Of the three options on offer our man picked the most challenging, no surprises there then! He ruled out the battling up a friendly low-level hill in the stormy weather, spurned the idea of sampling the delights of the Ice Factors indoor ice wall and opted for an ascent of the Zig Zags in heavy rain and strong gusty winds to try to hone his rope skills and brush up on some mountain navigation.

Maps and compasses were out in force today but Gareth has a good grasp of summer navigation so I was not teaching techniques from scratch but more ‘winterising’ existing skills that Gareth has. The main focus was contour interpretation and trying to read the ground from its shape. After getting used to the subtleties of a 1:50000 map he was confidently picking out features around us and having a good stab at trying to pin point our location from small wiggles and indentations on the brown lines on the map.

It is quite common for people to look at our chosen route from the walk-in and exclaim ‘are we going up there’, looking at it face on it does seem a bit steep and unlikely, even the unflappable trainee marine asked the same question. Once we got closer and he could see the line more clearly his usual confidence reasserted itself. The same as yesterday we spent some time repeating previous techniques to make sure they were firmly bedded into the memory banks and also introduced a smattering of new skills. Multi point anchors were tackled along with changing rope systems for different terrains. Gareth was also using wires and cams to build his own belays, a bit like packing your own parachute. The weather had taken a turn for the worse, I had already gone through two changes of gloves and we had not had lunch yet, but we carried on pitching the steeper sections and moving together on the easier ground. As we gained height the gale force winds were starting to having a detrimental impact so we decided to beat a hasty retreat and abseiled back down the line.

It would have been great to have had three blue sky, hard ice days out but Gareth’s robust attitude to the weather, (an essential quality if you want to get out regularly in the mountains) allowed us to have three very full days out in the spectacular Scottish scenery. The temperatures dropped at the end of the day and with all the snow starting to firm up again hopefully Gareth will be able to get up soon and be able to put it all into practice.

Gareth and I had a grand day out in Corrie nan Lochan today. He had booked on for private guiding and some winter climbing after getting the snow and ice bug from a JG alpine course last year. As ever the forecast dictated our objectives and we bypassed the normal lead in as we were climbing 1 to 1 and Monday looked like being the best of Gareth’s 3 days. His Alpine experience allowed me to strap him straight onto a route, the lack of rope knowledge was cancelled out by his sound footwork and cramponing (Mac obviously did a good job with him in the alps). Thrown in at the deep end but as you would expect from someone training to be a TA marine he definitely swam not sank, organised and slick with his personal management we were in danger of being on our chosen route first and the knee deep fresh snow was not going to make getting there pleasant. Enter the tactical faff moment, this was genuine as we had a bit of fun trying to uncoil the rope which was doing its best to resemble a rattlesnakes tea party. By the time we had dealt with the offending article another team was blazing a nice trail to the base of Dorsal Arete, phew close one!

Gareth was not fazed by the Scottish weather nor intimidated by the spectacular rock architecture of the corrie and we were soon tied on heading up onto the route. Despite not having done much rope work before the marine took to it like a duck to water. Tying in and belaying posed no problems and he had adjusting clove hitches sorted on the first go. Using two ice axes was another first for him but he was soon swinging away happily and I was struggling to take the rope in fast enough.

There was lots of new skills to be learned and mastered today but by the third pitch we were moving really well with change overs at belays all going very smoothly. In no time at all we were hanging out at the base of the Dorsal fin itself, I gave the options of the slightly easier traverse left or the more spectacular and harder pitch over the fin itself. Always up for a challenge Gareth opted for the more exciting choice and over the fin we went. It proved to be more entertaining than normal due to the snow conditions but after dangling footless from his ice axes Gareth managed to sort his feet out and finish in fine style.

Having never climbed in Scotland Gareth elected to go up to the summit to bag his first munro height UK mountain (unfortunately it’s not in the table as its too close to Bidean). After doing most of the route in the mist our efforts were rewarded as the clouds started to part and fantastic views appeared, the icing on the cake.

Jagged Globe Scotland courses got under way today with an enjoyable and useful, brilliant weather day on Aonach Mor. First up we had everyone getting their snow legs back on the bullet hard neve, then crampon work and, as everyone wanted to focus on skills to climb independently in future, we started to look at the basics of moving and belaying on steeper snow, plus some stance management. The weather forecast, which had been much worse for the rest of the week, has improved and everyone is looking forward to the next few days.

Of the 63 feedback forms we received, when asked “Please grade the quality of the instruction overall”, 58 people graded the instruction ’5′ (Excellent), 4 people graded it ’4′ (Good) and 1 person graded it ’3′ (Average).

Dates for winter 2012 are now on-line and for a short while, prices are being held. Prices for 2012 will be increased very soon, so book now to make a saving.

Mark digging and assessing the snow pack.

JG instructor Sandy unraveling the complexities of snow science.

After the welcome ride in the gondola we exited onto a relatively pleasant mountain environment with none of the high forecasted winds. After looking at the snow pack on the way up and the team making their own call on whether they should travel on it or not we then headed for some ice axe arrest practise. This ended up being quite fast and exciting but we hammered home the message that it will be extremely fast and very serious if it ever happens for real. The team were quick learners and were looking very proficient at the end of the morning.

Sandy checking people were holding tight to their ice axes.

Mark demonstrating excellent technique,

After lots of sliding and stopping we had a quick bite to eat then moved onto the nuts and bolts of using a harness and rope in the mountains, this was new to most and very important for some as they are off on expeditions to the greater ranges where some of these skills will be needed. A great place t for hem to learn first hand and the team threw themselves into the digging, knot tying, abseiling and belaying with enthusiasm. This kept us busy till the end of the day and but luckily we had a quick walk back to the gondola and then to base for a very well deserved cup of tea and some very nice highland shortbread.

Stu tying the knot with Steph his fiance.

Nick lowering Stu, under Sandy's ever watchful gaze, on a buried axe and bucket seat belay.

Steph abseiling off a bunch of water molecules.