Winter Climbing Aspirations 2018/19

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Yes yes, I know its still summer outside, but with the coming of the grey season here in Scotland I'm beginning to look for some inspiration to get me through the drizzle until winter finally arrives again! 

So, what are folks aspirations for this coming winter season? Got a route in mind you've always fancied? Perhaps you've got a big climbing trip abroad planned? Share what you've got brewing... 

I'll start. Had an amazing winter season last, probably my first proper winter climbing season here in Scotland. Done some amazing routes and even lead my first IV, North Buttress on the Big Buachaille.

Looking forward to this coming season, I'd like to keep the ball rolling and tick off some more classics, maybe try push my grade a little. I've got my eye set on No match for climb id:7897 and maybe The Seam (IV 5). My ice climbing technique is pants so that's something I'd like to improve as well, maybe a trip to Cogne could be on the cards? 

I know some of you must be bursting at the seams to get the axes and poons out again, so lets hear what you've got in mind...

H

Post edited at 16:00
1
 subtle 23 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

Dude, we get it, your phsyched for the forthcoming winter - but it's still a few months off.

Now it the time get hill fit again, go bash you way up numerous hill walks, carrying heavy loads, through driving wind and horizontal rain

As for this season, hmm, still got a hankering for Zero, -2 and perhaps Ben's Fault, its a nice line on Ben Ime

Fingers crossed for a good winter season though, when it comes - and let it come, don't go out too early in less than marginal conditions, be patient!

7
 planetmarshall 23 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

Had a long standing ambition to get on some of the technical mixed routes on Beinn Eighe's Far East Wall, namely Kami-kaze (Winter) (VI 7) and possibly Sundance (Winter) (VIII 8), but never put the time in to get the necessary practice and fitness. With me planning to take most of this Winter off work, hopefully now is the time...

In reply to planetmarshall:

Sounds awesome dude, check out Neanderthal (VII 7).

I've always fancied getting on West Buttress (Winter) (IV 5) on Beinn Eighe, looks mega. 

Fingers crossed for another good season. 

 

In reply to subtle:

> Dude, we get it, your phsyched for the forthcoming winter - but it's still a few months off.

Aaaaand your point is?  

Yea it's several months away, but as you've said, now is the time to get fit, train and build psych for the coming season.

I've always fancied some of the classic ice routes on the Ben, Point Five being the obvious one. As I mentioned, my technique on ice is rotten, so that's an area that needs improvement. 

> don't go out too early in less than marginal conditions, be patient!

Can't reinforce this enough! Fingers crossed. 

1
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

Ben's Fault's a good day out, clear skies, frosts, firm snow, being a good indication of conditions. After a big dump of snow, not a good choice, go to Cobbler instead.

Several good routes on Ime, some new routes being climbed since last Guide published. 

Neanderthal is very sustained, a cracker under optimal conditions! Another great crag with worthwhile routes, and not just this plum!

Stuart

 DaveHK 23 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

My aspirations are to get to some remote crags and not shit myself too much.

Post edited at 22:29
 Mike Hewitt 23 Aug 2018
In reply to subtle:

> Now it the time get hill fit again, go bash you way up numerous hill walks, carrying heavy loads, through driving wind and horizontal rain

 

Oh, okay.

 Tricadam 23 Aug 2018
In reply to DaveHK:

> My aspirations are to get to some remote crags and not shit myself too much.

Then again, if one is going to shit oneself, a remote crag is the considerate place to do it.

I've just ordered my nappies from Sportpursuit. Great for those moments when your bowel misinterprets the try hard noises as an effort to do something else and, as your hips come up onto that dodgy rockover, something else goes down. They also provide comforting insulation for the nether regions on the long belay stints that are the hallmark of the early season grade-push.

In reply to Harrison_Connie:

Sticil Face (V 6) - was going to climb this whilst staying at the Hutchie last February but did Hell's Lum instead. Shelterstone seems like such an amazing location to climb. 

Gully of the Gods (VI 6) looks amazing! Hopefully it's in at some point this season. Shame it's such a long way away, though I suppose that adds to the atmosphere of the route

Hoping that  Beinn Udlaidh is in similar nick to last season. Keen to do Peter Pan Direct (V 5), and Quartzvein Scoop (IV 4) if it's not as busy as it was last time!

