Yesterday Dave Evans and I took advantage of the last good day of weather forecast for this week to get up high on te Ben and do a route that we ahve both wanted to do for quite some time.  With cold temperatures and icey conditions we both felt that the Tower Face of the Combe would be a good choice of route.

Once again the weather was faultless.  All of the cold powder snow had clearly just sublimed into the dry air and what was left was rock solid neve on all of the approaches.  Thankfully this meant that we didn't really need a terribly early start and could walk in from the top car park well after nine o'clock.   My body was glad of the leisurely start and keen for action on a route I've eyed up for quite some time.  The route wasn't in perfect condition.  Where we had hoped to get styrofoam neve we found sugar snow on verglassed ledges... but so be it.  The two main pitches fell to myself and then Dave in turn and in good time we were up onto the crest of the Combe and enjoying the memorable and considerably easier upper section in the beautifull light of late afternoon. 

The route itself was very good... one I could happily do again.  It has character, great climbing and enjoys a truly spectacular position particularly in the upper reaches.  Everything a great route should be.  Tomorrow the weather looks to take a milder turn with heavy rain so I plan to take the first well earned rest day of my trip so far.  Thank you Dave for some great climbing and great company this week... hope to climb again with you soon. :)

The last two days I have been working for Richard Bently of Mountain Motion with two of his clients Liam and Niel from the wilds of Stoke-on-Trent.  Liam and Niel are keen winter mountaineers and were trying their hand at some more adventurous winter climbing.  Richard had already been out with them earlier in the week whilst I had been over in the east and they had a pretty firm idea of what they wanted to cover in their final two days with me.

Fortunately Scotland was about to deliver two of the most beautifully cold days of the year so far for them to enjoy the magic of winter climbing.  We spent the first day on the classic Mountaineering route Curved Ridge II/III on Buachaille Etive Mor.  Although I stepped in to place runners or lead a few of the more tricky sections Liam and Niel confidently moved together alpine style for the majority of the route.  Good training for Liam who has great plans for bigger mountains out in the Alps later this sumemr with the Italian high level route around Cervinia.  The view from the summit in the early afternoon was breathtaking.  Snowbound mountains to be seen in all directions for miles and miles in the cold, clear and crisp air.  Certainly worth all that effort! What a mellow descent down through the corrie with hardly another soul about.... a day to remember for many weeks ahead!

Today we have been up in Stob Coire nan Lochan to climb the four star classic gully route... Twisting Gully III IV.  It is in great condition at the moment and with only relatively few other teams about it seemed a fitting closure to an amazing week of climbing for Liam and Niel.  They have learnt a great deal, improved a lot... smashed up a few routes and have also been great company for me over the last two days in Gelncoe.  Best of all I think they are hooked on winter mountaineering for good.  Thanks guys for a great couple of days and I look forward to crossing paths with you in the hills again in future. 

On monday Dave Evans and I seized the opportunity of a more clement spell of winter weather to head over to the Loch A'an basin.  I haven't really done that many winter routes over there so I was keen to try one of the bigger lines I've had my eye on for a while.  That said, it was Dave who suggested Red Gaurd, one that had escaped my attention before.  I really can't understand why it had eluded me as it is right up my street.  It's second pitch had my name all over it... with an exploratory style chimney which was partly subteranean.  The more I look at the guidebook for this crag the more I think it has all the potential for becoming  a favourite winter venue. 

It has meaty chimneys and offwidths all over the place!  The fresh snow and stiff wind lent the day a real Alpine feel and we certainly had to earn our route in these conditions.  For anyone thinking of some Red Guard action I can totally recommend it.  It seems more deserving than simply two stars!  I will certainly be back into Loch A'an as soon as weather and partners permit.  Above Dave squirms out of the Red Guard chimney and left he tackled the out of balance crux move directly above.

The last three days I have been hosting on the BMC International meet in Glenmore Lodge. It is funny to reflect on the fact that until this year I had never got involved with any BMC meet before and now I have done the latter part of both the summer meet in Llanberis pass North Wales and now the Scottish winter one in Glenmore Lodge Scotland.

The meets are very sociable and not just for International Uber Wads. They have a real mix of people from weekend warriors to professional athletes. They are an opportunity for hosts to show climbers from other countries all that is great about UK Climbing and also to learn about climbing around the world from the guests. 

I was partnered for the first day with a lady from Germany called Heike. She had studied at Edinburgh University 13 years earlier and been active in the University mountaineering club, although she had never climbed Ben Nevis before.  Her one main ambition of the meet was to climb Ben Nevis by one of the ice routes. The recent heavy rain and high freezing levels gave me concern that some of the steeper ice lines line point 5 might have been hollowed out and not be in the best conditions. So we settled on climbing Green gully a classic IV 4 on the front face of the Combe. Host Vivian Scott and guest David Mora her husband a Spanish Mountain Guide also joined us for this ascent.

