UKH

Winter has ended. Now all I can use my crampons for is spiking my lawn.

This winter I did not get up to Sccotland, did not get to Rjukan, did not get to Kandersteg. It does not seem to have been a great season. It seemed to be wet and warm a lot of the time. Have I missed any great week(end)s of blue skies and blue ice?

What has been your best winter trip this season, where and when?

In reply to Pay Attention:


Well, err... today for starters. Classic spring ice on the Ben and wall-to-wall sunshine. Its not over til its over!

In reply to Pay Attention:

There's at least another month of winter left

In reply to elliptic:

Just got a text from a mate coming back south early "Forecast totally wrong. Meggy spitting rocks and cornices" so sounds like the Ben was the right choice!

In reply to Pay Attention:


It was slow to get going but when it did it was brilliant. Particularly in the far North West.

In reply to Tobya: nope today was fine at meagaidh, your mate should have jus t got up earlier! Plenty of winter action to be bad away from the ben, as usual.

Been a much better season than last year, lots of good weather and days recently, and historic for greg and guys run of onsight FA' s.

Andy

In reply to Toby:
We were up in Coire na Ciste. Anything catching the sun is stripped but the ice lines in the shade are in great nick & there's been some noticeable buildup since last weekend. Wasn't even that busy - maybe everybody else was round the corner queuing on Smiths and Hadrian's...!

In reply to Pay Attention:


hopefully not - I have a trip to the West in mid-April!

In reply to Pay Attention:

I suppose the perspective of someone looking for 'Blue skies and blue ice' at the weekend probably differs from someone just looking to get out when they can, but it certainly appeared to be a pretty superlative season on the Ben, with classic ice climbs like The Shroud and Mega Route X in once in a decade condition.

This year I took the step of basing myself in Newtonmore for 6 weeks over the Winter ( I realise I am fortunate to be in a position to do this, though I still have a day-job ). I regret not taking more opportunities to get out, but by and large I'm pleased with the season, particularly as I was recovering from injury for most of it.

In reply to andyinglis:


I probably should have, but it was a lot warmer than forecasts suggested... sounds like you had a good day on Pumpkin..

In reply to Pay Attention:

There is still winter climbing in the Lakes even if you look for it and pick the right aspect. Was there on Thursday and got a climb in. Ok easy grade and not in great condition but still got it done. Depends what you are looking for.

In reply to Pay Attention:

who says winter is over????

its been a pretty cracking season so far and (hopefully) still plenty left to come. iv spent most of the bluebird cold days skiing as the powder at gelncoe has been exceptional this year, but plenty of great climbs too

In reply to Pay Attention:
Paul, firstly, winter hasn't ended. The ice up on the Ben and easier gullies elsewhere should be good for a few more weeks. Secondly, Scotland has been great this season. Not all the time but often enough. You just have to get up there on the right weekend! Lots of classics down. I even managed a couple of good routes in Wales. And four good days in Cogne. Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear!

In reply to Pay Attention:
We gambled on Boomers Requiem yesterday in the Castle area, and we were dumbfounded to be the only two teams there! Great ice , neve and no cues.

In reply to jaggy bunnet:
it's gone sunny down south so the long distance raiders have started rock climbing. Enjoy I'm envious though it was nice to need chalk on stanage on Thursday.

In reply to Pay Attention:

Noooooo winter cannot be over!! I am going to Scotland at the end of the month. Bring it back!!!

In reply to Pay Attention:

There's lots of ice around for people prepared to be a little more adventurous than just heading to Ben Nevis.

In reply to Pay Attention:

Presuming this is a troll, been a superb winter compared to last, lots of ice about that will endure for a good while yet. A little ironic to post that on a day when the Ben was so busy with teams climbing fat ice in the sunshine.

In reply to planetmarshall:

Absolutely spot on. I did both in a day, and things don't get much better than that

Also Gemini and neighbouring lines (which I didn't do) had literally dozens of ascents.

In reply to Sharp:
I know Paul, this isn't a troll. It's true to say that European ice was a bit hit and miss this season (but that's the new normal I suspect) and if you weren't free on the weekends when the weather in Scotland was bearable/good you will have missed out on the action (but it's always thus).

In reply to Pay Attention:

Been a pretty good season I'd say! Certainly about 10 times better than the last one.

