Training for Mont Blanc

The Lug Walk

Dinner-time Buttress

Date: 21/02/2011
Area: Glen Coe, Scotland
Maps Used: OS Sheet 41
Weather: Misty, dry, strong winds, 1ft+ of snow

The dinner-time buttress is an easy grade II route on the west face of Aonach Dubh in Glen Coe. Actually this is most likely the easier route on the west face, which has some other quite interesting routes up to Stob Coire nan Lochan if somebody is looking for a long and challenging day (look for number three, four, five and six gullies). We started from just after the bridge at NN138567, walking towards the house (to the right of it) and then following south-southeast along the stream for about 300m. Eventually the way up the buttress becomes obvious, with the watercourse that forms number 2 gully growing deeper on your right. There's a section involving some scrambling over rocky terrain, and then we opted for a short chimney which required a proper pitch. After that is all easy scrambling towards the north shoulder of Stob Coire nan Lochan. We descended northeast via Coire nan Lochan and eventually took a lift back to the car.

Duration: 4 hours
Distance: 4.5km
Total Ascent: 900m

Ledge Route

Date: 20/02/2011
Area: Ben Nevis, Scotland
Maps Used: OS Sheet 41
Weather: Cloudy, 1ft+ of snow

The Ledge Route is probably the best grade II climb on the north face of Ben Nevis. It is accessible and yet interesting. Luckily this time we managed to park at the upper car park, saving us the steep half-hour climb from the north face car park. From the upper car park, followed the track up to the CIC hut. From there, climbed up to the bottom of Number Five Gully. Eventually veered right via a ramp that leads out of the mountain onto an almost horizontal ledge. This is usually where the first belay is protected. From here climbed leftwards up a gully until a snow platform is reached, where the second belay is usually secured. The climb from here onwards is easier, over the buttress and onto the ridge that leads to Carn Dearg (1,221m). From here we thought of continuing to the top of the Ben, but it was bizarrely windy up there - and visibility quickly became poor. So we took our compass bearing towards the Red Burn and descended the easy route back towards the car park.

Duration: 6 hours
Distance: 11km
Total Ascent: 971m

The Zig-Zags

Date: 19/02/2011
Area: Glen Coe, Scotland
Maps Used: OS Sheet 41
Weather: Misty, light drizzle at times, 1ft+ of snow

The idea this time was to climb in the Glen Coe area, so we headed to a route up Gearr Aonach via an easy route called the "Zig-Zags". Started from the car park at NN168569, then climbed southeast towards the waterfall. From around NN173562, turned southwest until finding the beginning of the track. From the end of the track, it's a 3-pitch grade I climb with great views of Glen Coe. After reaching the summit of Gearr Aonach (692m), continued southwest towards the three-lake plateau. Descended via the Coire nan Lochan.

Duration: 5 hours
Distance: 6km
Total Ascent: 790m

Aonach Mor

Date: 18/02/2011
Area: Aonach Mor, Scotland
Maps Used: OS Sheet 41
Weather: Misty / whiteout at the top, 1ft+ of snow

Just like the previous year, we started our winter climbs in Scotland with some steep climbing training in Aonach Mor (the east face is usually good for that, plenty of snow). Started from the Ski lift and then walked east and around the spur that leads south to Aonach Mor, slowly climbing it via the east face where it's steep. After reaching the top at 1,221m descended towards the north back to the Ski station for a cup of coffee and some cake.

Duration: 3 hours
Distance: 6km
Total Ascent: 570m

Art O'Neill Challenge 2011

Date: 08/01/2011
Area: Dublin / Wicklow, Ireland
Maps Used: OSI Sheets 50, 56
Weather: Extremely cold, misty, low clouds.

I wanted to go for an adventure race in the Wicklow mountains and when I knew the Art O'Neill challenge would take place once again in 2011, I signed up for it. The Art O'Neill is a race that in theory re-creates the steps of Hugh O'Donnel and his fellow Art O'Neill as they escaped Dublin Castle towards the Wicklow Mountains back in 1592 (see Wikipedia article here). It is a 53 kilometers route leaving Dublin city southwest towards Wicklow, passing by traditional spots like Black Hill, Mullaghcleevaun, Table Mountain, and eventually finishing off in Glenmalure. I wasn't really doing any specific training as I thought this would be just a long and strenuous walk in Wicklow, a terrain that shouldn't offer anything new for me. Boy, was I wrong. The Art O'Neill is a serious challenge, and my poor finish time as well as my sore knees at the end made it clear. Impossible not to think about repeating the dose next year though, this time with proper training and a reasonable finish time. More info on the challenge here: http://www.artoneillchallenge.ie.

Duration: 14:45:50
Distance: 53km
Total Ascent: 1,642m