The last two days of the meet I was partnered by the lovely Vedrana Simecevic from Croatia. It later turned out that she was the President of the Croatian climbing federation! After looking at the weather and what routes she had already done earlier in the week I decided that we should have another early start and head back to the Ben. With freezing levvels much lower and more fresh snow we settled on Thompsons route a great icey mixed IV 4 with a slightly more tricky start in current conditions. We were treated to fine views of other teams from the International meet on routes such as Darth Vader and Gargoil wall. The fresh snow made our route have a real Alpine feel and think I can see myself using this route for clients in future.

The last day we decided to have a slighty shorter day and allow ourselves time to relax before the final night party. It seemed sensible to start early and so a pre-dawn start from the Cairngorm carpark saw us following a chain of head torches over towards the Loch A'an basin. The summit plateau met us at dawn with one of the most beautifull and colourfull sunrises that I have seen for quite some time. It held all the promise of a really magical day ahead. We joined a few other teams with the aim of climbing Deepcut chimney IV 5, a route I've been keen to do for some time. It has a really atmospheric feel being in its' rocky depths, and when we topped out into glorious sunshine under a perfect blue sky things just couldn't get any better.

Nothing left for us then except a really leisurely walk out enjoying the views and a well deserved celebration in the company of friends both old and new. If anyone out there hasn't got involved in BMC before I would thoroughly recommend the experience to you... just a shame that they only run once every 2 or 3 years!

This month has seen my return to Scotland in preparation for my Guides Winter test later in March.  I teamed up with Dave Evans for the weekend before my test and had a great couple of days blowing the cobwebs off the mixed climbing with an ascent of Chimney route in Stob Coire nan Lochan VI 6 and then a romp up the Ben to sample Slab Climb VI 6 on south Trident Buttress.  The conditions were colder than it had been in scotland in recent weeks with fresh snow and the hope of more routes coming into condition very soon.

After the weekend it was straight into the Guides Winter Training convened by Chris Ensoll and hosted very hospitably at Alan Kimbers place on the West Coast. 

It immediatelly felt like no time at all had passed since the summer when all six Trainees met up last sunday night.  I'm very sure that in less than six weeks time on the Assessment I'll have a very similar feeling once again. 

The first day Ben Bradford and I spent with Ewen todd looking at short roping in winter and completing a journey through Glen Coe finishing with a descent by headtorch of Sron na Lairig. 

The following day was spent concentrating on approaches and descents from winter climbs and adaptations of winter climbing systems and client care with Chris Ensoll.  The final day we were with Andy Teasdale and it was supposed to be a day spent on one of the great ridges of the Ben drawing all the learning together.  However as with all best laid plans the mountain weather threw a spanner in the works and the freezing level shot high above the summits and two fronts passed over bringing prolongued and heavy rain. 

That meant a quick shift of plans to further short roping in ascent and descent on the Buchaille in Glen Coe, with an ascent of B Buttress and a descent of curved ridge.  The three days was quite tiring, not just in terms of the physical content but also the reflection and debriefing in the evening.  It almost made me wish that I hadn't had such a full weekend with Dave immediately before it! No rest for me though as for the remainder of the week I will be hosting on the BMC International meet currently running at Glenmore Lodge.

I was supposed to be in Scotland now.  But as one good friend has always told me... plan early, plan twice.  Whilst finishing my work teaching cross country skiing in Chamonix I had been keeping a very close eye on the evolution of conditions in Scotland.  It didn't look entirely promising to be frank, and with one day to go before my flight to the UK I decided to delay and spend the week with Roeland in Cogne instead.

Now Cogne isn't short of good quality steep ice at the moment.  I've made several trips down there in previous winters but still have plenty of routes that I'm keen to get out on.  With a good long spell of settled weather forecast and the snow still a little deep and not well enough consolidated for higher alpine route, ice fall cragging in Cogne seemed like the best option both in terms of enjoyment and in training towards my winter test later in March.  The beauty of the Ice Climbing in the Grand Paradiso isn't just the variety and quality of steep ice routes but it's also in the fantastic views, the amazing wildlife and of course the great Italian coffee. 

Roeland and I decided to spend a few days down there and found a great little B&B in Epinel called Pavou.  This is just down from the village of Cogne itself which does an 'ice climbers' special for 23Euro per person a night and only 3Euros extra for a breakfast which is well worth taking.  The trouble with taking the breakfast though is that you can't get the kind of early start which is essential for some of the more popular routes... and this wasn't even at the weekend... when you can end up stading in line for routes!

