Abacus Mountain Guides

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Abacus Mountain Guides www.abacusmountainguides.com Abacus Mountain Guides Ltd, Registered in Scotland SC378703 We specialise in providing exactly what you want.

Instruction and guiding in Mountaineering, Scrambling, Rock Climbing and Scottish Winter Climbing, Canyoning and Mountain Biking. Be inspired by your Private Mountain Guide in the best hills in Scotland, Ben Nevis, Glen Coe and Skye. Creating the perfect trip for you based on the prevailing weather and conditions, your previous experience and aspirations, is our challenge and what gives us the most satisfaction.

There are no midges in January!Dry rock and lots of learning in Glen Nevis today.
17/01/2025

There are no midges in January!

Dry rock and lots of learning in Glen Nevis today.

Another outstandingly dry day. We climbed Castle Ridge but I had a phone malfunction so I don't have any pictures.The ro...
16/01/2025

Another outstandingly dry day. We climbed Castle Ridge but I had a phone malfunction so I don't have any pictures.

The rock was super grippy and it felt fun and friendly, not how I would always describe Castle Ridge!

It felt like a good summer's day in Glencoe today. Dry rock, sunshine, no snow but a strong wind on the tops.Curved Ridg...
15/01/2025

It felt like a good summer's day in Glencoe today. Dry rock, sunshine, no snow but a strong wind on the tops.

Curved Ridge was a popular choice, for our Intro to Winter Climbing courses and for many other people. Lots of skills practiced, techniques learned and it was lovely.

But it wasn't at all wintry other than being the middle of January!

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Another lap of Tower Ridge before the temperature finally gets above zero tomorrow.Chris has been wanting and trying to ...
11/01/2025

Another lap of Tower Ridge before the temperature finally gets above zero tomorrow.

Chris has been wanting and trying to climb Tower Ridge in winter for many years. We were able to grab the chance today after shuffling dates around in the diary and it was lovely.

Yesterday was a beautiful wintry day to climb Tower Ridge. It wasn't easy with very unhelpful snow covering the rocks bu...
10/01/2025

Yesterday was a beautiful wintry day to climb Tower Ridge. It wasn't easy with very unhelpful snow covering the rocks but we don't go climbing in winter because it's easy! It's supposed to be a challenge.

We have great conditions right now for mixed climbing but not much else. There's a full description of the current conditions on our blog.

Go to our profile to find the link.

A significant thaw in the last week of 2024 gave way to much colder weather on 1st January 2025. The thaw had melted awa...
10/01/2025

A significant thaw in the last week of 2024 gave way to much colder weather on 1st January 2025. The thaw had melted away just about all the older snow and there was a lot of rain at all levels. Here on the west coast we have not had a huge amount of snow over the last ten days but there's about 20cm to 30cm general cover higher up and the snow is down to sea level with summit temperatures around -8C.

So, the snow is dry, soft and fluffy because it has not been warmed up and refrozen. There is no base layer of snow - instead the soft snow is sitting on rocks and rubble in most places. Turf and the ground everywhere is pretty well frozen and water courses are freezing up creating cascade ice in streams and on some climbs.

New blog with a full description of current conditions here - https://www.abacusmountainguides.com/blog/a-good-start-to-2025

What a stunner! Blue sky and sunshine all day, light winds and absolutely beautiful views in all directions.Today was a ...
08/01/2025

What a stunner! Blue sky and sunshine all day, light winds and absolutely beautiful views in all directions.

Today was a fantastic day to learn some winter climbing skills on Curved Ridge, or anywhere else in the Highlands!

A few years ago a Sport England report said if we can give our young people high quality experiences in the outdoors the...
06/01/2025

A few years ago a Sport England report said if we can give our young people high quality experiences in the outdoors they will return to it for their whole lives and gain all the benefits.

It's sometimes hard to get them outside in the first place but it's worth it. Some of my children's strongest memories are of family mountain adventures.

We don't do many, but they are all really good, this time we were running over Meall Cumhann in Glen Nevis a few days ago.

This weekend we had fantastic conditions for our Intro Winter Walking Skills and Ben Nevis combo.Saturday was about intr...
05/01/2025

This weekend we had fantastic conditions for our Intro Winter Walking Skills and Ben Nevis combo.

Saturday was about introducing people to what hill walking is like in winter, the kit and skills required for anyone new to it all.

This was followed by a guided walk up Ben Nevis today to put it all into action straight away.

We had a lovely bunch of enthusiastic walkers keen to learn. Well done team!

The next one is on 1st and 2nd February.

