Today i was on Ledge Route, Ben Nevis on a stunning Autumn day. It was more like a summers day with warm temperatures on the summit and bright sun all day. We had the north face to ourselves and a handfull of people making their way up the main mountain track. #bennevis #ledgeroute #fortwilliam

A glorious autumn day in the Lost valley in Glen Coe today with Emily. Glen Coe was looking good with its yellow, gold and bronze shades of vegetation on show. We made steady progress up into the Lost Valley with a tricky river crossing that was a little high, but manageable. #glencoe #lostvalley #fortwilliam

Today i was on Ben Nevis via the Mountain Path with father and daughter team, Evan and Emily. Their legs held out well today after completing the Glen Coe half marathon yesterday and got to the top in a good time of 3.5 hours. From 1200m there is a good covering of snow and the temperatures were cold with the path becoming icy where people had compacted the snow. We managed to descend before the worst of the weather came in and the snow will be sticking around for the ne

Today Andrew and Hannah were up Ben Nevis via the mountain path with work colleges from Emperor Group from Edinburgh. They made good time to the summit in still summer conditions most of the way up until about 1200m where there is a dusting of snow until the summit. Which looks very wintery now. #bennevis #Fortwilliam

Today i was on Ben Nevis via the mountain path with Lisa and her friends celebrating her whole number birthday. The team set a steady pace in the good weather and we reached the summit in 4 hours. From 1200m on the mountain there is a dusting of snow and some of it is a bit slippery in places where it has been walked on, but there are a lot of stones still poking through that can be used. #bennevis #Fortwilliam #Walking

Today i was on the Mountain path on Ben Nevis with Nicola and her friends. The mountain was very busy today with a constant flow of people up the path, maybe drawn by the good weather. We almost got a view at the top with the cloud clearing but not quite. A good weekend away. #bennevis #Fortwilliam

Today we were in Glen Nevis climbing with Finin and her family for their last day in Scotland. We started off on Scimitar ridge on the guys 1st outing on rock before moving over to the Alp where Casper put up a long pitch of climbing on the classic route the Gutter and i had an abseil going. We then finished off with 2 harder climbs on SW buttress to challenge the guys and teach them belaying. All by lunch time. The rock was mostly dry, but with no wind the midges had th

This week i have been walking the West Highland Way from Glasgow to Fort William with a walking club from Hong Kong. We had mixed weather at the start but the last 4 days have turned out amazing. I 1st walked this route with my parents on holiday when i was 13, now roughly 20 years later i am helping people complete one of the best long distance routes in the country. I was working for Thistle Trekking. #Westhighlandway #Fortwilliam #Glasgow

Last week i spent walking the East Highland Way, Fort William to Aviemore over 6 days with 8 people from around the globe. Hopefully when i am in my 70s i can still smash out 30km in a day! My legs were definitely worked. #easthighlandway #Fortwilliam #Aviemore

Today i was up Ben Nevis via the mountain track.  And the day was perfect, sunny, no wind and views at the top. The snow level is at 1000m leaving 350m of ascent in the snow to the summit.  There is fresh snow on top of the base and the foot worn path is very slippery.  Crampons were not needed today by walking in the softer snow. But its worth keeping an eye on the weather, if low cloud or rain is forecast this will be fresh snow at the summit and also make white out conditi

This morning i was with Iain and Claire and their clan for a half day intro to rock climbing in Glen Nevis. Spring is here and the rock was dry and grippy today.  We started the morning with moving over the rocky Scimitar ridge taking in as much rock as possible, gaining confidence. With the team doing well we moved over to the steeper crags for an abseil and a short steep climb to finish the morning. Going strong Mum mid move #Rockclimbing #Glennevis #Fortwilliam

Today i was up Ben Nevis via the mountain track with Scot and Jo.  The weather was perfect and the rain held off for the day, with warm temperatures all the way up. Were we rewarded with great views from the top and were also glad to have crampons on from half way. The snow is very slushy and is melting quite quickly, with another few weeks should see the zig zags with a rocky edge to walk on.  At the moment the soft snow is slippery in ascent and descent and we definitely sa

I was up Ben Nevis today via the Mountain Track with Lewis and Clark who wanted to see how quickly they could do the Ben as part of their 3 peaks challenge. It was warm in the glen and most of the way up.  The snow is still at half way point with a tricky crossing of the Red Burn and we put crampons on at this point.  There is a small compact trench through the snow which is good to walk on with crampons, off this the snow is deep and slushy, but still 6ft deep on the plateau

Today i was on the east ridge of Stob Ban in Glen Nevis for Abacus Mountain Guides. A lot of fresh snow had fallen over the last 48hours, which made for knee deep on the approach and waist deep coming down the north ridge.  Hot in the sun it felt very spring like with the weather and full on winter conditions on the ridge. I was out with Finlay, 14.5 years old for his 1st winter climb and Alpine Guide aspirant and what a day for it. We did 2 pitches to start and then moved to

A great day up the mountain path on Ben Nevis.  Good views all the way with not too much wind at the top. There is still rock hard snow from half way to the summit with a lot of fresh powder from about 1000m up. Most people were making their way up without crampons with mixed success, or lack of, we were glad of ours, especially on the way down. I only had to stop 5 members of the public from sliding down the Red Burn: 1 lady making her way up it in summer boots, taking 3 ste

Amazing conditions on the climbing ridge on Stob Ban, Glen Nevis at the moment. Hard snow slopes and solid snow ridges with dry rock and good gear made for a very alpine feel. Ben and Danny progressed from yesterday with Ben leading the ridge and improving his gear and belay building and Danny ironed out his seconding skills.  7 pitches in total and good milage for the guys. #stobban #Glennevis #Winter #Fortwilliam

Wet and wild today on the Ben Nevis Mountain Track and very different from yesterday. It was only just sleeting on the summit and raining at all other levels onto the snow.  It was hard going from above half way in the snow with a very saturated snow pack, getting slightly slushy as the day went on. We were glad to have crampons on, but concentration was needed to keep your feet where you wanted them. Very poor visability over the plateaux with all the tracks from yesterday c

I was on the Mountain Track on Ben Nevis today which had very good weather and a lot of snow. The sun was shining from the start and it even felt a bit hot in the spring sun at the top. There is still firm ice from half way to the top but this did soften up as the day went on, with fresh snow on the higher part with an icy base. Depending upon how cold this week gets again, next easter weekend and holidays will most likely be full on winter conditions. 800m up The plateaux Th

Arctic desert conditions on Ben Nevis today.  With strong winds, cold temperatures and a lot of snow being blown around, proved for tricky conditions. The mountain (and a lot of Scotland) has turned into an ice desert with the recent cold spell: lots of snow in the air but very dry on the ground and in the atmosphere, with little snow actually settling. These conditions have resulted in rock hard neve from just below the half way point, with continuous ice cover all the way t

Winter Skills on Stob Ban, Glen Nevis today for Lochaber Guides.  Nigel was keen to get stuck into the hills after a week of Skiing. With supper cold temperatures and rock hard snow we made our way up towards Stob Ban where we quickly had to put crampons on for the rest of the day. We were prorected from the strong easterly wind in the glen and managed to summit as well as walk,  in a westerly direction, to the next munro of Mullach nan Coirean. There was snow falling most of