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.