Happy Christmas and an adventurous New Year to you all.

Hebridean Pursuits wish you a happy Christmas and a fun New Year. We start our courses again on Jan 5th 2015. Regular reports of Scottish mountain conditions will be posted throughout the winter. These will primarily be for the Glencoe and Lochaber region. Take care and best wishes.

Winter Climbing Course. Ben Nevis and The Dragon's Tooth.

A few shots from working in the mountains over last two days. The snow continues to fall and the temperatures are coming down, the snow pack is consolidating and the sky is promised to be blue tomorrow, fingers crossed. The last two day's theme and brief has been Winter Lead Climbing and all things mountaineering. It has been a great week in the hills and my legs can testify to that. Have a good fun and safe weekend out there.

Another few days of wild weather at work in the mountains.

The last three days have been challenging high up in the mountains. The warm front has brought allot of rain today but over the weekend it snowed heavily again above 600 m. With a combination of 75 mph winds and driving snow it was at times brutal to be on the summits. In between the gusts it was extremely beautiful. A lull tomorrow and then another front will hurtle in form the south. Having said all that we have had some fantastic clients on a variety of skills courses and they have really had a blast. Check out Face Book page Hebridean Pursuits to see what we have been up to in detail. It goes without saying or it should,it is pretty tricky to walk in the knee deep snow at present and the avalanche hazards are high. Without an understanding of appropriate route choice or employing a qualified instructor or guide the hills are potentially dangerous at present. Please be careful out there.

Teaching Winter Mountaineering and Winter Walking Skills over last three days.

Friday was a bluste

ry day in Glencoe and with plenty of fresh snow falling we opted on day 5 of our Winter Mountaineering course to head for the Zig Zags which were sheltered and covered in good snow. It is an ideal route to teach leading on and we had some descent skills to offer too. Saturday and Sunday has been a great few days and we have been lucky to avoid most of the dreadful weather forecast. Saturday we headed up onto beautifully shaped and sheltered Sgorr Dearg and hence onto it's fine ridge line. Sunday, we took the groups up into Sgurr na H-Ulaidh and looked at shelter building and survival skills. We had 25 clients out on the hill this weekend it was fantastic to see and hear them all having an fabulous time learning new skills and of course having real adventures.

School House Ridge Grade II.

Toady

was day 4 of a 5 day Winter Mountaineering course. We headed up School House Ridge which was in tremendous condition. The weather was thrown at us and the clients loved the whole Scottish experience. Photos illustrate the day well.

Day 2 of 5 day Winter Mountaineering Course. Survival and Navigation.

Yesterday was some what wilder than Monday. 50 mph gusts of wind made conditions perfect for considering what we do in the event of not making back to the road due to accidents or more likely poor navigation skills. As we ascended we looked at snow pack profiles, dug emergency shelters and considered safety bearings and route choice. After reaching the summit of Stob nan Cabar we descended it's NW face

. An unusual way off but this made for a great contrast from the ascent and gave the guys a fresh route to practice their new found skills. Snow anchors, ropes and steeper ground today on Aonach Mor.

5 Day Winter Mountaineering Course. Day 1.

Today I was out working for Hebridean Pursuits with 5 folk in Glencoe on Meall a Bhuiridh. This was day one of five concentrating on winter mountaineering skills. We looked at packing, carrying and selecting equipment. We ascended the hill looking at a variety of essential skills. We had mixed conditions, but at 2 pm the cloud lifted we got beautiful views from the summit. The ski slopes are covered in deep snow. The fresh breeze

from the south was blowing in fresh snow onto the north facing lee slopes and we experienced some wind slab in the steeper hollows, something to be aware of tomorrow.

A few images from our work on courses in Glencoe and The Cairngorms over the last 5 days.

Conditions are good for mountaineering in Scotland. Much snow remains and the snow pack has consolidated well. Here are a few images of a variety of work HPL

have been involved with this week.