very nice mountain and feeling remote. Rain came in as forecast at about 3.15 but I was walking back up Gleann Taitneach by then. 6 hours?

Graham & I went for one more training day around Drumochter - Sgairneach Mhor, Ben Udlamain and A' Mharconaich. Great winter conditions - cold, quite windy and lots of new drifted snow. Many navigation legs and some avalanche assessment on Ben Udlamain.

Fancied a break from all the navigation practice etc. so I gave Nigel a call and we met up in Tyndrum to do a route in the NNE corrie of Beinn a Dothaidh. After rejecting West Buttress (too lean), we decided to tackle Taxus, although Nigel has done this a couple of times before. It turned out to be in pretty fine condition and was thoroughly enjoyable. Superb weather too. Luckily the harder direct finish, a steep icefall, was not in condition, so we didn't even have to contemplate it! Descended the N ridge back to the car. 5 pitches c. 3.5 hours on the route

A pretty good day forecast and a fair bit of snow overnight, down to the road in the Southern Highlands. I decided to do Ben Challum from Strathfillan, traversing North -> South as it is not too long - a bonus when there's fresh snow about. After ploughing through fresh snow for a couple hours I got to the summit ridge, which was superb - hard wind blown snow, perfect for cramponing. Did some drills (snow bollards, pits) and descended back to the car.

Weather's gone to pieces now; 65 mph winds forecast for later in the day so I nipped up to Glenshee to see what could be done. Ended up climbing the Cairnwell (not very far) and the navigating via small summits and ski buildings over to Carn Aosda before heading down. The weather steadily deteriorated for the rest of the day. Just patches of wet snow remain.

High pressure still dominates. Graham & I headed to the Cairngorms for our snow-holing expedition. After a bit of 'security on steep ground', we made our way to Corrie Do