Outdoor Capital of the UK Blog
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Sun, snow and sand in the Outdoor Capital!
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
What a weekend! The Pescod household was out having fun and enjoying the stunning weather.
On Friday we went bouldering in Glen Nevis. The boulders below Pinnacle Ridge were perfect for us being at the right level and size for Owen (3 years old), a couple of more challenging problems for Louise and only 10m off the road so taking baby Megan's travel cot there was no problem!
On Saturday Louise and Owen joined Maddy and a whole bunch of folk on Camusdarach beach near the scenic coastal village of Arisaig on the dramatic Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig. In the hot sunshine and crystal clear air they had a brilliant time in and out of the water, playing in boats and all the usual (active) beach stuff. The beautiful isles of Eigg and Skye looked so close you thought you could easily swim there. When it's like this there is no better beach in the UK.
And yesterday Lex and I went skiing on Ben Nevis! It felt like optimism might have got the better of us as we walked up complaining about the heat but after a superb scramble up Ledge Route on warm dry rock we skied down Number Four Gully all the way to the lochans in Coire na Ciste.
It only took about four minutes to get down of course but all the best things come in small packages! There were a few teams out enjoying the big ridges which are completely snow free now. The major gullies are complete though and there are big snow patches to negotiate to get to some buttresses and ridges. Nearly all the climbs on Carn Dearg Buttress are dry although there are one or two weeps still to dry up on the slabs. A team was on Centurion (HVS 5a) today which looked superb. With a few more days of perfect rock climbing weather to enjoy I think I'll pack away the skis for good now!
On Friday we went bouldering in Glen Nevis. The boulders below Pinnacle Ridge were perfect for us being at the right level and size for Owen (3 years old), a couple of more challenging problems for Louise and only 10m off the road so taking baby Megan's travel cot there was no problem!
On Saturday Louise and Owen joined Maddy and a whole bunch of folk on Camusdarach beach near the scenic coastal village of Arisaig on the dramatic Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig. In the hot sunshine and crystal clear air they had a brilliant time in and out of the water, playing in boats and all the usual (active) beach stuff. The beautiful isles of Eigg and Skye looked so close you thought you could easily swim there. When it's like this there is no better beach in the UK.
And yesterday Lex and I went skiing on Ben Nevis! It felt like optimism might have got the better of us as we walked up complaining about the heat but after a superb scramble up Ledge Route on warm dry rock we skied down Number Four Gully all the way to the lochans in Coire na Ciste.
It only took about four minutes to get down of course but all the best things come in small packages! There were a few teams out enjoying the big ridges which are completely snow free now. The major gullies are complete though and there are big snow patches to negotiate to get to some buttresses and ridges. Nearly all the climbs on Carn Dearg Buttress are dry although there are one or two weeps still to dry up on the slabs. A team was on Centurion (HVS 5a) today which looked superb. With a few more days of perfect rock climbing weather to enjoy I think I'll pack away the skis for good now!posted by ocuk @ 9:54 AM 
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