Spey Descent

Last weekend a few guys from work packed our (not so) dry bags and big blue barrels and jumped in some canoes. Destination: Spey Bay on the east coast.

Click here to be taken to the photo gallery

Nick had done an excellent job of organising everything with Donald at Explore Highland and we were ready to go in no time. Launching off from Loch Insh just outside Kincraig, avoiding the Osprey nest, we spent the first 4 hours running over some essential skills to avoid wetness and death.

We left Donald at Aviemore after a coffee break only 4 hours into the trip! After this we had to make up time and steamed ahead. Day 1 went by with only a brief shower in the middle of the day and camp was set up in the dry. We even got a fire going!

Day 2 surprised us with excellent sunshine and most of us came away with 'canoe knee'. A pub dinner at the Mash Tun in Aberlour and some cava sealed the day off nicely.

Day 3.....the less said about day 3, the better. It was wet....all day. Morale was low from the outset and tension built amongst the supposed elite team. A stern reminder of the fact that we were indeed men set us upon our final leg to reach the 'oh so good' Dolphin Sanctuary cafe ahead of time, enough for me to demolish two sandwiches!

Enjoy the video!


Spey Descent from Owen Flowers on Vimeo.

Chamonix - 1 year later

So as my trip to the Ecrins looms closer, I thought it was about time I sorted my photos from Chamonix last year!

I'm going to be really lazy and let the photos do the talking....maybe i'll write something later on :)

Argentiere basin - Petite Aiguille Rouge - Chamonix Aiguilles & Mont Blanc 

The Seam

Fresh back from my week long course in Ambleside, I hooked up with James and Calum for a trip out. I am desperately trying to get away from the hotspots this winter, but Calum has been itching to get on the Seam for a while now so we headed into Sneachda for what feels like the 100^th time. Not to say I minded.....a day out is a day out after all. The forecast was reasonable for Saturday although it became ‘clear’ that it was going to be a bit of a claggy day. We had several overhead visits from the coastguard helicopter on the walk-in, which we questioned as to whether it was a good or bad omen for the day.

Not too many pictures in this blog, although clicking the photo above will take you to the gallery with a couple more photos of the day. The claggy mist made it really difficult to keep the lens clear and even then, images were pretty dismal.

Calum pretty much owned this route. I led the initial ramps of Invernookie as I’d done them before and could recognise the route through the clag and depths of snow. I actually realised after getting back that I was suppose to lead us up right slightly earlier on to the base of the chimney. It’s probably what made the middle traverse pitch quite tricky.....sorry Calum.

Calum led a short, yet awkward pitch to the base of the chimney and then the final pitch in one rope length. Belay duty was actually a pleasure in this instance as myself and James had much amusement from Ramone and Mark, the team following us to Invernookie, trying to pass our small belay. I also explained to James the term ‘braying Geoffrey’s’ and had an impromptu cinematography lesson.

One reason I like to explore elsewhere.......

Calum did an outstanding job of the whole route, one which I certainly found quite tough and I think James would agree. I used the opportunity of being in a three to take some video footage with the hope of creating a proper edited cut. Here is my first attempt at a climbing short!! It is a little rough around the edges, but I’ve tried to make it a little more than 4 mins of continuous fiddling.

Well done Calum!

2013.02.09 - The Seam from Owen Flowers on Vimeo.

UPDATE: It is unfortunate that some university students from Leeds appear to have got caught out over the weekend, with one later confirmed as killed. Reports suggest that the 5 were recovered on Monday morning after being reported overdue on Sunday evening, so I am unsure what the large MRT presence was on Saturday. Maybe training? None the less, it is sad that the trend over the last few weekends has been folk getting into serious trouble and paying the price. Very sad.

Tower Ridge - Winter

John text me a while ago suggesting he'd make the Catterick - Dalwhinnie journey sometime soon and we could get some winter climbing in. If it was anything like last time (see: Cummingston) there would be lots of alcohol, little actual climbing and sightings of sea badgers!

Despite a comms malfunction, John managed to locate the cabin in the woods that is Station Cottages in Dalwhinnie a.k.a. Timbuktu, around 11pm. There was a brief catch up over the important events of the previous evening in London with the Men of the West, which involved some mlarring messes and a new form of club-based communication called the 'liquorice allsort nod'.

The objective for the next day was then set: Tower Ridge, a route with a history of underestimations and benightments. Let's do it!

