I have been going up Kirkstone Pass and Red Scree's for years now. I learnt to ski up there when we had the shop, as its first incarnation, The Fellsman, when we put a rope tow up most Sunday's when there was snow. We used to charge 50p per day for use of the tow, to cover the fuel costs and our chicken and chips in a basket (a real one, not this plastic rubbish you get now-a-days) in the Kirkstone Pass Inn, when we were too cold and wet and neaded some solice. I remember one year we made an igloo on the side of St Ravens Edge.

Now, as I have been back in the Lakes for 10 years, I have been up and down Red Scree's many time. It is such easy access and if the gritter is able to keep the road open, then you up high before you even step out of yor car.

Kirkstone Pass and Red Scree's is used by all. You find sledgers, skiers and boarders, runner, walkers, climbers and a mulirtude of people just wanting a quick drink in the highest pub in England and to enjoy the feel of winter.

Yesterday I had 3 occurances with Red Scree's. After a little too much to drink on Saturday night, after a Christmas drinks party, I awoke to the obligitory dry mouth, badger shit 9or at least iot tastes like it, and slight skullrock (headache to the uninitiated) associated wiht too much alcohol. Still, there is coffee to help ease the pain. I had promised to take Nicola and kids to the Kendal Dry Ski Slope for practice for Isaac and Millie's on coming ski holiday with there Dad. The weather was amazing, with wall to wall blue skies. Why were we heading to a dry ski slope? I have only been on one, maybe once or twice, but Isaac wanted to go, so thats what we did. [a foot note: If we had skis for Isaac and Millie, I would have insisted we headed to Kirkstone, but.... we didn't) We arrived at the slope, got kitted up, I used my telemarks, for a bit of practice... don't have alpine skies anymore really. Isaac just got on with himself and for a kid who has only had onbe week on snow, he was pretty good, able to look after himself and confident enough. He'll be jumping cliffs in no time and ripping up the park as soon as he can. I helped and taught Millie again and I was happy to see she remembered lots from our 3 day's in Scotland earlier in the year. This was number 1, as I looked longingly at the white mountains in the distance from the dry slope, but with the knowledge I would be up there soon, sliding around.

Nic and kids went to thier grandparents for lunch and family time, I got a pass out and headed off to meet JP at Kirkstone for more fun.

Looking up the ascent path. The line we skied/boarded is just under the left of where the sun finishes in the bowl in the middle of the photograph

Red Scree's looked plastered, but on arriving it seamed to have less snow than when I skied down it 2 winters ago, but there looked enough and other people had already been down the bowl. JP, with snowboard in hand  and me, with my telemarks over my shoulder, headed up the path to make our way into the bowl. Its not a hard walk up and soon we were climbing the exit gully on the leftside of the mountain as you look up at it.

Pepa sitting in the exit gully of Red Scree's

From here we traversed across the slope and walked up out of where we were to ski/board down. As you look at the bowl, you have Raven Crag on the left, a steep gully just to the left of that, then some craglets, then a less defined gully weaving its way through the craglets and rock bands, then scree and the exit gully. We came down the less defined gully. It was steep, narrow at points and as ever, changable snow from top to bottom. JP, a seasoned and very compitent snowboarder, looked comfortable at the thought of heading down, where as I , a compitent telemarker, but not so confident on this ground, was a lot more nervous. I cursed I had not put on my helmet. We met a friend at the top of the gully, Wesley Orvis from Kendal, he had soloed up Kilnshaw Chimney, a great way to the top of the crag and reported it to be a snow slope all the way, the chimney choked with snow. Now was the time for the descent. JP dropped off the side of the slight cornice at the top and I gingerly turned on easier ground to start heading down. Both of us side slipped the next section to where there was a constriction. Alpine turns, step turns and side slipping saw me through the constriction and ready to watch JP make short work of it, which he duely did. Thankfully the angle eases and I was able to drop back into Tele-style turns, which I find ultra commiting and pretty hard on steeper terrain. Here I cursed for the lack of knee pads as rocks rushed past my dropped knee's. A few falls in deeper & heavier snow, and a 'picked line' saw us back at the carpark. The van was waiting with the burner still smoking away, ready to be stoked up. Wesley dropped in for a chat and JP and Nette (his wife) departed.I headed off for Nicola's parents and some cups of tea.That was number 2.

