Dave and Rich go for a snowy scramble and Kev does Hookers Corner

Welcome back to our regular Winter Climbing Conditions blog for the new season, be sure to add us to your reader or follow the blog via the link on the home page.

We will all be out regularly throughout the winter season throughout the UK and Europe and report here about routes we’ve done and what routes are in.

So the Sunday saw Richie and myself heading to Patterdale as we reckoned Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag might have been in. It was a good bet as the route is all rock with no turf at all and you can make it as easy or as hard as you want. In the end we just ended up taking our axes for a wintery scramble as we decided the route didn’t warrant tools or crampons.

We did, however, have a great wintery day out with big boots and gloves and not a soul in sight! There was a well frozen in situ sling on the abseil and it wouldn’t take too much more snow to bring the route into full condition.

We visited the top of the mountain in full Scottish blast conditions and carried over to Fairfield and down Hartsop above How for a great early season day out.

The general situation is that more snow and lower temperatures are needed to fill any gullies in, all rock routes looked black and the turf is not frozen. So get yourselves out there, you can have a winter experience without the axes and crampons just now.

Kev headed over to Coire an Lochain early on Saturday morning for an early season ascent of Hooker’s Corner which looked in good snowy condition. Other teams were out on the classic Savage Slit. Other routes were climbed in the Cairngorms over the weekend but with fluctuating temperatures and wild weather, careful route choice was definitely needed.