UKC

Hi,

Was thinking of heading out in Arrochar tomorrow. Anyone aware of the conditions there?

Any snow or would it be just a walk?

Cheers.

In reply to zebidee:

+1.

Was thinking of blasting up and doing something on the Cobbler before the weather comes in

In reply to zebidee:

Has anybody got any updates on the Cobbler or Beinn an Lochain? Considering driving up at the weekend. Nearly given up on winter south of the border!

Thanks

NMM

In reply to Northern Mountain Monkey:
Just come back from two days in Arrochar. There is snow cover on the tops, but it is thin and generally soft. East aspect of the Cobbler is wind scoured.
Went up to tackle Chockstone Gully and Great Gully, neither were in condition IMO. Turf not yet frozen and very little snow in the gullies. What snow is there is soft. Any ice formed on the rock is brittle and thin.
Decided not to climb either route and enjoyed taking the rope for a walk.
Felt very mild for the time of year. Walked up Beinn Narnain yesterday in a base layer and light mid layer only. Although it was chilly on the top in the wind.
Was raining today on the descent from the Cobbler and the snow on the path was turning to slush.
Pleasant couple of days walking, but no climbing unfortunately.

In reply to

Walked up Beinn Narnain yesterday in a base layer and light mid layer only.

I saw a few folks on Narnain from the top of the Cobbler on Sunday ( might have been you)
it looked colder, than perhaps it was, it always looks so exposed.
( I bet the cops standing around lower down working the missing Russian girl , did not think it was mild though)

I followed a convoy of PV's going up there Sunday morning, sounds like they now think it was suicide!
As a dad of a girl of the same age, who co-incidentally also did a Physics degree, it is very sad to hear that she might have been suicidal just because she did not get her Honours .
These kids need more support if this is the case. Especially when away from home.

In reply to KevinJ: .


We backed off Maclays crack as the turf was not in condition, but there was ample snow in great gully to stretch out the rope. You just need to exercise common sense.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r3fnh47gwpry8sh/Photo%2011-01-2014%2014%2008%2013...

In reply to Milesy:
Wish we'd give it a go now. With the low cloud, couldn't see that far up the gully so made our assessment based on the first 20 - 30 feet or so.
Headed north again next weekend, so will see how it looks then.
Thanks for the info.

In reply to KevinJ:

As mentioned in a couple of previous replies, conditions weren't great on Sunday and if anything are now worse due to it becoming even milder.
I still managed to find some steep frozen rime to ascend but other than that it was defo conditions for hillwalking not climbing.
Some photos from my wee tour of Ben Ime, Cobbler North Peak and Ben Luibhean from Sunday are here if anyone fancies a peek:-

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/116087258348851761591/albums/59684995752...

Despite the reports of unfrozen turf, I see that Monolith Grooves got an ascent on Sunday. This is one of the most turf-dependant routes I've done; I hope it hasn't been butchered and would question the wisdom of it being recorded in the logbooks for others to copy.

In reply to Jamie B:

That thought had also crossed my mind, not so much about 'butchered' just that it wouldn't have been fun to climb.

Someone else had done North Wall Groove, around about Hogmanay, I also thought 'what the f**k' since it would have been pants to climb!

Just because a crag is white (or not even NWG), doesn't mean it's frozen enough for safe passage and to be savoured, by both in the climbing party.

Then again, my route had neve and 'the wrong kind of ice' on the very steep bit!!!

Such is life......

Stuart

In reply to zebidee:

Second Kevinj. Went up to look at great gully but backed off. The first heave up onto the slab start was bare and the turf was mush. Looked at Central gully and what ice there was shattered instantly and was very thin.

In the end I consoled myself with a bum slide out of there and bagged narnain instead. Was bloody fresh at the top!

In reply to KevinJ:

Thanks for the reply as it saves a long drive! It's as I feared rather than as I'd hoped!

NMM

In reply to Jamie B:

My thoughts entirely and thanks to those for posting accurate conditions reports to save the wasted drive! I suspected the NE facing crag wouldn't be in proper condition.

Can logs be removed from the database?

NMM

In reply to Northern Mountain Monkey:

Yeah thanks Kevin, o well, back to the rock it is then

In reply to Northern Mountain Monkey:

If only. It's a license to record dubious ascents and encourage others to repeat them. "What's in nick and what the prospects are" What does that even mean?

In reply to zebidee:

I am coming up this weekend to bag some munro's I haven't done yet. Was planning on heading up Ben Cruachan via one of the easy northern ridges and Ben Lui via it's ridges. I have failed both before due to inexperience, deep fresh powder, very mild conditions, soggy turf and running out of daylight for Ben Lui. Do you reckon we are going to get pretty much the same this weekend? Still going to try anyways or would anybody advise alternative routes for the current conditions and temps?

Sorry for a bit of a thread hijack!

In reply to zebidee:

I was on the South Ridge on sunday and the turf on it was left the way we found it, frozen. There was a frost early morning and a nice wind chill to keep it that way. Just because one part of the hill isn't in nick it dosn't mean everythings out. I wouldn't have gone on it otherwise. A squint at the forecast would have told you the best aspects to be looking at, certainly not gullies. A grade II/III is better than hee haw and by the sounds of it most hopefulls were on the wrong side of the mountain as it was as black as 2 in the morning when we saw it . Would be nice once in a while for the UKC polis to wind their necks in and take someones word for it.

In reply to Wesley Orvis:

Well it doesn't look too windy, and, depending on the amount of fresh, tomorrows thaw could make some good walking conditions when it freezes again thurs/fri. Have fun

In reply to zebidee:

Any one been out on the cobbler today ?

In reply to neeza122:

Friend was up walking. Black, warm and wet.

In reply to zebidee:

Any update on latest conditions in the area please?

In reply to smuffy:

I would like any updates please from anyone close??

In reply to aujayeb:
Warm and wet in Ayrshire all weekend, Arran was free of snow when I looked at it this morning.
Did I say it was wet by the way, may have been falling as snow higher up but was windy as heck so didn't venture out on the hills.

In reply to Pids:

Thanks

In reply to aujayeb:

Went for a run on the Cobbler / Beinn Narnain on Saturday. Loads of snow around, but nothing frozen or consolidated.

In reply to climbhead:
Enough for some challenging walk ups some of the hills around there?

In reply to aujayeb:

I reckon so - it is certainly not summer up there - bring crampons and wrap up well

In reply to climbhead:

Agreed, drove over Arrochar way today and everything thing from the Narnain boulders level up is very white. The quality and consistency of the white-ness I couldn't comment on, but white it is.

In reply to dan_the_dingo:

Anyone been up around The Cobbler over the last few days? Heading up there for a wander tomorrow (Thursday 30th) and looking for some info on what snow conditions to expect. Cheers.

In reply to Gerrard:

What did you find then?

I might go up this weekend....

In reply to zebidee:

Was up yesterday and got Chockstone Gully done, had a sniff at Great Gully as well but couldn't figure how to get past the first the first chockstone (after climbing on top of the bugger) and had to tunnel my way back out.

Temp was getting quite mild and it looked as if a fair amount of powder had fallen Sat night. For the most part the snow was pretty soft so a good bit of violence was required to get a decent axe placement. If it gets a good freeze then I reckon it'll be gorgeous conditions as there is an awful lot of snow up there.

The few bits of turf that I found were well frozen, and I met a team that did Great Gully Groove who reported some nice Neve further up.

Hope that helps some.

Iain