Snow capped Lakeland fells over the back of Red Scree's. Sunset on the summit

Night arrives, and Nicola and I say our goodnights to kids and Nicola's parents and head back up Kirkstone Pass for a revisit on Kilnshaw Chimney. We geared up in the van, with the warmth of the burner making it hard to get ready quickly, not really wanting to get out into the cold, but then once you're out there it all ok really.

We used Kahtoola KTS Steels for the ascent, knowing it was only a snow slope, they seemed perfectly adiquate and I don'rt mind walking on semi rock ground wiht them, as they're not my climbing crampons. Nicola had my axes, I used my ultra-light Camp Corsa Axe, perfect for this type of action. We were at the foot of the chimney in half the time we were the other night and started our way up un-roped. Charlie

Halfway up, the rope came out for Nicola's confidence and we made 2 pitches to the top, Nicola making a mini third as she headed off above the rope. The top gained and we headed for the descent path and the warmth of the van. The views from the top were beautiful. This was number 3.

So, Red Scree's showed me itself in the morning, capped in sparkling whiteness, welcomed me in the afternoon and let me slide down its belly on beautifully formed snow and then let us enter its guts as we walked up the banked out snow slopes of Kilnshaw Chimney for our finaley of the day. The views all round were fantastic and the lights of all the towns and villages, under dark cloud and the night sky were just perfect. A great day out on one mountain, and so many different things you can do on it. The possibilities are endless... or almost....

Life takes different paths, we all know it, and it depends whether you try to fight it, or just go with the flow, as to what the outcome will be.

I have found myself in another life change, it usually happens every decade, as far as I can see. The sorting comes through the years in between & then when your approaching your next decade change, you find it all starts coming together. I have remained without children for my 37 years, and it has been fine, I have never had the great want for kids, not to say I don't enjoy them, I love playing & kids are the best at it, adults tend to become boring & lose all their fun. Maybe I haven't wanted for kids, as I am still a big one myself, anyway a digression is in process, so lets get back to it. I have a beautiful girlfriend, Nicola, who has 3 children, one who has now flown the nest, the other two are ages 5 & 8. The long & short of where I am going is that now I have a girlfriend with children, it means I must give up some of my time to them & their needs, can't be a selfish ass all my life. So Isaac, the 8 year old has gone away on a ski holiday with his Dad, and good for them, this left me & Nic with her 5 year old Millie. So we decided to take her upto Scotland, with the thought we might get a good amount of snow & be able to take her skiing (we were hoping!!). Its always a risk if you head to Scotland for a bit of piste skiing, you can be pretty much guarenteed to get ski-touring during the winter season in Scotland, but skiing on piste can be very hard work, icey, windy, not much snow cover.... but then sometimes you hit jackpot & you wonder why on earth anybody ever goes to Europe!! This was one of those times.

I learnt to ski in the Lakes & Aviemore from the age of 4, plastic skis, a bit of sliding around, and then the next year we headed to Italy & Sauze D'Oulx, so from the age of 5 I was very lucky to be on good pistes, with great snow. So this little holiday takes me back to when I learnt to ski. But of course, I remember the fun, but I can't remember how I was taught, what problems I came across, or how to deal with them, so to me it is all a new experience, as much as it was for Millie.Thr first day we had low cloud, but the snow cover was amazing, especially since there was no snow the week before, it had been stripped as Honza and I found out when we arrived at Ben Nevis. Luckly for the last couple of days it had been snowing like crazy, putting over 2 feet of fresh snow, maybe more. We opted for Glencoe to to high winds forecast, but found the conditions fine, bar the whiteout. Glencoe is not the friendliest places to ski with a 5 year old who has never been on ski's before, but we set off up the chair lift & then I made an effort of getting Millie up the Poma to the green runs above. this was no mean feat, as I had to carry her, not trusting she could stand up on ski's having never worn them before. We made it to the top & set off down the green to the rope tow, Millie between my legs, snow ploughing all the way (me not Millie that is). This again, didn't prove as easy as I thought it would be. The skiing was simple enough, but controlling Millie's extra weight whilst snow ploughing down the runs was pretty tough. My legs were on fire when we reached the little rope trainig tow. It was of course not running, but no matter, it wasn't a big slope to walk back up. And so I preceded to snow plough with Millie between my legs, trying to get her to stand upright.