So, less than a year since I did the summer ascent with James, we make the early start that is required for a day on the Ben, never mind it's biggest ridge.....in winter. Despite a late night and very little exercise (for me anyway!) we made good time to the CIC hut and are soon standing under the huge bulk of the Douglas Boulder.

The usual slope leading to the initial chimney pitch looked loaded so we decided to avoid it and join the ridge further up. In our haste we also tried to overtake a roped party by picking an even more 'alternative' route onto the ridge by a horrendously exposed snow traverse. Quite possibly the scariest part of the route!!

Once on the ridge we roped up and took coils to start moving together over the initial easy sections, although easy is not necessarily the right word. The ridge immediately provides good climbing, plenty of exposure and amazing views. With the conditions the way they were, sandwich between awful winter storms, it wasn't surprising to see numerous teams on the ridge. This slowed things down a bit as a fair amount of time was spend queuing. Still, we couldn't complain.

The rock mass in the picture above is the little tower, the first real obstacle of the route. We managed to race up this and move over the next level section with lots of photo stops along the way. I had real trouble selecting the best photos from a batch of many, although I slightly wish I had taken the SLR along for such an epic route.

Next on the cards was the infamous Eastern Traverse. Looming above you is an impenetrable wall which would make anyone thing they've let themselves in more than they wanted, the Great Tower is a milestone of the route. Winding it's way around the east (huh, really) side is the traverse and to be honest makes you consider finding a way up the wall! Fortunately with plenty of beta under the belt I dispatched the traverse and managed to protect John's journey around it just as well.

The climbing after here is exceptional and the outlook over Observatory Gully is outstanding, definitely my favourite part of the route! We could see a trio finishing up Tower Scoop and Gardyloo Gully which had some point eaten the stoner we saw earlier on. Over the other side, Robbie was on the Tower Face of the Comb which looks a little stiff.

We got up on top of the Great Tower and joined the queue for Tower Gap. At this point it was getting Harry Gleanpigs (cold) so the duvets went on and we chatted to some guys who were partaking in the SMC Winter Meet, which explained why there were so many people in the coire.

Tower Gap has to be witnessed to really understand its complexity. It has exposure, sure, but the down climb forces you to look straight down into the abyss as you manoeuvre your feet to get down into the gap. Then there is the climb back out!! Lots of noises were made.

The Gap in profile

Words and photos just don't quite capture the scale and grandeur of this route, it really is one that has to be experienced. Our trip was 11.5 hrs car to car, with only 7.5hrs on the route. We worked out nearly 2hrs of which was queuing, so we managed the route in less time than my summer ascent. Not bad really!

I can only advise to anyone thinking of doing the route to try and get it in good (snow) condition and with good weather, if not just for the views.

Cheers John for making the journey up, first on the list of many!

Click any of the photos above to view the gallery in a new window

Sron na Lairig

It's been a long time since the last blog post. Work has really taken over my life, but I am hoping to back on track with reporting my adventures! After all, I have the trip to Chamonix that needs putting up! 

My winter season started before Christmas with a little trip up the Haston Line in t'Sneachda. I'm not sure if I've even got photos from that one....

Desperate to branch out of the northern corries this winter I joined Calum, Alasdair and Stephen for a go at Sron na Lairig in Glencoe. Looking to be a good option given the conditions we made a fairly relaxed start up the valley.

Soft snow made for relatively hard going but the ~4km walk in was over before we knew it. Having a view of the route early on helped to get us excited. We'd taken rope and gear but I was already beginning to think it might be a nice route to solo and not faff too much on. A couple of other people were ahead of us an looked to be moving quickly on the initial pitches, so we kitted up and started up the initially broad ridge. At the base there are plenty of variants to make it harder if you wish.

We all felt comfortable moving over the easy ground and the few 'tricky' sections just added that little bit of interest. This allowed us to move quickly but still had time for a bit of chat with the other party we passed.

The upper reaches started to become a bit more of a defined ridge....exactly what you want from a ridge climb. As I was leading the way I kept an eye out for some sections that would add interest. One such part was a short but quite exposed wall which had really solid hooks. It felt good to be moving confidently over this sort of ground, which I think was really helped by the calm and clear conditions.

After this it just got better and better, with the ridge becoming knife edge style.

