Tooling at The Cove - Saturday 13th March

Headed down to the cove for an early morning training session with Ali, Alan, Nathan and Lucie. It was a beautiful morning, nice in the sun but chilly in the shade!

Aimed for the normal area as the tide was on the turn and we didn't fancy getting trapped in the 'Burl Cave'. Good session but I was tired from the comp at Climb Newcastle the night before.

The Cove - Nathan Fires 'Warm-Up Traverse' from Andy Moir on Vimeo.

Alan pulling on the steep!

Ali on the 'Warm-Up' traverse

Skiing at Nevis Range - 6th & 7th March

Decided on a weekend on the slopes as a change from the climbing. The conditions were great so it made sense to grab the conditions while they were there!

It was a weekend of two halves it terms of the weather, Saturday was hot and sunny while Sunday was cloudy and cold.

Ali on the sunny slopes!

The Lakes - 27th & 28th February

Opted for a weekend of climbing in the lakes for a change as the conditions were so much better than Scotland.

On Saturday Nathan, Steve Lynch, Wilkie and I headed to Dove Crag to climb a route Steve had been wanting to tick for ages. Inaccessible Gully (V, 5) was there but in the warm sunshine it was really running! Steve and Wilkie set off first with Nathan and I following behind, dodging the lumps of ice.

The ice was pretty detached on the first section which made it exciting even on the 'blunt' end of the rope!! The second pitch gave great (and strenuous!!) mixed/tooling moves round the big chock stone. Fantastic route!

Inaccessible Gully

Steve Lynch on the detached ice on pitch 1

Sunday saw us heading to Dove Crag in Grassmoor, the aim was Dove Crag Gully (IV/V, 4). Nathan was climbing with Steve Hartland (AKA The Machine). Steve Lynch and I climbed with Steve Roberts from The Mountain Boot Company out for his first route of the season.

It was really busy with plenty of teams on and vying for the same route. Amazing ice and a great weekend out with the team!

The Machine on the first pitch

Steve Lynch on the steep ice of pitch 2

The Ben - 20th & 21st Februaury.

Headed back up to the Ben again on a beautifully clear Saturday. It was a later start than planned due to a late arrival Friday night, so thought Waterfall Gully might be a feasible option as it was reported to be in condition.

As it turned out it wasn't in condition from what I could see so we had a pottering day on the CIC Ice Falls. It was really busy with climbers on most lines. Bumped in to a few friends on the ice today, Kev Shields who is still trying to recover from broken bone in his foot, and Gaz who was up from Manchester for a week in the hills.

Sunday ended up as a really steady day pottering down at Glenfinnan. It was another beautiful day, really wished we'd headed up to the ski area for the day. Next time maybe!

CIC Ice Fall

View down Loch Shiel