It all worked pretty well, but she spent alot of the time relying on me to keep her standing, not taking much of the weight herself. I then moved to skiing backwards infront of her, supporting her from the front, but she still relied heavily on me. Did I experience this lack of balance when I was her age? Did I have the same fears she looked like she was experiencing? I can't remember, I was only 4 at the time.To finish the day, I thought it would be ok to ski down the final run to the carpark, with Millie again between my legs. It looked reasonable from the lift on the way up. Whoops, bit of a mistake. It was ok initially, but then the slope steepened & then narrowed, as they tend to in Scotland. Nicola, who has skied enough time before to be comfortable on red runs in the Alps, was now being tested after not having skis on for 3 years, whilst getting to grips with sloppy hire boots & not so great hire skis. I was having to pick Millie up & ski with her in front of me, but al was well & with a little walking past the rock exposed gun barrel, we made our way safely to the bottom. A good first day's skiing and Nicola & I had managed to get a couple of runs in separately ourselves. With beautiful views across Rannoch Moor, we set off to spend another night in the Van down in the woodland behing Glencoe Village.

The next day we woke & thought we would check out the Nevis Range. The snow cover was full, all runs open & the weather was a little claggy, but clearing. We hired kit again, set off up the bubble and arrived at the slopes. The rope traning tow was working here & so with ski's on we set to teaching Millie again. Nicola went off to get a run in, whilst I tried to get Millie to support herself & start to learn a snow plough, and we did pretty well, but she couldn't get the snow plough quite sorted & still wanted to lean on me a litle too much. With Nic back, we went for a break & then I got a couple of runs down the Warren in excellent snow conditions. There had been a Polish guy in the hire place, who had understood I wanted a nice stable fast ski and had given me a set of Rossignol something or other... it was a good choice & I had 2 great runs. When I got back, it was almost time for heading down, we had had quite a late start, but then its ok when you have a 5 year old with you. Lazy days!! Back at the van & we headed this time up Glen Nevis, after deciding to stay an extra day, due to being told it would be a blue sky day on Wednesday.

Waking in Glen Nevis, at the top carpark, was a beautiful experience. The sun was shining on the mountain tops, that were plastered in snow and we were surrounded by them. What more can you ask for. We went for a morning stroll up towards Steele Falls, but with limited time, due to a lasy breakfast, we turned back before we got there. We wanted to get Millie a ski lesson with someone else, thinking it would benifit her confidence & she may learn more quickly. It would also have given Nicola and I the chance to get 1 hour skiing together. It ws not to be. Millie is quite shy with people she doesn't know & would be left with the instructor, a lovely guy called Tristan. But this was not a bad thing, ok Nic & I could get some time to ourselves, but then we were there for Millie & her benefit and for me this is the life changing stuff. Having to think about others again... it comes to us all. We figured it would be good for Tristan to show me at the same time, how to carry on the tuition after had finished.

Quite quickly he had Millie up the Poma & I learnt how you take kids up a Poma, and then coming down the slope as Nic and I watched at the bottom. After a while I skied down with them & then took over what he was doing, with him directing. At the end of the lesson, we used a great device, which allowed Millie to support herself, whilst I was there to control her speed if needs be. It was basically a couple of slalom poles with a shorter fiberglass pole in between, held together with a rope strung though them to make a frame. It worked a treat & Millie snow ploughed and steared her way down the slope with very little help from me. A major success!!

