At long last the dry Summer is giving way to damp Autumn so Mike and I headed east to find drier conditions in the Cairngorms. Coire an Lochan was not looking too savage so we went to climb Savage Slit for a little extra spice. The damp, slimy, cold classic chimney climbing certainly delivered a bit of a battle at times!

Chimney climbing is a skill on its own and is not so popular these days. It can be very strenuous to gain very little upward progress but at least you get some rests. Face climbing is two dimensional but chimney climbing is in three dimensions. The holds are often behind you or somewhere over your shoulder. This was Mike's first proper chimney and possibly his last! However the fun is often felt in retrospect if not at the time so we might sneak in a few chimneys in the future. It's good to get to grips with a climb that fights back sometimes!

What a fantastic day to climb Tower Ridge. Adam and Louise enjoyed the CMD Arete this week and previously went round the Snowdon Horseshoe, Tryfan and a few other scrambles. So they were ready for the next step and Tower Ridge is the perfect objective, especially on such a good day.

The crags are looking very dry with little rain over the last couple of weeks at least. The rock on Tower Ridge was perfect and it warm in the sunshine too. Autumn is not far away though and the sun stayed low over the summit with little reaching down on to Tower Ridge.

Louise and Adam found the climb to be tough but quite manageable. The exposure is what makes Tower Ridge so good; the climbing is quite reasonable and without the airiness it would be a breeze. Being able to do the climbing in that situation takes lots of focus! Adam and Louise did it all very well and enjoyed every minute.

This summer has not been a classic season in the Alps. Continually unsettled weather with frequent snowfall has made it quite challenging to get any climbing done at all. So it was with this in mind that I met up with John and Peter for our annual two week Alpine hit.

The first thing we did was quite the regular venues of the Vallais, Oberland and Mont Blanc ranges for the Ecrins. Further south and with better weather generally, these mountains were reported to be giving good climbing under the snowier conditions. We were very glad to make this move. The extra four hours driving went well enough and the weather was better but still far from perfect. What we did find though was a very warm welcome and particularly helpful locals.

The story of our trip will appear on the Jottnar Blog very soon but in the meantime here are some images to give a flavour of the trip.

It's all about scale. Climbing mountains is rewarding because they are big. The bigger the better; the more challenging and the more rewarding. Since Ben Nevis is the biggest mountain in the UK thousands of people climb it every year. There are of course very many fine peaks of more modest stature, but the biggest peaks always seem to hold the greatest draw.

However, when you get onto the climb, it comes down to the small details. Every climb starts with a single step. We break down the climb into small sections which themselves break down into smaller parts. We depend on tiny details such as the zips on our jackets and the detailed curves of contours on the map. Every step depends on the rock and the friction. Every hand hold connects us to the mountain.

The thing is, the more we know about the details, the more we appreciate the whole experience. The more we focus on the very small things, the more the big things come to life.

Two weeks ago we finished working on the Ben Nevis North Face Survey. This was the most comprehensive and logistically challenging survey of a Scottish mountain ever achieved and it would not have been possible without the support, professional expertise and vision of the following organisations and individuals:

Funding for the project was kindly provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and The Highland Council (THC). The technical and logistical challenges of the survey would not have been met without the generous support of equipment manufacturer Mammut and the collaboration of Midland Valley Exploration.

Central to the survey are Ben Nevis’ two landowners, Rio Tinto Alcan and the John Muir Trust, both of whom must be acknowledged for their ongoing support of this project and the Nevis Landscape Partnership. Particular recognition is deserving of Fran Lockhart, Sarah Lewis and Alison Austin of the John Muir Trust, and Jim Beattie of Rio Tinto Alcan.

The details of what we found are in the Project Report : Phase One here. We found saxifrages never before seen on Ben Nevis and many good size populations of what we thought were very rare plants. We found geological data that challenges the current model for the formation of Ben Nevis which will need to be updated now as a result. With two more years of the survey to come we will learn even more about Ben Nevis which will enrich every ascent.

Working on the survey was much more than just a scientific project though. We spent two weeks with specialist botanists and geologists whose knowledge was astounding. They also seemed to appreciate our skills and experience as mountaineers. There was a feeling of working together towards a common goal, to learn more about the details of Ben Nevis, while sharing in the wonder of working in such a big place. It was great to know that we all had much the same appreciation for Ben Nevis and, now we know more about each others' areas of expertise, we will all appreciate it even more.