A varied second half of may

The last couple of weeks have been a great mix. A great mix of different activities and work, but also a lot of different weather to contend with. Everything from glorious sunshine and warm rock climbing in Glen Etive, through difficult showery spells trying to go cragging, to snow, hail, heavy rain and strong winds on the Cuillin Ridge on Skye and everything in between. Sometimes choosing the right objective for the weather is the most important factor for insuring a good day out.

John on the steep slab at Glen Shian

John from Mountain Expeditions came up to Scotland for a bit so we hooked up to climb for a couple of days. With awkward showery spells we managed to play around at Glen Shian trying some of the harder, sparsely protected lines after fleeing the rain and midges in Glen Nevis. The following day we climbed the Etive Slab classic, The Long Reach. Didn't notice a particularly long reach but there were quite a few long runouts. A fantastic route!

Sgurr Dubh Mor, Cuillin Ridge, Skye, one of the nice days

With much of my work on the Isle of Skye again this summer, I've spent many days over the past couple of weeks bagging Cuillin Munros with clients. Numerous ascents of the Inaccessible Pinnacle and the other fantastic peaks, interspersed with the odd day of sea cliff climbing at Elgol. Whilst working for Abacus Mountain Guides, West Coast Mountain Guides and Skye Guides, we managed to avoid much of the bad weather and enjoyed some brilliant days out.

The steep juggy second pitch of Storm, Polldubh

Though much of the past couple of weeks I've been on Skye, I also snuck in an ascent of Tower Ridge and a quick fun afternoon climbing one of Polldubh's classic climbs, Storm, with it's steep, exposed but juggy second pitch being the highlight.