For the rest of the afternoon, which was only a hour or so, we played in the wooden climbing/play/swing area whiclst Nic & I took turns to get a couple of runs in. Millie enjoyed the swing looking down at Loch Lihne and the surrounding mountains & snow cover. What a beautiful finish to 3 great days in Scotland & Millie's first experience of skiing. We could have asked for more. We headed down to the van and got our heads ready for the long drive home. We set off from Fort William & stopped on the back road to the Kings House on Rannoch Moor to have dinner in the van, before making the rest of the journey, the beauty of a camper van.

Driving away I couldn't help but think that I had been in Scotalnd, with the most amazing snow conditions & I had not got to do anything I really wanted to do. I could have run, climbed or skied all over the mountains, the Ben was plastered, there was snow cover & I had my Kahtoola KTS's and Camp Corsa axe with me, but the oppertunity just hadn't arisen, but I felt warm inside, that I had been able to give Millie the same experiences I had grown up with & I knew inside, that Scotland is always there. Ok, it was good snow cover, the best they had had all season, but I new it will come again & I will get my time again. And best of all, although tired, I wasn't as exhausted as usual.

Tried to get a few days climbing up on the Ben late last week, but I knew it was destined to fail as I have had a bad cold/chest for a few weeks & was only just recovering, but sometimes, especialy when you haven't had much action due to work, you have to push the preverbial boat out... so we did. Honza & I set off for Fort William at 6pm on Wednesday, typically 2 hours later than planned.

We made good time in my van and got to the North Face carpark at 11:30pm. We had said we would walk in, so we did, after getting our kit ready & consuming too much wine. This led us a a large detour as we walked the track through the forest, towards Aonach Mor, not the Allt a'Mhuillinn path upto the Ben... Mmmn, mental note not to get blind drunk late at night before walking into the Ben. We turned around and headed back the same direction before getting back on track. It put us a long way behind & left us pretty tired for climbing after walking for miles with 25Kg+ packs on our backs for 3/4 days climbing we had planned. When we woke, after me pitching the GoLite Shangri-la 3 on a little flat platuea just above the CIC hut in the early hours of the morning, there was a thaw in progress. The freezing level had risen above the summits. Next mental note, remember to check the weather before driving 5 ½ hours north for winter climbing. Honza felt dreadful, suspected hangover... but maybe something more. Both tired, we slept a little longer, but I awoke to warmer temps & a groaning Honza, now suspected ill. I still had a terrible cough, so after looking at the Orion Face and getting a weather report to find we would have warm temps until Saturday, we decided to head back down to the van & drive across to the Cairngorms for a day or 2 of ski touring.. we or I fancied a traverse of the platuea to Ben Macdui.

We got to the van after a slow walk & then a lift off Roger Cauldershot, a guide from the Lakes who works for Lyon Equipment, this took the sting out of the walk through the woods. Roger had been out & climbed Tower Scoop, a grade 2/3 ice line of 2 pitches with a client and reported good ice, 7 screws used. At the van, after assessing how we both felt, we decided, as crazy as it is, to head back to the Lakes. 5½ hours later we were back at home, tails between our legs, both feeling pretty awful.  2 days rest and I was about back on my feet, Honza has needed a little more time, as I was already through the worst of the virus, just with the cough left to deal with. Moral of the story is: If your feeling a little tired & under the weather then don't head for 5 and a half hours north in your van to push it out climbing winter style, stay at home in bed & get some rest. And if you do go, don't be tempted by a bottle of wine and a lovely walk to the north face, actually go to bed, get some rest & slog it out the next day!! Still, you live and learn & its all training at the end of the day, but you may not see it like that at the time...