 Tricadam 24 Aug 2018
In reply to BarneyLoosemore:

> Gully of the Gods (VI 6) looks amazing! Hopefully it's in at some point this season. Shame it's such a long way away, though I suppose that adds to the atmosphere of the route

Sad to think that it may well not be, having been so good last winter. Wish I'd had the chance to get up there and do it. It really does look like the most extraordinary line. Just being there would be a rare privilege.

 Robert Durran 24 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

Probably to continue my (temporary?) retirement from winter without my head getting completely done in by FOMO and crippling guilt at the avoidance of suffering.

Then again.......

 

 

In reply to Tricadam:

Yeah, I was desperate to go out and try it at some point last season in the knowledge it was such an ephemeral line... here’s hoping it forms again at some point this season 

 Tricadam 24 Aug 2018
In reply to Robert Durran:

Avoidance of suffering? Robert, I've had far worse hotaches at Ratho in winter than I ever have cosied up in my Dachsteins. And as for feet, summer climbing on Lochnagar in temps of 2 degrees in a strong northerly bearing freezing rain had me thinking I'd never feel them again. It's winter climbing that's for softies! 

 Robert Durran 24 Aug 2018
In reply to Tricadam:

> Avoidance of suffering? Robert, I've had far worse hotaches at Ratho in winter than I ever have cosied up in my Dachsteins. It's winter climbing that's for softies! 

Funnily enough, I have relatively little problem with the cold at Ratho because everything is predictable and controllable. I can induce induce just enough mild, only slightly uncomfortable hot aches on my warm up routes to inoculate myself against them, and wear as many clothes as is necessary to maintain warmth between routes.

On the other hand, as I have got older, I have needed ever more layers of clothing to cope with cold when winter climbing until it has got to the point where the size of my rucksack is getting silly, there is no chance of breathability, and I struggle for mobility in my Michelin Man like state to climb well or enjoyably. In fact the only things which don't suffer are hands and feet (I have a multiple glove and mitt system which works).

But the biggest factor for me is not the cold, but that the fear of the pain of thigh cramps afterwards now outweighs the fear of everything else that might happen winter climbing.

 Tricadam 25 Aug 2018
In reply to Robert Durran:

> But the biggest factor for me is not the cold, but that the fear of the pain of thigh cramps afterwards now outweighs the fear of everything else that might happen winter climbing.

I can imagine that would be pretty awful. I've had a couple of experiences in the past year of leg cramps coming on while driving back from a climb or run. Not nice at all. Luckily for me they seem to ease off quickly. Is it just winter that does it to you then? Does it only happen following days where you've done long belay stints or can it occur after easy routes/soloing?

I had my first experience of cramps on a climb doing Orion Direct back in March, probably due to the combination of having virtually not climbed all winter, relative dehydration and the repetitive muscle movements after (glorious) pitch after pitch of ice. Started about halfway up, so my partner kindly led a second pitch in a row. I got fed up of seconding though and, with that gorgeous exit chimney line beckoning, couldn't resist the lead. A lot of swearing and groaning ensued as tricpes and hands on both sides repeatedly cramped all the way up the pitch, generally at the most inconvenient moments. It was still a really fun pitch though, and the belay at the top is comfy, with the added luxury of a nut placement (and obligatory rusty peg) rather than the dodgy screws which were generally the order of the day.

 DanielJ 25 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

Finnkona (WI-6)

Hoping for favourable conditions and decent preparation. Then theres a chance, looked at it last year but had fever and a bad cold so didnt try it. Fingers crossed for late february...

 Robert Durran 25 Aug 2018
In reply to Tricadam:

> I can imagine that would be pretty awful. I've had a couple of experiences in the past year of leg cramps coming on while driving back from a climb or run. Not nice at all. Luckily for me they seem to ease off quickly. Is it just winter that does it to you then? Does it only happen following days where you've done long belay stints or can it occur after easy routes/soloing?

