Practicing leading in winter - The Nid

signpost on Aonach Mor

Today I was out with Alan Kimber of West Coast Mountain Guides and 2 clients, Kai and Claudia.

I've never seen so much Arcteryx kit on one person - if they make underpants, boots and socks maybe Kai would've been 100% Arcteryx-man.

This was Claudia (Kai's girlfriend)'s first experience of Scottish winter and she's a fast learner.

We headed off  to the Nid area to practice basic winter skills and to ascend up the gently mixed groud, learning techniques.

We did a stacked abseiled into Easy Gully and climbed up out from the rocky buttress.

in Easy Gully

On the walk out we met some Dutch climbers who were using their Lowe Carry-On bag as their winter packs.

Alan Kimber with the new Alpine Attach pack from Lowe