Our Seasons

Winter

Our winter is spent mainly guiding and instructing winter climbing. In December we work with a variety of Uni clubs providing winter skills courses. We also run open courses for winter skills and winter mountaineering to get folk ready for Winter.

Its off to Norway mid January for a couple of weeks ice climbing (with no walk in's!) and then it is back to Scotland for Scotish winter climbing and the rest of the season. Very often we head back out to Norway for some adventurous ice climbing mid Feb.

In Scotland we mainly operate around Ben Nevis and Glencoe area's with a couple of weeks up at the CIC Hut. We do have the occasional raid Northwest if conditions are good.

If we get the right conditions and clients we will attempt a winter traverse of the Skye Cullin ridge. To have a break from climbing, Richard will also run some Winter Mountain Leader courses, although staying in snow holes and wandering around mountains at night in blizzards is an odd way to have a break.

Hopefully we will also get the opportunity to get out and play ourselvces and try the odd new line.

Spring

Time to put the axes away and think of rock and sun. We start our programme of Mountain Leader and SPA courses at the end of April, often running ML training and assessment courses then.

It's off to Skye for large parts of May and early June, as we run Cullin ridge traverses and Skye scrambling courses. This is one of the best times to be on Skye and no matter how many times you go onto the ridge it takes your breath away.

It's also a good time to do the big classic ridges and routes on Ben Nevis. Great for coaching ropework and scrambling techniques. Very alpine in feel with large patches of snow everywhere. Towards the end of May the rock shoes are itching for more technical rock climbing.

Summer

Lots more NGB courses for ourselves and other organisations but now we get climbing! So much fantastic rock in the Northwest of Scotland to play on. We run a lot of intro and intermeadiatte rock climbing courses as well as a learning to lead amd pushing your grade course. Our courses focus on making you self-reliant and competant so that you can get out there and develop skills by yourself.

During this time Richard has long standing commitments to sveeral Universities, Outdoor Centres and councils, running various courses in climbing and mountaineering.

Scrambling is also on the agenda with a week at the CIC hut on Ben Nevis as well as trips to Torridon and Skye.

Autumn

Often a busy time, lots of Mountain Leader and single pitch award courses. Both our own and also we are asked to run them for many other organisations, as Richard is an approved MLT course director.

We also get accross to Skye in September for two or three ridge traverses and scrambling courses.

By the end of October we have often got our first winter route in (you have to be quick!) and by mid November the Summer NGB courses come to an end and it is time to get ready for Winter again.