I can get them in calfs, feet, groin, hands (usually when tired and tense, so can be worrying climbing!), but all these are mild irritations compared with the dreaded, excruciating thigh cramps which would probably have me reaching, screaming, for instant suicide pills if they were available! They  can generally happen after any big, arduous, day in the hills or a long run and I've found no magic cure, just tactics to minimise the risk (so that I probably now get an attack about only once per year on average). Unfortunately the best tactic seems to be to get fit enough not to find the day arduous, but this is a bit of a catch 22, because the only way to get fit for arduous days is to do, well, arduous days - it has made getting hill fit a slower and more cautious process than it used to be

The last few winters I've largely replaced winter climbing with photography, which has, in some ways, similar challenges of being in the right place at the right time, with silly early starts flogging up hills in the dark, but with more control over keeping adequately warm and avoiding cramp.

 Tricadam 26 Aug 2018
In reply to Robert Durran:

> The last few winters I've largely replaced winter climbing with photography, which has, in some ways, similar challenges of being in the right place at the right time, with silly early starts flogging up hills in the dark, but with more control over keeping adequately warm and avoiding cramp.

And those days will also serve to increase that hill fitness - especially as I expect you must be lugging a duvet's worth of coats up there, given your sensitivity to the cold!

I'd be interested to know if you find those photography experiences as satisfying (maybe more so!) as the occasions where you're there to do something else (whether climbing, running, walking) and something amazing arrives. That's the only way I've ever done it, and the ephemerality and surprise of that really appeals. But I know many (most?) photographers will often go into the mountains with photography as the main aim. As someone who will have done plenty of both, how have you found it?

 Robert Durran 26 Aug 2018
In reply to Tricadam:

> And those days will also serve to increase that hill fitness - especially as I expect you must be lugging a duvet's worth of coats up there, given your sensitivity to the cold!

Yes, at least two fat belay jackets, not to mention the camera and lenses. I think photography can, like Corbetts and Munros, give an added incentive to get out and get fit. It also gets me out on the hills at the best times of day - these days I can sometimes barely get interested in a hill day that doesn't involve being on the tops at either sunrise or sunset - quite often two separate walks to optimise both!

> I'd be interested to know if you find those photography experiences as satisfying (maybe more so!) as the occasions where you're there to do something else (whether climbing, running, walking) and something amazing arrives. That's the only way I've ever done it, and the ephemerality and surprise of that really appeals.

I think I get the most satisfaction when all the planning pays off - sunrise/sunset/moonrise/moonset tables, poring over maps to optimise foreground and foreground light, then the logistics and effort of getting there (all in someways parallels winter climbing!). Of course it doesn't by any means always pay off and still needs that bit of luck and magic.........   But the completely unexpected opportunities are great too.

 

 

 Tricadam 26 Aug 2018
In reply to Robert Durran:

Ah yes, can see the alluring parallels with winter climbing in terms of the planning. Half the fun (and sometimes more!) of winter climbing is all the time you spend during the week scheming about what you'll get at on your day off! 

 colinakmc 27 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

Loving this thread. Not succeeded in getting to do anything decent in winter for years (real life getting in the way) but as always higher hopes for this winter. If we get one.

 French Erick 27 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

1)Have a go at things and not watch it from the sidelines...as i had to do last season!

2)Climb with my pals in remote venues.

3)Make sure they don't shit themselves in aforementioned remote venues... the furthest away from a toilet the longer you have to put up with the increased stench.

4) Too many particular routes to mention but 2 have already been named in this thread and they are not gully of the gods! (ticked in sub-optimal conditions)

In reply to French Erick:

I know the feeling well. Last season started off great for me but somewhere in the middle I lost my bottle, I couldn't face a big winter route for a couple weeks before my psych returned.

I think my trouble was, I was leading IV in winter but had barely led any summer trad, I just didn't have the head for it at the time. Come a certain point I think I realised I was probably going to get hurt and took a big step back.

I'd like to avoid that this coming season. It's been a good summer, lots of trad in the bag so hopefully all goes well. 

Gully of the Gods looks mad. I've got a few cracking chimney/gully routes in mind for this coming winter. Wouldn't mind getting on Deep Cut Chimney (Hell's Lum). 

 Jim Fraser 27 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

My climbing partners seem to give up climbing. Was it something I said? I'm sure it's not my fault. So there are a couple of folk I need to start working on so that they can carry the rack this year. 

