Continue reading »]]> After a poor winter how things can change! I’d packed my ski gear away (shoved it in the garage anyway) weeks ago and turned my attention to scrambling in Torridon on a couple of occasions but the recent snow falls were too much to ignore. After continual snow on Friday 11th Cairngorm ski centre was open for business today, 12th May, packed with snow starved skiers. It was too busy for me so I stuck the skins on and headed over Cairngorm for Coire Raibert. There were more off piste skiers and ski tourers than I’ve ever seen over the back there but there’s plenty of space.

A ski tourer admires the view over the Loch Avon Basin, Beinn Mheadhoin and Ben Macdui

Below, the view from my lunch spot across the Loch Avon basin to Beinn Mheadhoin, Loch Etchachan and Ben Macdui from Stac an Fharaidh. A group had made some lovely tracks over the other side of the loch down from Beinn Mheadhoin into Coire Bhuidhe above Loch Avon, a very nice effort.

A stunning view over the Loch Avon basin to Beinn Mheadhoin, Loch Etchachan and Ben Macdui from Stac an Fharaidh

After a couple of runs south from Cairngorm I plodded round the northern corries and descended from Coire Lochan to Lurcher’s Gully, taking the view below through the Lairig Ghru to Cairn Toul. Avalanche debris was prominent on Sron na Lairige. The warm sun was affecting the snow conditions lower down but it is May after all.

Through the Lairig Ghru from the slopes of Cairn Lochan. Cairn Toul straight ahead. Fresh avalanche debris is prominent on the slopes of Sron na Lairige on the right

There’s a deep low coming tomorrow and perhaps further snow fall in the next few days so this might not be quite the end of the season.

Jason Bonniface, 12/05/2012
 

Continue reading »]]> Ben Hope had beautiful powder and a white out to go with it on Sunday 18th December. Unfortunately my ski descent coincided with the whiteout. It was so bad that I fell over twice on the descent due to a strange unbalancing effect encountered when believing I was still moving but had actually stopped!

Powder on the upper slopes of Ben Hope

Lovely powder snow on a firm base, possibly the best quality for skiing I’ve seen on Ben Hope in 12 winters of regular ascents. This was taken during a break in the snowfall on my ascent about 50 metres below the summit. Whilst on the summit the weather closed back in from the north west providing some very dense conditions for the descent and definitely spoiling the skiing.

Ben Hee south from Ben Hope down Strath More

Around 10cm of snow had fallen on the lower slopes whilst I was up high. The sun cast this beautiful light across Ben Hee (centre left) and Strath More as I descended back to the strath.

Very mild conditions have ensued since Wednesday 21st, it won’t be looking like this now. Hopefully cooler weather will be back soon.

Jason Bonniface 22/12/2011

Continue reading »]]> The weekend of 26-27th November brought deep depressions off the Atlantic bringing a fair bit of rain and some strong winds to the Highlands. There was a coating of snow to low levels on the Friday night which receded on Saturday before lowering a touch again on Sunday. The weather on Sunday wasn’t exactly inspiring for the tops so I decided to head for the west coast and see if there were any wild coastal views. Travelling through Ullapool and Assynt I ended up near Lochinver and decided to make for the famous Old Man of Stoer, a stack I’ve not seen since childhood. The sea was wild though perhaps not quite as wild as I’d hoped for.

The Ullapool - Stornoway Ferry, Loch Broom

The Cal Mac Ullapool – Stornoway ferry heads down Loch Broom towards stormy seas in The Minch. Beinn Ghobhlach towering behind. Probably quite an entertaining day for it.

Wild sea, a view south across Achmelvich Bay and the mouth of Loch Inver from nr Clachtoll

Wild seas off the Assynt coast across the mouths of Achmelvich Bay and Loch Inver from Lewissean Gneiss crags just south of Clachtoll. Soyea Island is the island in the middle distance on the right.

Sun and spray near Stoer Lighthouse

Waves crashing onto the rocks just south of Stoer lighthouse. The sea was much more fierce than some of the photos would suggest. The tide was low at the time and this has probably had an effect.

The car park just south of the lighthouse is the best place to start the walk along the cliff tops to the Old Man of Stoer.

Stoer Lighthouse from the north

A view back south to Stoer lighthouse from the cliff tops on the way to the Old Man. A boggy path marks the most trodden lines along the coast.

The Old Man Of Stoer from Cirean Geardail to the south west

On the walk along the cliff tops from the lighthouse to the Old Man I was frequently blasted by spray from waterfalls flowing uphill in a landward direction!

The Old Man from the cliff edge

The Old Man of Stoer from the cliff tops directly above. The cliffs are fairly steep down to the foot of the stack and in the blustery wind I didn’t hang around for too long before heading towards the Point of Stoer further north to get better angles for photos of the stack.

The Old Man Of Stoer from the north east close to the Point of Stoer

Right on the western slopes of the point I found two different perches to soak up the wild atmosphere with the westerly wind blowing strongly and the waves thundering in. I must have spent about an hour here watching and photographing the sea and the light changing as the sun descended behind clouds on the south westerly horizon.

The photo above was taken from an exposed, elevated position on the cliff edge and that below from a Torridonian Sandstone terrace much lower down and closer to the waves, gained by an atmospheric easy scramble. I can’t decide whether I prefer the lighting of the view above or the better angle and greater expanse of sea in that below!?

A second view of the Old Man from the Point of Stoer

Continue reading »]]> I had an entertaining hour or so playing around on the South Ridge of Sgor Chaonasaid, Ben Loyal on Sunday 9th October, a breezy overcast autumn day when I didn’t want to travel too far and the bigger hills probably wouldn’t have been too much fun. The ridge is a grade 2 scramble according to the SMC’s Highland Scrambles North and provides some fine scrambling along syenite (similar to granite) tors on the summit plateau of Ben Loyal. A map and several photos illustrating the route follow:

Sgor Chaonasaid South Ridge - An Caisteal the summit of Ben Loyal behind

The scramble starts at the foot of the rocks at the bottom right and follows the crest of the first tor until a gap in the ridge forces a jump. A quick look around didn’t offer up any obvious alternative.

South Ridge Jump

The gap requires an approximately 2 metre jump, slightly downhill. It should provide an adrenalin rush!

Sgor Chaonasaid South Ridge - A view back north along the ridge to Sgor Chaonasaid.

A little beyond the gap a descent westwards is required at the end of the first tor before further tors provide some good scrambling.

Sgor Chaonasaid - From An Caisteal with Sgor a' Bhatain on the left.

Jason Bonniface 01/11/2011

Continue reading »]]> I stumbled across a couple of apps for stitching together photos into a panorama recently. Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor) and the related Microsoft Photosynth for “capturing and viewing the world in 3D”, or rather stiching together loads of photos into a 360 degree panorama that can be explored interactively. Microsoft ICE works better than any other panorama maker I’ve used, though I haven’t felt the need to try many! Photosynth takes things to a different level entirely. See what you think, I reckon we might be making more of them.

This was my second real attempt at a photosynth. Its of Harrow Harbour near the Castle of Mey, on the shores of the Pentland Firth, Caithness. The images were captured on Friday 23rd Sept 2011 during a period of several hours brightness between bands of rain. I should have taken even more photos as the software hasn’t quite joined them seamlessly, but its better than my first effort!

Harrow Harbour, near Mey, Caithness