Could we be the last generation to experience Scottish mountains in full winter nick?
The days of Scottish winter climbing are numbered according
to Scottish mountaineer Neil Smith - below - one of the World
Wildlife Fund's eight climate witnesses.
'I would hate to see Scottish ice climbing becoming confined to
the history books,' says Neil. 'It would be such a shame, but it
looks like a real possibility and within a relatively short time
period.'
Over the past three decades, Neil's watched the disappearance of
frozen, low-level water falls, something that he's not seen since the
cold winter of 1986 when the likes of Greymares Tail and The Falls of
Glomach froze solid to give alpine-style waterfall ice climbing.
Even worse, since the mid-90s, the warmer winters have created a
situation where lower mountains between 2500 and 3500 feet in height
have 'yielded very little ice climbing'.
Previously popular classic ice climbs now rarely come into
condition. When snow does fall, says Neil, it no sooner freezes than
exceptionally mild weather arrives and strips the mountain bare again.
In the past, Scottish winter routes have depended on a pattern of
heavy snow falls followed by a partial thaw and then refreezing
leading to the draining, thawing snow freezing and becoming neve or
ice.
'More often now', he says. 'I find myself rock climbing on the
Isle of Skye soaking up the sun in February! But I would rather
be ice climbing.'
In recent winters, the only reliable Scottish winter climbing has
been found on the higher mountains like the North Face of Ben Nevis
and the high corries of the Cairngorms, yet even here, says Neil,
many routes over the winter of 2006/7 never formed even though some
were in perfect condition.
Sad and sobering stuff - could we really be the last generation to
experience the epic mix of weather, sheer gnarliness and fierce
beauty of the Scottish mountains in proper winter nick?
You can read Neil's full report at www.panda.org
and find out more about other WWF climate witnesses here.
