WE WON'T LET THE WIND SPOIL OUR FUN!

Bracing against the wind!

Sunny skies

Tom tumbling in the sun

Let te digging begin

How big can we make this snowshelter guys?

Scott having fun making the bed

Braceing against te wind!

Descending deep, soft snow

Comfy snowhole

Tom enjoying it all

Another day of high winds but it was mostly a dry day  in The Cairngorms, unlike the west today which I think got a soaking. It was very mild but plenty of snow still and we even found some ice  in Coire an t-sneachda. Neil, Scott and Tom originally booked to go out on a snow hole weekend with me but with the temperatures well above freezing and gales on the summits our plans had to change. So instead we constructed a snow shelter but only had lunch in it, no overnighter. The guys gained the knowledge and experience to go off on their own at a later date an spend the night out, when the weather behaves itself. After we had dug ourselves our snow hole the guys soon observed how it melts and drips very quickly in the high temps. They would have had their own ensuite shower if we had stayed overnight. This was Tom's first time out in winter so earlier in the day we went through the basic winter skills with axe and boot work and a few slides which Tom was eager to do on as steep a slope as we could find. In the afternoon we ventured further into the corrie in search of some ice to get the crampons out and get Tom moving about on the ice. We found some! Still cold enough below the Fiacaill Buttress for the ice to hang on, though it was softening up and some water running under it. We pushed on half way up  Point Five gully which is looking nice with plenty of snow and well filled in. At this point we were bombarded with wind blown gravel and spindrift. Time to head down! Great fun and lots of skills packed into the day, we didn't let the winds spoil our fun in the snow! Another deserted Coire Cas carpark when we got back although there were a few hardy folk climbing in Sneachda but it was one of the quietest Saturdays I've ever experienced in the corrie!