Late winter Liathach
27/02/11
Late winter
in Wester Ross can throw everything at a mountain and so it was
this weekend when we tackled Liathach with Dan and his friends.
Hail, snow, bright warming sunshine, strong winds, gusts, hard ice,
soft snow and dry rock below about 900m. Luckily the wind and hail
held off during the scramble over The Pinnacles mid-way along the
ridge. The large picture below shows the group on the western Munro
top Mullach an Rathain with views west to Beinn Alligin. Two winter
munros, a classic west-coast scramble in spring conditions, a
mixture of snow, ice and rock and sunshine through the afternoon -
what a day.
Frozen North West 2010-11
05/02/11
Here are a few more pictures of our remarkable early winter. Temperatures plunged so low that most of the Ardessie Falls (Dundonnell) froze including most of this section not far from the road. The ice at the foot of this fall was about 14 inches thick, covering what is usually a beautiful deep pool.
This picture was taken when Colin was on a long traverse of Sail Mhor and part of the An Teallach ridge. This picture is taken looking south from Sail Mhor when the conditions were dry but incredibly cold. Two people were injured in an avalanche near here just days after this picture was taken after conditions changed.
Paul was on more film location duty this time with a crew from New York who needed to film some dramatic Highland scenery in the North West. Their timing couldn’t have been better when they chose to visit Coigach and Stac Pollaidh pictured above. Again, the weather was bitterly cold but the mist and blue skies made the pinnacles look even more magical.
Long Winter
02/05/10
After a couple of weeks of milder
weather in March the winter returned with another long spell of
calm high pressure and bitterly cold temperatures on the summits.
This lasted well into April when these pictures were taken during a
winter round of An Teallach.
Here the group is approaching the rounded summit ridge of Sail Liath - the beginning of the An Teallach ridge.
And this picture looks south-east to over the Fisherfield wilderness. Spring conditions have gradually won through in the North West and gofurther Scotland has been busy at the crag and on the summits throughout April and into May - perhaps these will be the last pictures of full winter conditions for some time.
Here the group is approaching the rounded summit ridge of Sail Liath - the beginning of the An Teallach ridge.
And this picture looks south-east to over the Fisherfield wilderness. Spring conditions have gradually won through in the North West and gofurther Scotland has been busy at the crag and on the summits throughout April and into May - perhaps these will be the last pictures of full winter conditions for some time.
Search and Rescue Training - Beinn Dearg
03/03/10
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.
Beautiful Winter Days in February
03/03/10
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.
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.
Short days in Carnmore
10/01/10
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.
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.
Incredible Winter
10/01/10
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.
Fresh Snow For Easter
09/04/09
Winter An Teallach
17/12/08
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.
Early Winter Conditions in Torridon
01/12/08
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.
Late Winter
14/04/08
Shades of Grey
02/01/08
Winter Solstice
23/12/07
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.
Wild conditions
02/12/07
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.
