Quartzvein Scoop, Ben Udlaidh PAIR OF ICE AXES FOUND IN CAR PARK IN GLEN ORCHY ON SUNDAY MORNING - HAPPY TO RETURN THEM TO GRATEFUL OWNER Boggy access path in floor of corrie was reasonably frozen unlike turf on plateau at top of route which was totally saturated and running with water.

Not Applicable

Mild and dry on walk in - Heavy thaw came in as forecast so climb was accompanied by the comforting sound of running water - pleasantly wild and woolly on plateau.

First pitch had some very poor snow, hollow and non weight bearing - 2nd pitch had 140ft of superb water ice and lots of it. Captain Hook was complete and the Smirk looked almost there. Peter Pan Direct and Cut Throat had enough ice for the bold (but not for me)

Drew Connelly

drew dot connelly at secc dot co dot uk

Ben Lui, crescent ridge (II) Fritz & Neil Swain. Central looked dodgey, so buttress route. Short roped, minimum gear (worth the loss of a scrube - sorry mate !), easy enough with some nice tricky bits. Very tricky blank wall led to a traverse left to top out via steep but easy gully. Bloody fine situations and conditions - quite a classic. Flamin' long walk in plastics, but well worth it in the conditions. A lot of walkers out, quite a party atmosphere at the top !

Grade II

Perfect blue skies and cold most of morning - cloud moving in late am. Pretty breezy on summit later and poor visibility. First time me eyebrows have frozen for far too long. Only saw one other party climbing. Better weather than predicted - pretty reasonable views a bit lower down. Well worth the long walk in.

Snow from 3-400m, along with icy paths. Loads of avalanche debris in corrie, but on inspection not new - frozen solid from wet avalanches a few days previous (?). Central looked far too iffy though. Conditions on buttress alternating from neve to superb ice & thwacking good turf, with occasional areas of powder for interest. First real, proper, axe-work for far too long. Gully superb neve. Right place, right time, glorious.

Fritz

fritz1232 at hotmail dot com

Ben Udlaidh Central Gully (II) with a right hand exit at about (III) Fritz and Neil Swain. Very icy approach path!

Grade III

Started off low cloud (top of corrie un-viewed) and dry, changed as predicted to snow at crag, then sleet then rain. Breezy on way down with v. poor visibility. Not brilliant on the M74 / M6 / A1, but that was on the way home so who gives a ?..

Snow from 300m. Evidence of previous very small avalanches in corrie, but well frozen and no danger. Spindrift and snow occasionally coming down gully but not serious hazard. Initial pitch outstanding ice, best climbed for years - but too short. Fantastic ice columns and walls on sides of gully (is the ice wall on right Juniors Jaunt IV as words in Winter Climbs, or is sketch correct ?).

Banked out for rest of route on good neve. Exited right for interest onto fine neve, frozen turf and fantastic ice. Even enough for screws - wha hey ! My faith is retrieved. Thawing on route, suspect conditions have gone seriously downhill now, much warmer on decent. Excellent place, if it freezes similarly again, gotta get back. Fan-bloody-tastic. Parties climbing West Gully and various other routes hidden in the clouds.

For interest the hard ice routes were building up, Organ Pipes looked surreal as a curtain of blue icicles, but assume not quite there, could come into condition if weather hasn't gone as forecast. Get your motors runnin - oops false alarm, back to square one.

Fritz

fritz1232 at hotmail dot com

The Upper Couloir (II), Stob Gabhar, Bridge of Orchy

Grade II

Cool.

Good hard snow in couloir, short icy step at half height, no cornice problem. Should be in nick for a few weeks yet. Grand route, spectacular corrie, and away from the crowds.

Christoph, Colin, & Nige