25 years ago I tried to climb Neanderthal with Mike Brownlow. We didn't get very far due to illness and falling off (me)...
04/01/2025

25 years ago I tried to climb Neanderthal with Mike Brownlow. We didn't get very far due to illness and falling off (me).

So it was nice to climb this super classic route with and today.

It follows the massive corner in Lost Valley Buttress, Glencoe. It's quite turfy (which was mostly well enough frozen today) and very steep with spectacular positions.

It's amazing to think it was first climbed in 1987 with straight ice axes, wrist leashes and no friends (probably).

Wonderful colours on Ben Nevis this afternoon and wonderful to see some snow on the hills too. Looks like it will be col...
01/01/2025

Wonderful colours on Ben Nevis this afternoon and wonderful to see some snow on the hills too. Looks like it will be cold for a while now.

Happy New Year!

We've had some adventurous and resilient teams going up Ben Nevis over the last couple of days of 2024. In between 90mph...
31/12/2024

We've had some adventurous and resilient teams going up Ben Nevis over the last couple of days of 2024. In between 90mph gusts of wind and some of the most persistent and heavy rain of the year we summited yesterday and today.

Both climbs were done with the knowledge that they might not reach the top and there was a big chance of turning back when it got too tough.

There's no snow that you have to walk over on the path but that's about to change as we start 2025!

Happy New Year!

We've been running some intro to winter climbing courses over the weekend. Curved Ridge was a good choice yesterday to s...
29/12/2024

We've been running some intro to winter climbing courses over the weekend. Curved Ridge was a good choice yesterday to stay out of the wind and look at placing rock anchors and belaying.

Today one team stayed in Glencoe on The Zigzags for further rock skills while the other team went across to the Cairngorms. They found a patch of snow big enough for some snow anchors and belaying on snow.

They probably walked further than anyone else in Scotland with crampons on today!

Soggy but fun above Kinlochleven today, at the east end of the Mamores.It looks like we will get some fresh snow this ...
29/12/2024

Soggy but fun above Kinlochleven today, at the east end of the Mamores.

It looks like we will get some fresh snow this week and much colder weather later. Fingers crossed!

Summit temperatures around +5°C, steady rain and drizzle have melted most of the snow in the Highlands and washed it dow...
27/12/2024

Summit temperatures around +5°C, steady rain and drizzle have melted most of the snow in the Highlands and washed it down the burns into the loch.

We're looking forward to colder conditions returning early next week. In the meantime there's always lots of good mountaineering to enjoy and a few easy gullies full of snow to explore.

doesn't always mean snow, but it is always worthwhile.

Do you want to learn the skills to climb Ledge Route on Ben Nevis? Our Intro to Winter Climbing Course will give you all...
24/12/2024

Do you want to learn the skills to climb Ledge Route on Ben Nevis? Our Intro to Winter Climbing Course will give you all the skills you need to climb single ice axe routes at grade I and II.

A couple of spaces have come up on the 28th to 30th December course, £375 for three days.

DM me or comment and we'll send you more details.

The storm at the weekend did its thing and filled the gullies of Ben Nevis with snow and even started to make a bit of i...
23/12/2024

The storm at the weekend did its thing and filled the gullies of Ben Nevis with snow and even started to make a bit of ice. Wild weather blowing wet snow up, down and sideways with snappy temperature fluctuations is perfect for packing in the snow.

Today I was up with Rich and his daughter Mia for a first winter mountaineering challenge. Ledge Route from Coire na Ciste was ideal and required full focus faces (pic 4)!

It didn't really rain much but it was certainly above freezing on the summit as it will be for the next few days. Ho hum!

It's stormy this weekend but Thursday was a nice day. Fresh snowfall overnight resulted in a good cover of fluffy snow e...
21/12/2024

It's stormy this weekend but Thursday was a nice day. Fresh snowfall overnight resulted in a good cover of fluffy snow everywhere.

Andrew and I went up Ledge Route on Ben Nevis. This is such a route to get into mountaineering and experience the grandeur of the North Face of Ben Nevis with quite moderate climbing.

Have you been up Ledge Route in the snow?

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Early season conditions on Ben Nevis right now, but it's white, snowy and frozen, so it's a good start to the year!

I went up for an early lap of CMD Arete this morning. It was beautiful, calm and not very snowy! We have had no snow on Ben Nevis or Glencoe, even when it has been snowing heavily in the Cairngorms, Glasgow and even the Lake District. As a result conditions are pretty awkward. CMD Arete was lovely because it's a dry ridge but there is lots of ice in the grass lower down, no snow on the scree in the coires and no helpful snow on the ridges. The steep crags are not even rimed up for mixed climbing! But the ground is very cold and we're ready for snow now. Can someone please send it our way? #ThinkWINTER #mountains

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