Winter returns

Yesterday I had the pleasure of introducing some American visitors to the beauty of our corner of the world.  The plan was for a lovely Spring walk, but the weather had other ideas!  When we left the car down in Glenmore the grass was green. By the time we returned we had to scrape thick snow off the car-----winter was back with a vengeance! In between we enjoyed some lovely bits of forest, chatting about everything from politics to lichen. We spotted the reindeer, which really cemented the Arctic atmosphere of the day. Conditions above the treeline were pretty hostile for those unused to them: a "snow in your face" kind of day. They all did really well, and it was a pleasure to guide them. Enjoy the rest of your holiday folks, hope to see you again.

Before the snow. Happy clients=a happy guide

The snow starts to fall.........

Recent rock climbing---Scotland and Spain!

Spring is always welcome after the cold of winter, and it always heralds the start of the rock climbing season for me. Recently I have had some superb days, both at home in the Highlands, as well as on a trip to the Costa Blanca in Spain. In the Highlands I was climbing some classic routes in Glen Nevis, and in Spain bolt-clipping lots of routes from F4-6a. We also managed the Bernia ridge whilst in Spain---this is like a miniature, limestone version of our own Cuillin ridge back here in Scotland. A great "Alpine" day out with lots of scrambling, some pitched climbing and a couple of abseils. Masses of rosemary and wild thyme growing en-route gave many stretches that glorious Mediterranean aroma of sun warmed herbs. The bar serving ice-cold cerveza waiting at the end was the icing on the cake!

Sarah leading Pine Wall, Hard Severe, Glen Nevis 

Henry nearing the top of the F4c pitch on the Bernia ridge, Spain

First view of the Bernia ridge, 8am, East Col