Having made such a quick ascent we decided to carry on to the summit of Stob Coire Sgreamhach for a true 'mountaineering style' day. From here we headed down the huge ridge of Beinn Fhada, which included a small abseil. This section is noted as a grade I/II down climb, however I think we must have gone wrong as it definitely needed an abseil!!

We diverted down the east slopes of Beinn Fhada as the light was beginning to fade which was a painful experience. Very soft snow combined with loose rocks just below the surface made for very sore ankles. We utilised many forms of descent within the repertoire, including front crawl!

The headtorches came out towards the end and my phone started bleating as the signal came back. We weren't to know at the time but during our day out 4 people had been buried and killed in an avalanche in central gully of Bidean nam Bian, just over the hill. Suffice to say, my folks were very worried as I'd only told them I was going to Glencoe!

Overall; a fine route and a fun day with the guys. Condolences to the families who lost loved ones on this day. 


Click any of the photos above to view the gallery in a new window

Jubilee Weekend

Four days off work? Yes please! The weekend was a myriad of results. In summary there was one dismal failure; one tide miscalculation; one perfect day on Glencoe rock. Oh, and one day sat on the sofa.

The Dismal Failure

To say 'dismal' is a little unfair, we still counted it as a worthwhile day out. There were just a few minor errors made. We set off from Keiloch, probably too late, for the long walk in to Garbh Choire of Beinn a' Bhuird. Approximately 15kms, it's a lovely walk through the Fairy Glen with very little gradient until the last couple of kilometers approaching the Sneck.

A long way still to go

The objective was to climb Mitre Ridge and Squareface, the two easy classics of the area. Once at the Sneck there is still a bit of work to get to the base of Mitre Ridge which is at the far end of the coire. On the way, something caught my eye and made me turn and then nearly jump out of my skin as I saw a busted up wooden elephant staring at me amongst the boulders. The elements has definitely taken its toll (along with a long drop from the top) compared to the pic on UKC of it at the top of the climb.

"All animals die alone"

Mitre Ridge is graded Hard Severe but this is supposedly just the first pitch and the rest is of VDiff standard. In keeping with our 'alpine training regime' myself and James had brought only a lightweight rack and ditched the rock shoes in favour of big boots. The next mistake.

I started up the first pitch which is not incredibly positive with big boots and was a little damp. At about 10-15m i'd already used half the rack and had clipped a rusty, wobbly peg. I then looked up at the next 10m of damp slabby corner before the break and decided this wasn't going to happen. Down I came to give James a go on the sharp end and see if he could get past it.

James re-ascending to my high point

Not surprisingly James didn't favour it either and got the pleasure of lowering of the rusty peg to retrieve gear. I'd remembered there was an easier winter start just around the corner, so we went around to give that a go. Having started up I then looked at my watch; 4pm!! We'd had enough signs just to pack up and head home, knowing where we had gone wrong on numerous levels. 

All that was left was the long walk home, feeling a little disappointed and with very achy feet. Got some nice pics before we left though.

Mitre Ridge in profile

Climbers on Squareface

Tide Miscalculation

Put simply: I went to Limekilns with Calum and after doing a few of the climbs suggested we move to Hawkcraig. I'd looked at the tides and thought 3hrs after high tide would be fine. It wasn't. Doh!

Super Glencoe Link Up

The saving grace of my long weekend was a day on Buchaille Etive Mor with Ben Sharp who i'd met through UKC. Starting a bit earlier this time (and with a much shorter walk in) we headed up with a vague plan starting with North Face Route. The 2 star severe doesn't seem to be as popular as it's neighbours on Rannoch Wall judging by the little worn approach paths. After only a little bit of guidebook consultation and looking a pictures on my phone we found the start.

It is a quality route with good rock (the few pitches we did anyway) and worthwhile of its 2 stars. We came off the route after pitch 3 to move on to Hiccup (VS 4c) which was also an outstanding route that Ben led.

Ben on P2 of North Face Route

Airy belay above P1 of Hiccup
[Photo credit: Ben Sharp]

The rock on this day was like touching the loop side of velcro with one of those scatch pad things. You put a hand or foot and it just stuck! 

Ben on P2 of Hiccup

The top of Hiccup brought us out to Curved Ridge below Rannoch Wall, where we initially thought of doing January Jigsaw (another classic severe). As there was someone already on it, Ben convinced me to give Fracture Route (VS 4c) a go around the corner. 

