Small Victories

Today Dave and myself decided it was time to try a hill to see where our collective injuries were at. Dave suggested the Wee Buachaille as a good relatively short test so we headed up this morning.

Winter truly arrives, frozen Mars Bars!

Dave heading for the final ridge.

My turn for trail breaking.

I felt fine on the way up but definitely toiled on the descent and Dave felt a few twinges from his injured back but we'll keep at it and hopefully be ready for a productive time later in the season after a bit more mountaineering. It was great to be back out in Scottish winter, there truly is nothing quite like it!

Happy on the summit of our first proper hill since both our hospital stints. 

CAC Comp Roundup

On Saturday at the Ice Factor we held the first Festival of Ice in aid of Climbers Against Cancer and with only a few bumps along the way we had a successful event and raised around £2000 for CAC. The comp attracted a full house of seasoned professionals and keen amateurs alike. The finals produced some great performances. After the prize giving Simon Yearsley gave a talk about new routing in Scotland which fired everyone up. 

Discussing the route with female finalists-Pic- GnBri Photography

Ice Factor Crew looking busy- Pic- Gabi Tomescu

The after party as usual involved plenty whisky and laughs, thankfully this year Steve Johnstone forgot the Buckfast.

Myself, Dougie, Steve and Greg at the partayyyy-Pic-Steve Johnstone

On the Sunday Dave MacLeod gave a great talk on winter climbing and also some masterclasses. All in all a great weekend and thanks to everyone who got involved to make it happen and make it a success!!!!!