This great shot was taken in mid-February during Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team training on Beinn Dearg. Not only does it give a good impression of the scale of this peak it also shows the extraordinary dyke that runs from the tip of the North West Ridge (in the distance) to close to the summit. The drystane dyke, often built with huge blocks, is between 3 and 5 feet high in places but only the top-most layer of blocks were visible above the snow. Just after these pictures were taken the weather turned colder again and, in the second half of the month, another huge fall of snow took the snow line back to sea level and it has remained there since.

The picture below includes ‘Skye’ - a local member of the Search and Rescue Dog Association.

Tags: Beinn Dearg, Wester Ross

Go Further clients have experienced a series of special days on some of the north’s most famous peaks in perfect winter conditions.



In the first half of the month we found ourselves on Slioch - just north of Loch Maree (in the distance in the picture above with Torridon in the background). Here the group are just hitting the snow line at about 1500 feet.



Later that week we moved south to Torridon where this picture was taken of the the main Beinn Eighe ridge from the Liathach ridge. For more details on Torridon see here.



Liathach is a special mountain at any time of the year but, combined with An Teallach and Beinn Eighe, can there be a better series of winter summits to aim for on the Scottish mainland?

Another great day out is to tackle the Black Carls on the Beinn Eighe Ridge - one of the best Wester Ross scrambles and, in the winter, a great mountaineering adventure. Here the group is heading onto the main ridge...



...and here (below) we are heading towards the start of the Carls.

Tags: Liathach, Beinn Eighe, torridon, Slioch, Winter, mountaineering

Go Further also reached the wild spot of Carnmore in the heart of the Fisherfield Wilderness at the turn of the year. A very special place just after a heavy fall in the middle of the cold snap. The quickest way into Carnmore is an eight mile hike from Poolewe on the coast.



This shot (above) shows evening light on Carnmore Crag on the way into Carnmore and the picture below shows the famous Carnmore bothy. Not the best bothy in the area, but one of the best locations in the whole of the Northern Highlands for climbing and mountain walking.





Above, one of the most famous Fisherfield munros: A’Mhaighdean (The Maiden) and the Dubh Loch below.

Tags: Carnmore Bothy, Carnmore, fisherfield, fisherfield munros

Truly incredible winter conditions started early in Wester Ross and hardly changed through to mid-January. This picture looks directly south into the sun just after the shortest day of 2009 just after Christmas. In the middle is An Teallach’s Sgurr Fiona with the pinnacled ridge running to the left and the Western ridge on the right. Conditions were heavy going during this spell with a lot of fresh snow and little consolidation.

Tags: Winter, An Teallach

Whilst the crags on the coast were bathed in sunshine giving pleasant, dry rock climbing, challenging walking conditions were to be had yesterday 1000 meters up on An Teallach. Gair, David and Jonathon carefully negotiating the goat path below the famous Corrag Bhuidhe buttress on their way to Sgurr Fiona which is one of An Teallach's Munros. Not much to be seen but a very satisfying day all the same.

Tags: An Teallach

As the cold snap continues, these pictures were taken on the same day from the summit ridge of An Teallach in early december on a mountain rescue training exercise. The lower picture was taken at about 10am when we were near the summit of Sail Liath (945m) looking south East. The Top picture is from the Corrag Bhuidhe buttress looking south west over to the magnificent Beinn Dearg Mor. The sun is reflecting off Abhainn Gleann na Muice which runs into the stunning and remote Loch na Sealga - a 5km long loch with Beinn Daerg Mor rising on one side and An Teallach on the other.

Tags: An Teallach, Beinn Dearg Mor, Loch na Sealga, Abhainn Gleann na Muice

Congratulations to Tim and Helen (pictured below) who were on their honeymoon last month when we went ventured onto one of Torridon’s most remote peaks - Beinn an Eoin. This picture was taken in the middle of November from the summit of in the heart of Torridon looking south. Beinn Alligin is on the right with the sun catching, we think, Loch na Cabhaig. The Horns of Alligin are in the middle of the picture.
This was a bitterly cold day (wind chill at around -10c) in November which marked the start of a long spell of very cold weather.

Tags: torridon, Beinn an Eoin

A very early Easter. Two weeks of bitterly cold northerly weather which has left the hills of Wester Ross plastered in snow. Forecast is for it to stay cold for a few more days. Views of Loch Toll an Lochain from the SE ridge of Bidean a' Ghlas Thuill, the highest summit of An Teallach at 1062m, taken on Wednesday 19th March.

Tags: An Teallach

Although forecast for broken sunshine, December 29th brought a long spell of miserable horizontal hail and sleet. Winter days like this present their own challenges such as difficult navigation while staying out of the worst winds. For example, on Thursday Helen, Simon and Tom were undaunted by the early conditions and wanted to stick to our plan of a winter skills day on An Teallach. After reaching the top of Mac is Mathair in a howling gale we crossed the plateau north of the main summits well above the cloud level to the coll just north of Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill - one of the two An Teallach munros. The wind was far less fierce here and the cloud broke for us long enough to get a view of the vast Glass Tholl corrie. As the weather eased we reached that top before descending back to the coll (pictured). After practising some ice axe arrests, we then dropped down the long path North East to Dundonnell. The whole day took about nine hours. Check out our winter pages for more options.

Tags: An Teallach, Winter

Winter Solstice in the North West Hightlands was spectacular this year. Not a breath of wind, wall to wall sunshine and bitterly cold in the shade. It was a stunning end to a long, dry, cold and sunny spell of fantastic rock climbing weather. In the picture (which was taken at about 1pm on Winter Solstice) Colin is standing on one of the many gneiss boulders that are a feature of the Gruinard, Poolewe and Gairloch area. Very often these large boulders are found on, or near to, the summits of small hills near the major rivers or near other natural features. Some of us find it difficult to believe that these boulders are simply the result of natural erosion. It's almost as if they were carefully positioned for reasons long forgotten. The one above is near the summit of Carn na Glaic Buidhe above Badlurach and the one below is found on the knoll just south of the Carnmore bothy.

Tags: solstice, Winter

This weekend saw some stormy cold weather sweep over the North West bringing some wild winter conditions to the higher tops. This picture, taken yesterday, is from the summit of Sgurr Fiona on An Teallach looking south to Gleann Na Muice.The strong south westerly brought significant snow showers that settled above 800 meters.

The picture below was taken from near the summit of Sgurr Creag an Eich along the North West Ridge of An Teallach. The furthest point on this ridge that you can see is the 760 meter summit - Sgurr Ruadh. Half way along the ridge you can make out the Coastguard Rescue helicopter which set down to drop off members of Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team. These pictures were taken during a training exercise with DMRT.

Tags: An Teallach, Winter