The first day we chose a couple of routes we've done before with a short walk in the Lillaz valley, Tutto Relativo grade 4 and Eau de Cristaux grade 4, two climbs which easily link up by a short descent through trees.  The following day we finally got on a route I've been very keen to do for a while but the avalanche risk has always been too high on previous visits.  This year Cogne appears to have had much less snow than Chamonix and so we spent the day enjoying the almost alpine quality of Cold Couloir.  It starts with two steep and full length pitches of 4+ and then continues for almost 600m in shorter but atmospheric steps.  We decided to rappel rather than take on the full value adventure experience of the walkers descent making best use of abalokovs for the upper part before joining the main bolted rappel line.

 The third day we headed into the Valnontey valley with the plan to take on Repentence Super, but even after a pretty early start we were beaten to the base of the route by two Swiss Guides from Verbier.  We couldn't even get on Monday Money as there were already two teams waiting at the base of that one!  So with resignation we headed to the opposite side of the valley and Erfaulet a consolation grade 5 with one main pitch very steep at the top also often avalanche prone.  We finished early and decided to head round the corner and take a look at another great line which is directly opposite Repentence.  Di Fronte al Tradimento is another grade 6.  We bumped into a couple of British climbers coiling their ropes up at the base who were taking part in this weeks Alpine Club meet in Cogne.  Having just climbed it they sang its praises and inspired us to try to squeeze it in before darkness descended.   It had three good pitches with the second being a definite crux with a steep and awkward section that Roeland lead in great style. (Seen here on the left) 

We came off the final abseil as darkness closed in around us knowing full well that we had made the best of the day with 6 excellent steep ice pitches under our belts.  That night we drove back to Chamonix with only one hestitation... Repentence.

 One day of work and preparing various bits and pieces for my forthcoming adventures in Scotland gave us time to reflect and decide what we wanted to do about our unfinshed business.  I had never seconded a grade 6 before this week let along lead one so it really was Roelands decision since he would be taking on the two main pitches.  He decided we should go and since it was a popuar route, make sure we left early to be the first to arrive.  Five o'clock from Chamonix would see us start walking at 6am and be at the base of the route for just after 730am.  Everything was ready, gear checked, packed the night before, car outside... the journey passed smoothly, we were the first car to park at the trailhead and saw no other headtorches anywhere in the valley on the walk in.... until...

I couldn't believe it!  Just as we were 50meters from the base of the climb Roeland saw their headtorches.  Had they bivvied at the base or something?  No they hadn't as it turned out... they were the same two climbers that we had met two days earlier at the base of Di Fronto al Tradimento, Nick and Steve from the Alpine club!  Oh well... they'd started from the trailhead half an hour earlier than us and deserved their place first on the route.

We considered heading for Monday Money but after another look at the line Roeland decided that we could climb it close behind the Brits with safe belay spots out of the 'line of fire'.  The temperature wasn't so cold and hopefully the ice not so brittle.  We waited for the leader to finish the first pitch and Steve to set off whilst we enjoyed second breakfast and hot coffee from the flask.  As Roeland set off after Steve another team arrived, a French Guide called Stephan and his 63 year old client.  It was going to be a busy day.

The Guide turned out to be someone that Roeland and I had met before in Stob Coire nan Lochan last year at the base of Central Grooves.  It established an immediate rapport and respect that came in valuable later in the day.  The team of British climbers had been climbing all week and this was their last day so they were probably a little tired and one of them, Nick was doing all the leading, which puts a lot more strain on you.  All three teams ended up with a very sociable although somewhat damp belay in the 'cave' after the second pitch whilst Nick made steady progress up the final column.  But it all proved too much.  A twenty meter fall later, a bruised but uninjured Nick needed a rest and Roeland decided to climb in paralell to get us out of the cave.

The Brit team and the French Guide and client decided to rappel after the third pitch, but Roeland and I were keen to do the final easier steps which were my lead.  Once we passed the Brits we were able to make rapid progress to the top and after a brief celebration we began to get our excessively frozen ropes ready for a series of steep abseils.  My heart was heavy with concern that they would freeze to the snow or ice and get stuck... the ropes were sodden and heavily encrusted with ice making belaying very difficult.  The thought of being stuck half way down as darkness descended did not appeal.