The weather has been excellent running up to Christmas & it looks set to stay good into next year. The forecast shows  thaw for the next 3 to 4 day's & then on by the weekend it is set to start freezing again. Today's snow will have brought harder mixed climbing into condition, and another dump of snow is forecast for tomorrow morning, which will make it hard to travel anywhere off the main roads in the Lakes. It is due to warm up tomorrow afternoon and it will strip the crags & fells of alot of the snow cover (hopefully not all), but hopefully the ice should all stay in place & get harder, better & more tempered as it freezes again. The night before Christmas Eve, Mike Elliot & myself went to have a look at Honister Icefalls on Gantry Crag. They were forming, but needed more time as water was running down the back & pouring over the front, so we soloed a little beck that runs under the mining tracks & the headed for a solo ascent of Sour Milk Gill. This was in general 1 foot thick all the way & gave excellent low grade climbing all the way to the top. Christmas day; Nicola & I headed to Ratherheath Tarn just outside Kendal for an hour of ice skating. Great fun & I was pleased I could still do it, after not being on skates since I was 13, thats 24 years ago... amazing what the muscles & cells remember. Boxing Day; Nicola & I headed over to Hartsop. As we came over Kirkstone, ice was abundant. In the quarry a good section of columns & curtains was formed, Raven Crag was plastered in ice, Kilnshaw Chimney will have a good ice step now formed, the corners above the Kirkstone as you drive over into Patterdale were in excellent condition with fangs/daggers of ice hanging from many rocks & boulders across the fell side. The crag up in the east corrie of Red Screes will be holding good ice as well. We arrived in Hartsop, got geared up, light style with OMM Packs, a 30m Tendon Scrambling rope, a couple of warthogs & pegs, Kahtoola KTS Steels & Microspikes & a Trad Axe for Nic, I used my ultra-light Camp Corsa Axe (not rated for climbing, but surely ok for ascending grade 1 snow slopes).

We walked up to Hayes Water, over the side of the Knott & down into Martindale underneath Rampsgill Head. As we descended the gully into the valley I was watching to see what windslab had formed.As we came further down, I stepped in softer snow, which happened to be windslab & a big plate broke away, fracturing above and around where I was standing. A sign that we all need to be conscious of avalanche conditions which wil form in the Lakes again this winter season.

We then took off our Microspikes & put KTS Steels onto our Inov-8 Roclite 400's, scooted across to the base of the crag & climbed a snow gully weaving up the crag, no particular route, just an introduction to winter climbing for Nicola. We moved together for part of the ascent & I belayed Nicola for confidence on the more exposed parts, using traditional methods of standing on frozen tufts and body belaying. Looking at the fells around, it looks to get better & better for winter ice, as the build-up is happening either lower down, or on natural water course lines. Lets see what the next few days bring, but things look like they will continue with a possible hard base down for skiing next time the snow comes.

Sad News: A man has died at Cautley Spout, Eastern Howgills whilst ice climbing, the report I have read doesn't say much, but it is a stark reminder for us all to excersize great care when climbing ice, although it can feel safe, things can go wrong. Special care should be taken whilst climbing waterfalls, they can fracture, you can fall through. Our sincere condolances go out to the family & friend of this tradgic accident. MWIS Planning Outlook: Planning Outlook: All mountain areas of Britain from Wednesday, 29th December, 2010 Persistent thaw with extensive low cloud and patchy rain until Thursday. Winds will fall light. An area of high pressure will move southwards across Britain over the New Year Weekend, bringing a slight drop in temperature level, but most slopes will remain above freezing point. Most areas dry, but later in the weekend, patchy showery rain may spread into northern Scotland.

