UKC

Although I have a fair bit of experience on rock, I am new to mixed/ice. I'm taking a course over New Years that will have me learning the basics up to Grade II. I'm then hoping to get some Scottish winter mileage in before I look towards bigger objectives abroad next year.

Next February, I plan to spend a couple of weeks in Scotland. Where would be a good place to stay that would allow me to get to several objectives up to Grade III? I'm flying up from London and ideally do not want to rent a car. Also, any recommendations on where to find partners other than the UKC forums?

P.S. If anyone has similar objectives and wants to partner up, let me know.

In reply to Fenda:

Realistically, without a car (or willing partners) you are going to struggle. Even getting to the central locations from airports can be a bit of a nightmare! It's all about early starts and (often) late finishes, which don't always fit with public transport.

I would say the obvious places to base yourself would be Aviemore or Fort William. Slightly less obvious, but still a good shout, would be Inverness. Plenty of climbers live there, and it does have a small airport near by.

Look up the Facebook group 'Fort William & Glencoe: Climbing Partners & Outdoor Events' as a starter for 10.

In reply to Fenda:

Northern Corries are fairly accessible without a car as I believe there is a bus service operated by Stagecoach. Other honeypot areas are Fort William and Glencoe.

Enjoy your course. I'm sure that the basics of Avalanche awareness/ safe travel and navigation will be covered but can't emphasize enough how important it is to nail these.

In reply to James Jackson:

Dalwhinnie and Newtonmore are both on the train line (access from either Inverness or Edinburgh airports) and both ought to have decent public transport links both to Aviemore and Fort William, with Creag Meagaidh too en route to the latter. The bus to FW will go past the North Face car park for Ben Nevis. Don't know if it stops anywhere nearby though.

The key thing though is going to be finding a good partner - ideally though not necessarily someone with a bit more experience. Either way, learn as much as you possibly can on the course, swallow the manual (e.g. Winter Skills by Cunningham and Fyffe), start following MWIS and Met Office mountain weather forecasts religiously and pay particular attention to SAIS forecasts: especially at the lower grades, avalanche is your biggest risk. And make sure your nav is up to scratch, ideally both map-and-compass and GPS as a double-check. Walking over a cornice in a whiteout is your other major risk.

Lots of good advice on this forum.

Have fun!

In reply to Fenda:
When I was a carless student and climbing with someone without a car we usually hitched to Glencoe, Nevis or the Cairngorms. For the first two we would camp, either in the valley or up by the CIC hut. For the Cairngorms we would usually walk into a bothy & climb from there - that was back when Jean's hut was still in Coire Lochain & the Sinclair at the entrance to the Larig so we had more options than available today. But that was usually for a few days at a time , not for a couple of weeks.

In reply to Fenda:

Rather than flying up, get the overnight sleeper, getting off at one of the minor stops south of the cairngorms, walk your way through to Aviemore, climbing and staying en route. Finish up in Aviemore and then get the train back down sarrf.

In reply to Castleman:

Yes, by flying sounds like your just consuming experiences.

In reply to Phil1919:


eh????

In reply to Fenda:

what sort of accommodation are you after? B n B? bunk house? etc

In reply to CurlyStevo:

Whatever works.

In reply to Tricadam:


Your right, there ought to be decent public transport between Aviemore and Fort William but there isn't, as in nothing !

I think Aviemore would be you best bet for a base if you are travelling on public transport. Its on the main trainline that runs between Inverness and Glasgow or Edinburgh. The Sleeper and Virgin East Coast go direct to London. There is a local bus service between Aviemore and Cairngorm ski centre for access to the N. Corries or you can hitch a lift quite easily .

Aviemore has a wide range of accommodation options from hostels upwards. There is a Cairngorm Climbing Partners facebook page too.

