Last Scottish Fling

Ten days ago i made my last trip up north to Scotland for this winter. Along with employees of Outdoor Research in the US who had come over from Seattle to see what all this scottish winter business is about, and the guys from the Mountain Boot Company in the UK, we spent 3 very soggy but fun days up on the Ben, staying in the CIC hut, which managed to keep its roof on for the duration of our stay.
     On the first day we caught what might have been (but hopefully not) the last decent Scottish conditions in a while, and i had a great day climbing with Alex Kutches, the president of Outdoor Research, and Glyn Padget, sales director for OR in the North of england. We climbed Comb Gully Buttress in alpine conditions. I climbed this route years ago with one of my original climbing partners, and so the day was also a little nostalgic for myself.
        The next couple of days were soggy to say the least, but i think the Americans left having had a "good" experience.

Alex Kutches, OR president, beginning to understand what is required of clothes in Scotland. Credit- Rich Bentley

As i say, that's Scotland over for me this year, but i had some great little trips with good friends and did some decent routes. I'm in Chamonix now, trying to sort myself out; find a new place to live, train, and hopefully climb some big stuff. And even start to think about big big stuff, a trip to Pakistan in the summer is starting to take shape.