Further team hotshot pics and new Eighe route info

Team hotshot should be queuing for flights about now. They finished off their trip with a classic on the Ben, Ines and Hans on North East Buttress and Audrey and Matt on Minus Three Gully. On Friday, our second day at Beinn Eighe, Audrey, Matt and Simon did Poachers Fall on Liathach. Ines was desperate to do a new route so we set the alarm for 3.20am and dragged ourselves back up and over Beinn Eighe's summit. After how wintery it had been on the West Central Wall I thought the Eastern walls would be more wintery than they were. Checking out three or four of my new route possibilities only yielded bare rock. Then Ines spotted a neat looking line just left of Far East Gully, which had a well "whited" lower section although a little leaner up high. Never the less it proved a fun 2 pitch route perhaps useful for parties who fail early on the Far East wall mega-projects. We called it Little Nipper unless Ines comes up with a better name.

All in all a great week. Ines was talking about how she thinks trad protected mixed climbing could be the future for her winters, while Matt was recognising the possibilities for Scottish style stuff at previously untouched cliffs back in Quebec. I'll probably pull together a full report for Climb Mag and put more photos on Simon's site www.bigtreecampervans.com

In the mean time here's a few more pics and a description of little Nipper
Sunrise on Thursday
Me on pitch 1 of Little Nipper (It starts up the diagonal groove - poor but essential ice)

Ines starting up pitch 2 of little Nipper

Ines on pitch 3 of Blood Sweat and Frozen Tears

Post route celebration for Ines and Audrey
Brocken Spectre on Eighe's summit

Beinn Eighe Far East Wall

Little Nipper 60m VI,8

1. 30m Boldly climb the shallow right facing groove 5m left of Far East Gully to ledges and then the steep crack to belay below a prominent corner with a crack in its left wall.

2. 30m Climb the corner and then cracks trending slightly left to easier ground.

F.a Ian Parnell, Ines Papert 19th February 2010