A brief history in time (significant ascents 1995-2001)

Back in the good old days, when winters were brutally cold and woolly jumpers and beards were the only reliable protection against hypothermia, Lochnagar proved a testing ground for the protagonists of the time, both against the rival factions that existed and new techniques which were being developed - front pointing and mixed climbing.

The first ascent of routes such as Parallel Gully B - now sadly all but a rock scar - Eagle Ridge and Pinnacle Face, all made their mark and were important steps in the development of Scottish winter climbing. There is many a fine account detailing the history of these and other climbs in the usual places and it is the focus of this section to consider more recent developments on which less has been written.

Not surprisingly, a substantial amount of the new routes on Lochnagar have been put up by the locals from Aberdeen, with perhaps the most prolific, Simon Richardson, putting up over 50 new routes on the mountain over the years. Other local climbers including Greg Strange and Brian Findlay have also contributed to the development seeking out new and exciting challenges on the mountain, which even now, is far from worked-out.

Simon Richardson's insatiable appetite for defining new lines has produced some great routes. His best and perhaps one of the finest lines on the mountain, climbed with the equally innovative Chris Cartwright is the wickedly steep and sustained, Link Direct (VIII,8). Other routes that this powerful team have produced include the compelling line of weakness through the Shadow Buttress A headwall - Shadowlands (VI, 7) and the Prince of Darkness (VI, 7), which takes the hidden buttress sprouting halfway up the left wall of West Gully. It was no surprise then that this team was responsible for making what could be described as a true line of Torquing Corpse (VII, 6) on The Stack. Over the years this route has gained a reputation as a serious chop route, and it did not let Richardson and Cartwright down when they spooked themselves on their variant, Redemption (VIII,7)

Colin MacLean had been agonisingly close to completing the first winter ascent of an extremely severe graded rock climb with his heroic efforts on Mort. Nisbet and Dinwoodie had also been close to freeing The Pantheist but it was Wilson Moir and Neil Ritchie who made the breakthrough, with their winter ascent of Mantichore (VII, 7) on the steep lower section of Central Buttress. The route has now seen a number of ascents and is considered to be one of the finest modern winter mixed routes on the mountain.

>> Redemption VIII,7. A spooky route. Chris Cartwright on the first ascent. Pic: Simon Richardson See Larger Pic

The winter season of 1999/2000, would turn out to be the one of the most significant in the history of winter climbing on Lochnagar. Alan Mullin who had been forging winter climbing standards elsewhere in Scotland, made an audacious rope-solo ascent of Rolling Thunder on the Tough-Brown face. Not since the days of Tom Patey and his epic solo across the Corrie Ardair cliffs of Creag Meagaigh had such a major route been undertaken alone. Alan's christening of the route, Death by Misadventure (VIII, 8) gives a vivid impression of what the route must have felt like.

Capitalising on their recent ascents of Mantichore, Pete Benson and Guy Robertson climbed a line just to the right to give the very fine Footloose (VII, 7). It was felt however, that the combination of the first pitch of Mantichore, with the second of Footloose would provide a better and more sustained route and has somewhat curiously been climbed in summer after the winter ascent at E2 5c.

It would take until the new Millennium before the weather conspired to give the required conditions to form the thin ice that many of the routes, particularly on the Tough Brown Face require. The first two weeks of January 2001, saw significant activity.

First to capitalise on the ice were Pete Benson and Finlay Bennet, who made a speculative enquiry on the Tough Brown face and were rewarded with the second ascent of the superb Trail of Tears (VII, 7). On the same day the corrie was busy and others were taking advantage of the unusually icy conditions. The Richardson/Cartwright machine found the Dark Side of the Moon an icy place to be at (VI, 5), while closer to home Jason Currie and Guy Robertson climbed Hood Route (VII, 7) starting up the first pitch of Epitome to give an exacting, thin ice climb.

News of the conditions excited many a neuron and the weather held out until the next weekend when Brian Davison fulfilled a 15 year obsession and made the first winter ascent of Mort (IX, 9). This serious rock route, graded at E1 in summer had seen several Herculean attempts over the years, with talented climbers such as Colin MacLean, Sam Chinnery and most recently Alan Mullin all being subdued by the bold and committing climbing the route offers. Davison, who was partnered by Andy Nesbit and Dave McGimpsey used his knowledge of the route gained over many attempts to complete the coveted first winter ascent of what the SMC guidebook baited as, "the definition for the next generation".

The very next day, Andy Cave and Dave Heselden, possibly helped by a slight thaw overnight climbed Diedre of Sorrows and so making the first free winter ascent, in fine style. Instead of taking the line of Trail of Tears on the fourth pitch - as was adopted by the first ascensionists - Cave and Heselden continued up the direct line of the route to give what they considered to be the hardest pitch of the climb, thus providing a more logical and independent conclusion to the route.

>> Footloose VII,7. Pete Benson on the first pitch. Pic: Guy Robertson See Larger Pic

The winter of 2001, brought huge quantities of snow to the eastern mountains of Scotland and for times, Lochnagar was buried under useless powder. The mountain did come into good condition again, which allowed a further ascent of Diedre of the Sorrows. The pace of significant ascents slowed but in the true spirit of adventure, Jason Currie and Guy Robertson chose to un-grade their new creation Shady Grove Road high on the left flank of Douglas Gibson Gully. It would be fair to assume however that this route is fairly solid and almost certainly needs optimum conditions to contemplate an ascent.

Page 1>  2>  3>  Ticklist