It was an awesome route that made you think about the moves but not overly strenuous. I was slightly put down by the guy speeding up the HVS to the right of me with only two nuts on the entire route!

Ben seconding Fracture Route

Well chuffed with Fracture Route
[Photo credit: Ben Sharp]

Ben then led on looking for the last pitch of Grooved Arete. I think we actually ended up doing a P2 Fracture Route/Crowberry Ridge combination as we definitely ended up on the ridge towards Crowberry Tower. All that was left was a little scrambling to the summit, at one moment passing under a precariously perched block! The little keystones holding this in place had daylight shining through in several locations.

Please don't fall on my head!
[Photo credit: Ben Sharp]

An absolutely super day out and i'd seriously recommend linking up routes as a fun mountaineering excursion. The changing of rope systems and the continual interest from picking the best lines really makes a good day.

Check out even more photos in the gallery by clicking any of the photos above!

Tower Ridge

Owen and James' alpine training saga continues. Today I finally got around to climbing Tower Ridge, a route that has been sat on the wishlist for quite a while now. What a day to do it!

After a leisurely start from the North Face car park we sweated up the brutal gradient to emerge in wall to wall sunshine

The ridges comes into view

We considered doing the douglas boulder direct route to start but decided against it as we weren't sure of the time it would add on. So, we went around to the normal approach and scrambled up the gully to start the 20m chimney pitch.

James on the 20m chimney

We wanted to approach the route in an alpine manner, i.e. moving together. I pushed the idea that we put the rope away on sections where we were happy soloing, however we found this led to more time being wasted where we need to get it out again. The result was that we kept the rope on the whole time and went from pitching to moving together quite smoothly from there on.

'Line of least resistance' was the next lesson in alpine style movement. We opted for the uber direct line on the little tower which involved me taking a few moves that James described as VDiff 5a. This slowed us down a little bit, which although not a problem today....in the Alps this could prove a problem.

"Was that really necessary??"

The conditions couldn't have been better for this route, with perfectly dry rock and just the right temperature when not moving too fast. We'd already learnt our lesson (ref: Snowholes and Sunburn) of not using sun cream when the sun's out and I was trialing the purchase of a new hat. Oh, and some boots (Scarpa Charmoz) which were both excellent - the left and the right foot ;)

The best part of the route is really reserved for the top sections. Mindful of the 'fake eastern traverse' we kept going until the slightly overhanging face of the great tower blocked our way and the traverse became obvious. It's easy to see how that becomes scary when banked out in winter, providing essentially a slide down into Observatory Gully! In summer however, it was relatively straightforward and let around to the fallen block chimney. This was my favourite bit of the day. Remnants of winter still lined the chimney which probably made it easier than it would normally be, then a lovely exposed climb out to the crest again, atop the great tower.......then the Gap!

Me on the eastern traverse

Looking back down the fallen block chimney

I had been anticipating Tower Gap ever since I had first read the route description and seen pictures so long ago, and admittedly from everything i'd heard/seen it looked terrifying. With the caveat that, shrouded in mist and covered in snow it would probably make a grown man cry, today in these conditions I didn't find it too bad. Sure enough, the down climb is quite a long step down but the exposure didn't have me with my heart in my throat. I can only hope this is a good sign for the exposed Chamonix ridges to come in June!

Looking down Glover's Chimney from the gap

James making the big step down
(on this part you disappear out of sight into the gap
before re-emerging up the other side)

All that was left was the final section up to the plateau which looked worse from afar than it actually was. Some remaining icy steps required caution, but we managed to move quickly with two runners between us. We went to the summit for the obligatory trig point shot, and ended up doing a litter sweep. I was outraged to see the amount of rubbish that people have discarded around the shelter, including vodka bottles! We used our lunch bags to gather up what we could but I dare say it won't have made a dent in the amount that's up there.

Double thumbs up!

Eastern Traverse, Great Tower and Tower Gap in profile

A mighty ridge

Ben Nevis North Face after the tedious descent

An utter disgrace partly rectified

Apologies for the amount of pictures, but it seems right to do justice to such a brilliant day out. Lessons learnt and lots of fun had. If you having any viewing energy left, click the photos above to view the gallery for a more detailed view.


We thought we were the only people on the ridge today but it looks like Alan Halewood beat us to it: Blistering on Ben and after thoughts