A Mountaineering Life. The Early Days. Part One.

One positive of Covid 19 for me is that, instead of always posting new outdoor trips weekly it's given me a chance, as outdoor activities have been very limited the past few months, to look back and realise how fortunate I've been in my mountaineering life. Work is what you do to earn money and I've always put 100% in there but what makes life worth living for me is the outdoor existence I enjoy in my free time.

Over five decades  later I've been in half a dozen clubs and made numerous friends and companions through them that shared a love of the great outdoors so here's a selection of memorable trips in no particular order.

                                                 ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN

As you can see I started early. Around nine or ten here or younger and scrambling on the easy but steep cliffs of Byne Hill above Girvan. We were staying on holiday in a caravan under this hill and every day was a fresh adventure.

20 years later I was still scrambling up cliffs- just bigger and higher ones. 1980s remote central highlands here.

Then we graduated to remote peaks in winter. Beinn Mhor Dearg here in the far north west of Scotland. Easily the equal of any Munro with its snowy ramparts and vertical cliffs.

Then the occasional sea stack... for which we needed rock climbing. Alex at base of stack, above, having crossed the water gap on a rope after Brian had swam across with an end. Although I started out mainly hill-walking and bagging Munros I soon got sidetracked into scrambling, rock climbing, kayaking, caving, island bagging, cross country skiing, and coastal walks... as well as city and town exploring... for me that was a very natural progression as I liked them all....as long as it was outdoors I was usually up for it and would have a go. Day or night.

The Old Man of Stoer here... a classic rock climb in Assynt. Brian and Alex on the middle pitch. At 60 metres or 196 feet high not as hard to reach or as difficult as the Old Man of Hoy at twice the height at E1 but still a daunting proposition at VS 5a with a steep climb down the coastal cliffs then a Tyrolean rope traverse to avoid a deep sea gap just to reach the base of this stack. Brian and Alex sitting on a halfway ledge in this one, above, waiting their turn to climb to the summit as another climbing pair can be seen above them on the sunlit ramp. The bit that worried them (and me watching) was the long abseil off the top where they left their own long sling behind around a summit boulder just in case. ( No telling the condition of the old ones already left there by previous groups, open to wind, salt spray and storms so better to add a fresh one just in case. Most climbers die on the descent on climbs, especially abseiling.

I've got it down as a 240 feet high climb here over 4 pitches but that's probably the total amount climbed including sideways climbing as there is some of that. You can now get taken up it with hired guides if you book then pay online apparently. Probably lay on a WiFi service and games up there as well if there's a queue. That's progress I guess. I was club photographer on this trip as there was no-one else good enough on hand as a partner to drag me up it but I didn't mind that one bit. Taking these photographs was enough for me.... already keen on my new hobby as a snapper of climbing types. If I was actually climbing the route the photos would not be as good at showing the full climb or its position on the coast.

Same with this one where I could move around on the cliff edge to capture different angles. Another real classic snapped from a distance. The famous 'Dream of White Horses' on the Gogarth sea cliffs in  North Wales. HVS 4c and very exposed to the elements.

Roger and Brian on a high level traverse across the cliff. During rough seas large waves can almost reach this position. Which is where the title came from on a windy day of big swells.

Before we started going to mainland Europe for our holidays we would travel down to the Lake District, Wales, Devon and Cornwall on Classic Rock trips. A guidebook and photo list of rock climbs from Diff to VS that became our new bible, although these two routes above are probably in Hard Rock. VS to E1 or thereabouts. In this one I've scrambled down to sea level to photograph 'dream' from below, looking up.

What I liked about Classic Rock and easier rock climbing in general was the situations and rock architecture they took you into. Amazing places only rock climbers see. Hard Rock tends to move out more onto steep blank walls leaving the easy stuff- long chimneys, caves, huge cracks leading deep into the mountain itself for lesser mortals like us.

Ossian's Cave marks the turning point of this long weaving route where you cut back diagonally upwards, onto a higher right running ramp/ledge, directly under the cave- in reality a horrible dripping slot a spider would slide out of if not careful moving around and reached by a dangerous steep extra scramble on grass where folk have fallen before that misjudged it. An incredible place though.

Another Brian from a different club and a memorable trip to Skye. Four days of unbroken sunshine and hot weather and our first visit to the black Cuillin ridge. Early 1980s. Still scrambling at this point. No ropes yet.

Late 1980s and another trip to Skye. Alex on the Cioch here- without a rope in sight.

If you have a very good head for heights you can solo it but the rock is like glass as millions of feet and hands have gone here before you. Most of them on a rope I'd imagine. Very slippy... and you have to reverse it backwards coming down.

If you wonder why I was able to scramble this pinnacle on Gran Paradiso with a thousand foot drop below... years of rock climbing and previous scrambling experience in the UK is the answer to that.

A view hanging off the belay on Integrity. A VS 4c or 4b rock climb ( depends which guide book you look at) up a near vertical cliff face above the Cioch. You can see a single person on Arrow Route on the slab, a few folk on the flat rib above that and one person climbing the Cioch exactly where Alex was two photos above. At some future date I'd imagine the Cioch must fall and slide into the glen below as you can see a deep crack all round the resting edges here- releasing thousands of tons of moving rock in the process. Hope no climbers are on it or under it at the time.

A view of the Cioch Slab and Arrow Route, A 60 metres long V.Diff. on Skye. Note two climbers on the slab. Integrity starts up the cliff at the top left of this photo. You can get 1000 foot of quality rock climbing Hard Severe to VS standard by linking three routes together on this cliff- which we did. Alex and I also climbed Eastern Buttress on a different occasion which is where I obtained these distance shots from. When you are actually on a route it's mostly views looking up or looking down a wall.

A rainy day climbing the Cioch Slab. Integrity goes straight up the cliff right above Alex's head. A very exposed feeling climb. Given the variable Scottish mountain weather getting caught out by rain, sleet, snow, hail, or strong winds is possible and we have enjoyed all of them on rock climbs over the years including a foot of snow falling suddenly halfway up a fairly serious route. Needless to say this makes climbing slightly harder. 'Wet' can also be slippy depending on rock type. Such is life.

Brian on Spartan Slab VS. A cracking balance climb up a massive wall ascended up crack lines and using pure friction in a few places. (No actual holds available just blank padding over slabs.) Loved this climb as it wasn't vertical. Always a bonus. Got up it all the way the first time- rained off it the second time, close to the top.

Sou'wester Slabs. A multi pitch V Diff on the amazing Rosa Pinnacle on Arran. A favourite island for walkers and climbers. You can see two folk on it a quarter of the way up the route in this photo.

Higher up, climbing under the overhang.

The top of the Rosa Pinnacle. We were treated to a foot of hailstones battering our bodies the second time I did Sou'wester Slabs. May can be a tricky month for rock climbing in the mountains... So can second ascents of routes in my case.

Another route on Arran. The 6 pitch VS 4b adventure of Labyrinth. A partially subterranean route going under chock-stones, squeezing up deep chimneys, traversing along ledges and crawling through various holes in the mountain. An amazing experience. You can make out two climbers at both ends of the deep chimney, above.

Higher up on the same route a zoomed shot of Brian and Gordon and (John?).

I also like surprises when it comes to music. You will probably not have heard of this band.. or the song... but it's an underrated gem. All the best kind of surprises are. This is music for grown ups :o)  A tune with depth of character that grows on you as well.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xas5vm