Some superb ice/mixed conditions up in the NW in January and the Ben mid-level ice was in fantastic nick in Feb. A lot of good weather too it seemed, particularly on saturdays! Excellent timing from the weather gods.

In reply to Sharp:

Hello Ice Warriors!

There is an interesting range of views in the replies to my original post, but very Ben-centric it seems. For me this year not as good as last year, but some periods of illness interfered.

My reason for asking is to look forward to next year : planning when and where to go.

Weather stats show an unusual warming took place in Rjukan from mid Feb that took lower areas out of condition. Snowdonia has been hit and miss as usual.

As Misha would know I've made two trips up to The Highlands in recent years. It is a 9 hour journey for me. Within days the snow and ice has been washed away to heather and rock.

It's good that activists have got out and done plenty, and that's often helped by really knowing local situations and conditions well. Not so easy when you're trying to assess probabilities remotely.

So where's going to be reliably good to go to in 2016, and when?

What happened in Europe this season?

(Hey, Misha. Email me details of your climbs in Cogne and Snowdonia).

In reply to Pay Attention:
the major feature in Europe was v frightening snow pack. frankly European ice fall climbing is pretty dull compared to Scottish climbing. conditions were poor in southern french alps. someone in Canada did some hard dry tooling.

In reply to Pay Attention:
You know that in this day and age nothing is reliable! Stay as flexible as possible on when and where to go.

Information on what's in up North is generally pretty good, as are the weather and avalanche forecasts. You just have to make the journey when it looks worthwhile. Been up four times this year, twice for a weekend and twice for a few days. Got good stuff done every time, including a few of the elusive ice routes on the Ben.

Wales - Manx Wall and Lampard Brewer on Clogwyn Ddu
Cogne - Repentance Super, Lau Bij, Etoiles et Soleil, E Tutto Relativo (repeat). Was there for only four days.

In reply to alasdair19:
To be fair, Euro ice is loads better than most British ice (I say most because the best routes here would hold their own) but British mixed is really quite special and the ephemeral nature of all British winter climbing makes it pretty special as well.

In reply to Pay Attention:

An observation made by me, very windy westerlies seemed to dominate till Jan, much snow and little frosts.

Probably the first time in 20+ years, haven't been successful climbing in Arrochar! In fact other than Creag an Socach, nothing of note (with the exception of Direct, Direct) seemed to come in/get done? Never even walked into Coire Chat, Cruachan, normally a very reliable option in the west.

Mega ice lines and especially the NW seemed to capture peoples imaginations, usually less fickle than more popular mixed arenas, IMO.

Much better than last, harder to predict due to westerlies for me.

Stuart

In reply to Pay Attention:



I know grades are not everything but as a way of showing I'm not talking about grade 1 snow gully routes -

I climbed a good grade V mixed route on the 13th of December, mixed routes that were grade V or harder on the last three consecutive weekends of January and a grade III ice route on the first weekend of February, all in the Lakes. There were many days in January I missed due to work and family commitments.

It was there if you went and had a look.

In reply to Pay Attention:

The season hasn't been very Ben-centric at all for me - haven't managed to climb there once, despite what sound like excellent conditions over the past month or so.

I think this season has been above average - not amazing but certainly a lot better than last winter. Trips in the UK for me have been limited to weekends (travelling from York), with just the occasional Monday or Friday taken off work, but I've managed two trips to Lochnagar (Jan & Feb), two weekends climbing on Gable Crag (Jan & Feb), some ski touring near Glenshee (Jan), and climbs on Stob Coire nan Lochain on two weekends in March. In amongst all that I had a great 10 days ice climbing and ski touring in the Dolomites.

Next weekend is out for me (going to a wedding in St Albans), so my winter season may be at an end now, unless Lochnagar is still in condition around Easter (staying in Ballater for a week starting on Good Friday).

In reply to Pay Attention:

Just flew east of the Cairngorms - returning from Rjukan - and winter is clearly going to be lasting a few weeks more, judging by the amount of snow still evident.

PS The snow cover, viewed from the plane, in the Hardangervidda and surrounding area is remarkably full and the locals will be ski touring for a long time to come.

In reply to BusyLizzie:
sorry its all over!

In reply to thespecialone:

It may be now, but the Snowy Weather gods were smiling for me at the end of March

In reply to Pay Attention:

4 and a half minutes of my winter season in pics: http://alanhalewood.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/winter-2014-15-45-minutes-of-fun...