Lee Harrison Climbing

With an apparent premature end to the Scottish winter climbing season I was keen to get some more climbing done with axes. I headed down to Saltdean with Mike Moss and Kane Chandler. We all led Day Dreaming (C5) to warm-up and familiarise ourselves with chalk climbing. After this I was happy to second some routes after my exciting finale to my last trip to Saltdean. We climbed Back in Time (C5), The Strangeness and the Charm of the Quark (C5), and Fulmar (C6/7). On the latter I broke away from a small hold at half height. I got back on and finished the route without problems and with a bit more attention I could have cleaned the route. I rounded the day off with a short trad route called St Jerome (III) which finished at the lower-off to Day Dreaming. The climb was easy but it gave me a chance to practice placing some warthogs with my lump hammer in preparation for more committing routes. Day Dreaming (C5) Back in Time (C5) Back in Time (C5) Back in Time (C5) Fu...

Temperatures were above freezing today and generally looked uninspiring for winter climbing. Not a day to push the boat out. Florian and me had a look at the Curtain this morning but it was far too thin for climbing. We dipped down to Waterfall Gully, which we knew to still be in condition. The initial ice pitch was sketchy. My axes ripped through the soft ice, and poor screw protection in these conditions offered little reassurance. A tricky break right on the icefall at half height felt far too gripping for grade IV in these conditions. With no more freezing temperatures forecast, it was safe to safe we would probably be the last to climb the route this season. Gemini Direct Start (left) & Waterfall Gully  (right) Near the top of the ice pitch (Photo by Florian Urban) The difficulties were largely over once up the initial ice pitch. Some people abseil off the route once this pitch is completed but we chose to continue up the gully to the top. The climbing wa...

Temperatures were warming up but there was still good freeze-thaw conditions reported high on the Ben. Florian and me headed for Indicator Wall. White-out conditions prevailed as we blindly bashed up Observatory Gully. We couldn't see any crag features and even Tower Scoop went unnoticed. High in the gully we spotted some climbers to our left where we anticipated Indicator Wall to be. We shouted out what route they were on. Satanic Versus came the reply so we were in the right area. We bore left from their stance and soon found our route. Both the regular and right-hand versions of Indicator wall looked in good nick. We opted for the classic regular line. We swung leads up the ice with me leading pitches two and four. The first pitch felt steady for V. Difficulty increased during the second pitch, which involved a short traverse right in order to gain a weakness through steep ground. The ice was brittle but easy to protect. The difficulties eased back on the third and f...

Plan A had been to climb Point Five Gully but there was too much congestion. The lead climber ahead of us patiently waited for the first belay to be vacated so that he could make himself safe and bring his partner up. The gully looked like a motorway of concertinaing traffic in rush hour. Point Five Gully... Busy Climbers starting the second pitch of Hadrian's Wall We made our way across to Hadrian's Wall, which was now free of traffic after busy start. I led the first pitch up the broad, bulging ice flow. It was typical Ben Nevis snowy ice. Easy axe placements but I wouldn't have wanted to test my screws placements. I placed three screws for the belay and sunk my axes for good measure as well. Time to bring Ryan and Mike up. Me climbing the first pitch of Haidran's Wall Direct (Photo by Ryan Wilson) A yell emanated from Point Five Gully. The lead climber from the group that would have been immediately ahead of us clattered down the full height of the...

Alex picked me up from Aviemore train station at 7.30am. The initial plan had been East Coast but currently the buttresses were black and so we cut our losses and headed West to Aonach Mor. It turned out the lift was shut. Despite the lateness of the morning we changed plans to Ben Nevis. There wasn't a huge amount in condition but we knew Zero Gully had been climbed in recent days. As we approached Orion Face it began to snow. Then waves of spindrift avalanche began to blow down the face and funnel into Zero Gully's first pitch. There looked to be little else in condition on this part of the mountain and, given that it was nearly 1pm, switching to something in Observatory Gully seemed doomed. I pressed on up the initial gully finding occasional good ice on my right side to place screws, whilst pinning myself to the ice with each successive bout of spindrift. The snow underfoot was a little soft and needed a good freeze to firm up. With heavy spindrift regularly pouring direc...

My partner for the last couple of days had to head South. I had an extra day to play with and with recent good conditions was keen to climb another route. Tower Ridge seemed the obvious choice. It would be big day out without the technical difficulty requiring a rope. I took my harness and a cordelette in order to back rope myself across Tower gap if needed. I had no car so the walk-in commenced from Fort William town centre. Ben Nevis early morning Lots of fresh snow had fallen in the night but with negligible wind there was little slab to be concerned about. I climbed Douglas Gap West Gully to avoid the crowds and shorten the route to Douglas Gap. I waited for a team to climb the mixed step before it was my turn. The climbing proved to be the technical crux of the route with some delicate mixed moves before neve presented. I took my time with the sequence of moves as spectators in the gap looked on. Beneath Tower Gully West The terrain eased in difficulty conside...

Rob and me were keen to take advantage of the good conditions and short-walk of the general Carn Dearg / Castle Ridge area. Compression Crack was clearly in condition and so we headed for this. Boomer's Requiem also looked good today. Compression Crack provided a couple of quality ice pitches. I led the excellent first pitch. Rob continued up the easy ice on the second pitch, before I traversed right to beneath the steep ice corner. Rob had the pleasure to lead this superb pitch. It proved to deceptively steep and unrelenting. It looked from the ground as though there would be an opportunity for rest at half height but this proved not to be the case. The ice was of snowy consistency making axes placements effortless but ice screw protection marginal. Certainly top-end grade V. Only the traverse in the middle of the route stops this from being a three star route in my opinion. Now above the difficulties we bashed up the easy slopes and then descended...