Fortunately the rappels proved uneventfull and we were down safe at the bags with enough daylight left to walk out.  With all the shenanigins on the third pitch it had taken us a lot longer than expected but we had finally found space to climb Repentence!  Although it wasn't the most enjoyable experience with the waiting, the cold water flowing down the ice and the bottle neck, it was good climbing, a great line and quite sociable.  Nick and Steve were effusive with their thanks and apologies but we all get helped out at some stage in our climbing lives, I know I have been.  We were all just glad that everyone was down safe and smiling.  I'm already thinking whether I can get another Cogne day hit in before heading to Scotland next week...

Over New Year I spent ten days training 22 Engr Regt in Cross Country skiing.  They had already spent over a month pre-Christmas training in Sweden but this hadn't been as productive as it should have been.  Training for them had been marred at first by a lack of snow and then due to a lack of good quality instruction.  It's easy to overlook how much more structured and specific learning to ski can be when guided by an experienced instructor.  I believe that during their time out in Chamonix they also became aware of how much fun cross country skiin can be, not to mention that it is simply brilliant for winter training!  A whole body work out that is low-impact on the joints and as demanding as you choose to make it cardio-vascularly.

The group of six soldiers were heading onto the Divisional races in Serre Chevalier in January where my own team Oxford University OTC are also going to be racing.   They were lead by a former student of mine and friend Naima Mohammed, herself a good cross country skier having previously been selected for National Development Squad.  Because they arrived as intermediate skiers I was able to coach them on performance skiing as well as race strategy. 

It was a real pleasure to be working with a stong and motivated team keen on developing their athletic performace as much as possible, and for the first time in weeks some of our training sessions began to work me physically a little too! 

During the period we visited Val Ferret, Cogne, Les Contamine, Chamonix and Argentiere tracks and on the whole benefited from fantastic skiing conditions.  For our day in Cogne we had perfectly pressed classic tracks with minus 10 degrees snow temperature... so perfect stick!  Their first real glimpse into ideal classic skiing conditions... and I do believe a few of them began to feel the love!

My time with 22 Engr Regt came to a close all too soon, and I wish them luck in the forthcoming races.  They have the potential to do very well if they ski hard and work as a team.  I certainly hope that they keep up with cross country skiing in future and that I get the chance to see how they have developed in future years.  Who knows... perhaps I will get the chance to work on the Royal Engineer ski training camp in Sweden next year.  until then thank you gentlemen and best of luck in Serre Chevlaier!

Today was my last day skiing with my students from Oxford University Officers' Training Corps.  We have been at Les Contamines for the last few days, on well groomed tracks and the best Biathlon range in the local area.  There is even talk of a roller ski track being built to cater for summer training in future years.

Both the female and male team have made excellent progress this week.  They have also started to show that they can analyse their own ski technique from video footage so have taken the first vital step in becoming their own coach towards better skiing.

They have done two races in the last two days, one using the classic technique and one biathlon race using the skating technique.  This was in order to help aid selection of the team that will go forward to the Spartan Hike championships in Serre Chevalier later in January.

There really is a turning point with cross country skiers about a week after taking up the activity for the first time.  Today it was clear to me that most of the group had reached that point... when their technique had progressed far enough to allow them to be really challenged physically by the activity too. 

For the first time during the final few training sessions we were able to cover quite some distance and include a good amount of uphill work.  It only remained to empart some top tips for the forthcoming races and try to encourage them to keep persevering with improving their technique when they return to the Alps in January.

The group leave for the UK tomorrow, and I am sorry to see them go.  It feels strange to know that this year I will not see any of them race.  I will not be able to cheer them on to the finish, or celebrate with them their success.  I will be in scotland focusing on my forthcoming BMG Scottish winter test. 

Knowing that I will miss an event that I wholeheartedly believe achieves so much for the OTC and for the students who take part and at the same time find thoroughly enjoyable leaves me a little sad.  It also makes me determined to pass my Scottish test in good style and ensure that I can work with next years team throughout the whole training and racing programme.

Fortunately Cross country skiing isn't over this year for me just yet.  I have another Military team from the Regular Army coming out after Christmas that I will train for ten days.  The team Captain is a former student of mine and I am really excited that she has invited me to train her team this year. I'm going to do my utmost to make sure that they are all skiing as well as possible and have the best chance of winning the Regular Army competition later in January.

 This week I returned to a different Chamonix valley, one where winter has well and truly arrived.  When I left for Scotland the Aiguilles Rouges didn't even have a dusting of snow.  Now only two weeks later we are about to have our third day in a row at Avalanche category 4 or above!

Today the lifts at Grand Montets were closed due to high snow fall, very high winds and a very high avalanche risk.  I passed three Alpine Skiers on the nordic tracks in the Bois de Bouchet in Chamonix whose comment on 'what they had been reduced to' saddened me a little.  After all Cross Country skiing is certainly not a second choice for me!

