UKC

I haven't done much on Lochnagar but was thinking of having a look tomorrow. Is this a waste of time? I was about to ask if Tough Brown Ridge Direct or Shadow Buttress B or Moonshadow are likely to have the right conditions, but saw the description for The Clam! Does Raeburns Gully have to have ice to get to it and would it have a chance of being in nick?

In reply to jonnie3430:

Dunno about the others, but Raeburns needs to be banked out a bit I think.

Of course it depends on what sort of experience you want to have...

In reply to jonnie3430:

Waste of time?

I shouldn't think you'll get any winter climbing done, but there are other ways of using time well.

Flogging up scree-slopes covered in powder while the wind batters your beanie is certainly good training.

In reply to Tim Chappell:

He could always head south. I heard that the downfall is in.

In reply to davidbeynon:


Indeed it is. The Fuehrer and I were on the Downfall only this morning. Thick, sticky, toffee water-ice everywhere you looked. We blazed eight or nine M16s in about 20 minutes. And we had the place to ourselves, because everyone else was bimbling around on Lochnagar

In reply to jonnie3430: Raeburn's needs to bank out and ice up first. Not exactly sure if the Tough Brown Ridge Direct needs to ice up like the Tough Brown Face, I suspect not. Moonshadow is just turfy, so may be okay. Shadow Buttress B could be good, I would say you'd be better doing Bell's Route as it is a much better start to the buttress and it should be in decent nick atm if the turf is frozen, doesn't require any build up, and the steep moves 'fleeting' across from the wobbly handrail will be easier not all rimed up. There are a few wee steps higher up the ridge which are made easier with build up - although do be aware of the very last move beneath the cornice, it's a wee sting in the tail at the end of the route!

Have a good day whatever you get done!

In reply to Lamb:

Turf isn't frozen anywhere else, sceptical that it will be on the 'Gar? A mate and I did the upper part of Black Spout Buttress a few years ago under such conditions, which gave good rocky mixed with an optional (and very good) pitch at about IV,6 by climbing the 10m wall direct.

In reply to Tim Chappell:

You were climbing with old Adolf himself? Whenever I went to the downfall with him we used to have terrible trouble with Lancasters dropping bouncing bombs on the plateau.

In reply to davidbeynon:


I used to climb with Goebbels too, but he never forgave me for losing one of his nuts.

In reply to jonnie3430:

The winds have been north/north easterly recently and judging by the scoured NE slopes of the Cairnwell on the Glenshee webcam I'm reasonably optimisitc that the turf on the steeper routes on lochnagar will have been exposed enough to be frozen. I'm heading in tomorrow for a look-see so shall report back.

FWIF, the first two pitches of Black Spout Buttress are very turfy indeed I seem to remember, but the top half of the route is excellent snowed-up rock. Raeburns is reportedly excellent if very lean and icy but I expect it will be a powdery horror-show at the moment - probably best left until after multiple freeze/thaws. The Ice Ox (on Black Spout Pinnacle) has been recommended to me as a good early season option not too reliant on turf.

In reply to MrRiley:

A while since I have done it (done it well banked out since) but I don't remember much turf on Shadow Buttress A once you get past the initial ramp which I don't think was steep enough that you'd be pulling on it anyway.

I could be wrong though...

Cheers,
Mark

In reply to MrRiley:

Is Central Buttress okay under powder (with frozen turf obviously)?

In reply to Tim Chappell:


Clever, I see what you did there

Cheers
E

In reply to jonnie3430: Theres a lot of turf on lochnagar and a lot of it wont be frozen for a while. Most of the classic gully routes require good consolidation. It's also a much better venue when snow/ice has had a chance to build because you have so much to choose from. Essentially, go later in the season.

In reply to Euge:

...but no one seems to have picked up the Goebbels quip yet :-0

This seems to have been taken down, so here it is again. Whatever else you do today, it's likely that watching this will be the most worthwhile 3 or 4 minutes...

youtube.com/watch?v=zGq-3TlswZs&

In reply to Tim Chappell:

Ahh, the well known schoolboy tune ending 'His mother is a dirty bugger, she cut it...'

In reply to the weegy:


Gold star and Blue Peter badge for paying attention

In reply to peter.herd: Don't discount Lochnagar in the early season! I've had some top early season days in Lochnagar!

In reply to Jamie B: I'm out of the turf loop atm - stuck offshore!

In reply to Lamb:


Thats what I was looking to hear because I was hoping to avoid the Norries again! Thanks all for the replies

In reply to jonnie3430:

Plenty of good little routes on The Stuic, come into condition very quickly, very non-serious but some great climbing, should get a couple of routes in in a day.

In reply to jonnie3430:

Just got back from an utterly superb day on Magic Pillar, what a route! Conditions in the Coire couldn't have been better for us - well rimed rock that had been blasted clear of all the powder resulting in exposed and bomber turf. We were the only team in there today from what we could see too! Freezing level going up slightly now though.....

In reply to MrRiley:

Did Central Buttress look like it might be ok?

In reply to Shaunmash:

Yeah it would have been cracking on Friday I would have thought. Looks like it got climbed today too. The route overall is very turfy but easy enough angled that I don't recall any climbing that explicitly relies on it - the short techy section is all on rock I think. Should be a good bet for tomorrow!