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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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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?

20/12/2024

Andrew and I endured the rain this morning to be rewarded with some sunshine this afternoon.

We had wet toes and the remaining snow was gopping (wet and sloppy) but it was worth getting out to climb Curved Ridge. Crampons and ice axes we no required.

Thank goodness for rubber gloves!

18/12/2024

Curved Ridge was not our intended route today and it wasn't at all snowy but Orlando and I had a good day, we did not get blown over and the views were very good.

As a first taste of Scottish mountaineering it was pretty good!

We can't always deliver exactly what you want to do, sometimes the weather dictates what we do and where we go. But we'll always try to make it a fun day.

13/12/2024

Well, at least the top pitch of Taxus was frozen today. In fact all of the top three pitches were OK. But the first two pitches were not OK!

?

12/12/2024

I love the precision and delicacy of Scottish winter climbing, especially mixed climbing. It's not always like this of course, sometimes it's a real battle.

Yesterday the best approach was meticulous precision so you could stand on millimetre wide ledges with a single front point, moving slowly enough for careful assessment of every hook, every weight shift, every step.

Yesterday's climb was a day to savour each and every movement and the wonderful mix of emotions trying to crowd out the calm state of flow required.

Thanks for the climbing and for the pictures , I don't often get to share many pictures of me or climbs like this.

11/12/2024

Smiles and sunshine all round for Iain and me as we topped out from our climb on Ben Nevis. We climbed Gargoyle Wall with the Hanging Gardens finish and it was amazing!

Lots of rime has fallen off or sublimated (a bit like evaporation) so most of the crags were black, including our main objective. But Gargoyle Wall was a great choice and the harder finish was absolutely spectacular!

It felt really warm, dry and comfortable, not at all like

10/12/2024

Above the clouds and below the bright sun the climbing is fun. It was amazingly dry in today which has made some of the rime and snow sublime. This is not a good thing!

Sublimation is the process of change from a solid directly to a gas. In very dry air, rime and snow disappear into thin air leaving behind black rocks. Most of the crags in Glencoe were black today.

The chimneys of North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor were snowy enough though so Tom, Ryan and I had fun climbing this brilliant route.

09/12/2024

Did you know that these beautiful hoar frost crystals can be a huge hazard in the mountains?

When they get buried by snow they can remain in the anowpack as a weak layer that can persist for many weeks. Buried surface hoar is a problem to look out for when snow accumlates after a clear frosty night.

There's not much chance of that happening this week! We have a few cold, dry days to come.

https://www.abacusmountainguides.com/blog/rime-hoar-and-verglas

08/12/2024

Snow down to 500m and -3°C in the summits. High pressure will bring settled, cold, dry weather this week.

It's an early Christmas Present! Try and get out if you can.

07/12/2024

It's nice to see the snow on back today. Lizzie, Sarah and Reza found wet snow on the wooden bridge at 350m and were breaking trail all the way from there.

The northerly wind was pretty strong (but not as strong as it has been in Wales today) and the team decided to turn around at 1200m.

It all makes you wonder how the snow buntings live on top all winter long with the ravens, stoats and field voles.

06/12/2024

Glen Coe has a long tradition of hard mixed climbing. Think of Hamish MacInnes and Chris Bonnington in 1953 climbing Agag's Groove (VI,7), Raven's Gully (V,6) and Crowberry Ridge Direct (VII,6) before front point crampons and leashless technical ice axes had even been thought of. These climbs have lost none of their respect since their first ascents over fifty years ago.

For those of us who can only dream of reaching these grades, there is also the full range of grades of mixed climbs in Glen Coe. Here are a few pointers for those who are finding their way into the wonderful world of mixed climbing.

https://www.abacusmountainguides.com/blog/glen-coe-mixed-climbs

04/12/2024

Route Spotlight: Lost The Place V,5 ***

High on Creag Coire na Ciste on Ben Nevis, look out for a chimney cutting through steep rocks to the right of South Gully. This modern classic route follows a steep corner and an awkward wall to find the bottom of the chimney which looks super intimidating!

The big overhang in the chimney is not as fierce as it looks. Some clever bridging and bomber hooks on chockstones help!

You can climb it all on rimed up rock or when it has iced up (check out pics 3 and 4), so it's a good route to choose whatever condition it's in. And there's no cornice problem much of the time.

01/12/2024

Proof that the "Mantrap" is aptly named! The notorious crux pitch of NE Buttress is no problem for a woman!

showing how to get a no hands rest half way up The Mantrap.

29/11/2024

Being able to share feelings of passion and awe with friends in a place I feel so connected with is simply wonderful. Climbing NE Buttress yesterday with and Tom was fun all the way.

The weather was beautiful, the conditions were good for climbing (but harder than normal due to the early season) and the views were off the chart.

The crux sections of The Man Trap and Forty Foot corner are close to the top and it's a big route, so the climb always keeps you concentrating and working hard.

But, as always, climbing is about so much more than getting up the route. These shared experiences that create deep connections with people and the landscape accumulate and grow to become shared love and respect between community and place.

And that's when we start to look after these unique places properly.

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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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