In reply to Fenda:

Couple of option available to you;

Aviemore is the best bet if you want to get stuff out of your days, there is a good bus service between the town and the ski center for the skiers which you could utilise. The last one down is around 5:30pm I think and the first one up is 8:00am or there about. This should give you a good window of time for getting stuff done at around grade III, and you're spoilt for choice in the Northern Corries.

To get to Fort William from Aviemore, you need to go via Inverness which will take the day but regular services every day. Either that or you can hitch across as it's a busy road.

You can walk up to the climbing on the Ben from Fort William via the Smelter but it's not ideal, there is a bus service which will drop you off in Torlundy which is about 10 minutes walk to the North Face Car Park. Harder to catch the bus on the way back but never difficult to hitch a lift back to town or get a taxi if really stuck.

Either that or get a mate who has a car...

In reply to Nath93:

At the end of the day, a car makes a massive difference, so if you've got the option of hiring one, go for it. Winter climbing is all about early starts, late finishes and going where the conditions are best, none of which lend themselves to a public transport approach unfortunately...

In reply to Nath93:
Their are several bunk houses in Glen Nevis and the walk in from there up the tourist track around the half way lochain to the North Face of the Ben is not considerably longer than from the north face car park. (its quicker than driving around and walking in by quite a way). Of course that does limit you to the Ben which does take its toll on the body.

You could also get the climbers gondola from aonach mor by bus in the morning with about 3km of walking and there is a bus that goes back from there to glen nevis but the last one leaves a bit early (leaves nevis range at 16:25)

Another option is to get a taxi from glen nevis to aonach mor which probably wouldn't be that expensive in the grand scheme of things (maybe £15 or so each way).

Personally I'd base myself in Roy bridge and hire a car so you can go east or west depending on conditions.

In reply to CurlyStevo:


This is the key point really, flexibility is key. I sometimes get the feeling from 'daarn saaaf' that Scotland has homogeneous conditions, where in reality is can be stunning in the East and pish in the West. Or stunning the Glencoe, and pish around Ben Nevis. Etc etc... It's all about keeping an ear to the ground, following conditions, and having contingency plans.

At least, that's my excuse for turning into a weather / SAIS / blog geek over the winter. Chase it!

In reply to Fenda:

Local push for Fort William, as well as the climbing partners in Fort William & Glencoe page on bookface you can try the polldubh club forum and going to the new wall in the evenings. Public transport is limiting but there's a regular citylink bus to Glencoe, there's the Nevis Range bus that meets the climbers gondola, and you should find it fairly straightforward to meet climbers. I've known a few people who've done well basing themselves from Calluna Bunkhouse.

In reply to 65m moderate millington:
I'm not sure there is really a bus from Fort William to Nevis range to hit the climbers Gondola. The first bus to do that route gets there at 10 am I think. The Gondola goes at 8am. During the week but not weekends there is a bus from Corpach to Spean Bridge(7:33 am) but it doesn't go up to the ski centre. I'm guessing with a fair amount of walking (3k? or so) you can still make use of this bus walking to it from Fort William and getting off at a stop on the main road close to the ski centre and walk up from there?

http://www.travelinescotland.com/pdfs/timetables/HIAO041.pdf

In reply to Fenda:

Rent a car, you will make life very difficult for yourself without one and as a result do much less climbing.

In reply to Fenda:

With car rental at £10 a day, I cannot see why you would go carless. You will spend way more than that each day on transport/hanging around waiting for lifts/buses etc.

A car will allow you to have more flexibility about location given conditions and weather, arrive early and get away quickly at the start of each day rather than hanging around cold and pissed off waiting for transport etc etc.

In reply to Fenda:
I am in London with the same objective currently. Have done chamonix in the summer but not really dealt with winter mixed routes. Would be keen to partner up.

Where do you climb in London?

In reply to Fender & wildabeast:

I am also looking at heading up from London with a car to check out winter climbing in Scotland. I will have the month of January off work. Does that work for you guys or any others looking for partners.?