Honza and I made the long walk into Pillar, a little further than it had to be!! But its all training. After working far too many days in a row we headed out to Ennerdale Water, parked in the wrong car park, bedded down in the van, had a few ciders with burner going & got some shut eye for the following day. I woke early for morning needs & headed outside, to catch a glimpse of the Lunar Eclipse, then back to bed for more sleep for the on coming day. We woke around 9am, got the burner going, had coffee & breakfast, got the dogs sorted for a cold day in the van & then headed up the east side of Ennerdale water for our long walk in. The day was amazing, beautiful light & sky all the way. We cursed ourselves for parking in the wrong carpark, but you can't get everything right. I guess we got to Pillar around lunchtime, neither of us having a watch meant we were just there, no pressure, no problems. We had hoped to see the crag holding snow, but it was a bit hopefull & when we saw Pillar Rock in all her glory, we were slightly repelled by the dry rock we saw. Thankfully our back-up plan for climbing Waterfall Gully was a good option.

We geared up at the bottom and soloed up to the main icefall pitch. It looked in good conditions, but a little thin, so Honza tied on the sharp end & set off up the ice column of ice on the left of the gully. A few hollow sounding placements brought moans from Honza, but he sailed up it like all was ok.... I should learn.

As Honza made a belay at the top, I put my pack on containing a rope, all our rock gear (which had been brought in hope of a harder line on Pillar itself) & other stuff, weighing in at above 10kg. Of course I didn't think what effect this would have on my forearms as I started climbing, but with-in taking out the first 2 bits of gear, I was majorly pumped & srcabbling aorund too far left in the corner, back footing, not properly on the column itself. Now I understood the groans from Honza before. As I buried my right axe in the hollowest section & my left close by, I cut looose slightly to swing across. Of course the ice gave way & sheared into the waterfall behind, spitting me off & testing out honza's belay above. All was well, bar my over pumped hands from gripping my axes too hard. I pulled back on & shakely climbed the now thinner, hollow ice above, pulling out into the scoop at the top, breathing hard. The rest was following neve above in strips to the top out to an amzing backdrop over Fleetwith Pike, Dalehead & in the background was Blencathra with the moon rising to the right.

All in all a pretty good way to spend the winter solstice, with a Lunar Eclipse in the morning, a battle of a walk in with winter boots on, beautiful ice to climb to the top of Pillar & then walk back out by the light of the Full Moon. You can't really ask for more. Conditions on the fells right now are great for water ice climbing. Where-ever a water course runs down the fell, over rock,  or down a gully, then its a pretty certain bet that it is frozen & ready to climb. Reports of all ice in condition around Thirlmere, Blea Tarn is in excellent condition, Grasmoor & surrounding area's must have good condition & I have friends heading out to Cautley Spout tonight. Myself & Mike Elliot are heading to somewhere tonight, maybe Lower Gantry as we had a brief look when we drove over Honister on Monday night showing the ice there was also in great conditions & the drive down into Buttermere was interesting, snow tires were certainly a help, a little ice on the road adds to the adrenaline. If your into Ice Skating, then pretty much any small tarn you can think of will be good for skating. Ratherheath is always a certain, but I think it is take your pick until after boxing day.  For skiing there maybe area's which are holding old snow from a few weeks ago, but it will be a walk. The Helvellyn Ridge is maybe ski-able with care, but I haven't had reports back as of yet. Really, more snow is needed for good skiing conditions, but if you head east towards Cross Fell, then I am sure you will find something to mess around on. For runners, well the conditions are great, especially if you own a pair of Kahtoola Microspikes, which give great traction on icey/hardpack snowy conditions. I have heard of 2 attempts a a winter Bob Graham, but unfortunately both were unsucsessful. Steve Ashworth set of with a friend, un-supported, on Monday night, to get to the Dunmail Road cross & call it a day due to being behind schedule, his mate carried on, calling for a pickup in Langdale. The other I heard about was Jim Evans (?),  being supported by Ambleside AC, but this was cancelled before the set off. Hopefully someone out there managed it in the excellent weather condtions we have been blessed with. If your out winter walking then enjoy safely. Make sure you have full winter equipment, including axe & crampons (Kahtoola KTS Steels are a great option), capabilty to make hot food, have shelter, a sleeping bag & of course a map & compass. better safe than sorry!! ;-)

Have a Happy Snow Christmas,

The Outdoor Warehouse Team