I haven't been back to Glencoe for very long time so I am thinking that a day out in Coire nan Lochan might creep into the plan. There will be visits to the usual suspects in Kintail and then there is an array of short steep potential routes in a place I can't tell you about. 

I am lucky enough to live in a place where I can get up in the morning, look outside, check some web info and then decide between N, S, E and W. And with new skis to test, I am pretty sure I know what the contingency plan will be.

Be careful out there.

 

 Rank_Bajin 27 Aug 2018
In reply to subtle:

Ben's Fault - while a great route is a bit of a sandbag at IV,5. 

 subtle 30 Aug 2018
In reply to Rank_Bajin:

> Ben's Fault - while a great route is a bit of a sandbag at IV,5. 

Yup, Ive been on it but backed off due to it not being in ideal conditions - still one I feel I need to get back on though.

Long way in to not get a climb though.

In reply to subtle:

I think often people associate fresh snow down to low level, as prime Arrochar conditions. This does not translate particularly well with Beinn Ime, in my experience.

Being mostly open and east facing, it catches sunlight, forming neve during a settled period with overnight frosts. Just as well, since it is covered in very long, reed like grass, takes an age for frost to penetrate!

The current guide approach, also traverses one of the biggest avalanche slopes in Southern Highlands, often corniced by prevailing SW wind. Yet again, not recommended after heavy snowfall! There is a easier approach, assisted by local knowledge and good underfoot conditions.

Get the above right and the ensuing climb will absorb, inspiring further visits? In particular, Default Mode V,6 offers a memorable experience on final pitch......

Stuart

 

 

Post edited at 12:37
 HeMa 30 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

Well, to get out more than 2 or 3 times would be a good start... last year the season where I live started late (again) and then I already headed for 'Bleau in late Feb, so put a lot more focus on bouldering.

Still have a few lines left on the two crags I've developped and also need to start workin' on completely unclimbed one.

 Tricadam 30 Aug 2018
In reply to Stuart the postie:

Thanks Stuart. Good local info re the reeds/frost! A shame I'm moving to Inverness and shall miss this winter in Arroachar. I really enjoyed a romp up Beinn Ime's NE ridge last winter and had a look at this face on the way down. Keen to return!

 French Erick 30 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

> I think my trouble was, I was leading IV in winter but had barely led any summer trad, I just didn't have the head for it at the time. Come a certain point I think I realised I was probably going to get hurt and took a big step back.

Sounds like a very reasonable course of action that!

> Gully of the Gods looks mad. I've got a few cracking chimney/gully routes in mind for this coming winter. Wouldn't mind getting on Deep Cut Chimney (Hell's Lum). 

It is very good but should at least be well frozen as there is some proper looseness in there. Better if fat from the picks I have seen from last winter!

 Whitters 30 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

To be honest just getting out on something will do me after missing the last season!

Keen to try to drag my wife up a nice easy gully.

Have already moved the guidebook into the "Smallest room" to ponder for inspiration! 

 George Ormerod 30 Aug 2018
In reply to Harrison_Connie:

I seemed to be steady on any WI 4 last season, so it's be good to get on some WI 5 routes.  The missus set me a goal of 50 winter leads in my 50th year (possibly for the life insurance) and I've got 4 left to do, so some early season fun, like Twisted Sister (WI-4) or something in Ranger Creek would be good.

I don't expect to do it, but it'd be great to get on something big and classic like Polar Circus (WI-5) or Slipstream (I can't believe that's not in the climb database on here, it's a Rockies uber-classic!)

In reply to Harrison_Connie:

I know its not the same as leading, but it might be worth sending some time at the Ice wall. It helped me climbing steeper stuff. 

In reply to Harrison_Connie:

I know its not the same as leading, but it might be worth sending some time at the Ice wall. It helped me climbing steeper stuff. Cheaper than a trip to Cogne too! 

In reply to Harrison_Connie:

I know its not the same as leading, but it might be worth sending some time at the Ice wall. It helped me climbing steeper stuff. Cheaper than a trip to Cogne too! 

In reply to Harrison_Connie:

I know its not the same as leading, but it might be worth sending some time at the Ice wall. It helped me climbing steeper stuff. Cheaper than a trip to Cogne too! 


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