I have been working with Oxford University Officers Training Corps Biathlon team this week.  I have worked with Oxford for the last six years and each year we have a new squad to train for the British Army competitions later in January.  This year, due to my Guides training and assessment in Scotland I will not be able to join them for the competition phase, which is a great shame.  This year we have 12 complete novices to cross country skiing... six of whom have not Alpine skied before either.  It is really very special to have the opportunity to introduce so many keen and enthusiastic young people to a sport I love so much. 

I am often teaching smaller groups or individuals but working with a large group, all of whom are going through the learning process at the same time is both stimulating and immensely enjoyable.

Over the last week we have covered an introduction to both Classic and Skate skiing, together with downhill techniques.  Although at times, with so much snow ariving on both the French and Italian sides of the Mont Blanc Massif conditions have been challenging. 

The magical valley of Val Ferret, with it's normally well groomed tracks and faultlessly warm welcome has for several days been empty of people and deep in snow. 

This deep snow makes learning all the different 'gears' of the two techniques particularly difficult for the novices.  Yesterday most of the Italian Val Ferret was closed with an Avalanche category of level 4.  We had arrived just before the road was closed and decided to restrict our training to the small loop at the start of the tracks.  Despite this, whilst out training we witnessed two spontaneous avalanches of moderate size.  As the wind picked up and it began to snow harder we decided to call a halt to the day before conditions deteriorated further.

This didn't dampen the students enthusiasm though.  Even after two long sessions they found enough energy to create a few 'snow angels'. 

Today we have had an excellent distance session on our classic skis.  It continued snowing well into the morning but unfortunately (as predicted) as the day progressed the snow slowly turned to rain.  We classic skied round the full red loop of the Chamonix tracks for the first time, and as we did so the diagonal stride and double poling of my novices was showing really solid improvement.  This afternoon, with the rain continuing without pause, we spent inside the team chalet looking at DVD footage of professional athletes and discussing ways to help the students improve their own technique further. 

The temperature is due to plunge tonight, so hopefully the snow will start to settle and the tracks will freeze solid making for a good skating platform tomorrow.  We have some more work to do over the next few days on both Classic and Skate technique, but when the group come to leave Chamonix on Tuesday morning they should all have a good foundation for the races ahead of them in January.

This last week I've been in Scotland with a good friend and fellow BMG Trainee Rocio Siemens.  I needed to renew my first aid training and since Rocio is now a qualified REC course provider I timed a trip back to the UK for early December in order to renew my first aid and get some Scottish Winter Climbing in if conditions would allow.

Fortuneately the mild November weather had moved on and things have been shaping up nicely in Scotland with a succession of freeze thaws moving in from the Atlantic.

After a weekend part classroom, part scenario based in North Wales, I was looking forward to getting back out into the winter hills.  Rocio and I drove north sunday night, briefly calling in on some friends of hers in Shap before completing the journey monday morning.

Bad luck for me that the UK germ circuit must be different from the French germ scene and I had begun to feel the worrying signs of an oncoming cold.  Nothing for it but to make the best of it and soldier on though, but I would have prefered a week of battling the Sottish elements without an internal battle going on as well.... particularly with a week of high winds forecast!

To keep things manageable for me... and not tip me over the edge into complete bronchial meltdown we decided to have an easy day checking out routes we could use with clients initally and then follow it up with some more interesting climbing later in the week.  In the end we had three good days in the corries with one rest day as the 'Windeferno' as The Sun newspaper coined it passed over Scotland and recorded windspeeds of 160mphr on the summit of Cairngorm.  I have to say that I was quite willing to sit that day out in front of the fire at a friends place in Aviemore.

The week prooved to be just what I needed though to brush the cobwebs off in preparation for the forthcoming Scottish winter and BMG test.  We climbed Sidewinder III 4 and the Hoarmaster V 6 in Lochan (Rocio above right), checked out the top of various other routes and then finished with Burning and Looting V 6 in Sneadre.  Burning and Looting has a great top pitch and I thoroughly enjoyed following Rocio up it... partly because I was suddenly feeling so much better and knew I had broken the back of the cold that I'd picked up at the start of the week.

Just as well since the next day I was flying back to France to work training the Oxford UOTC Cross-Country skiing and Biathlon team for ten days.  I'm under no illusions that I need my lungs working properly in order to do any kind of demonstrations for cross country skiing!  Great news that Chamonix now has snow down to valley level and that the ski tracks in Val Ferret over in Italy have opened and are in good condition.