FIACAILL RIDGE, WINTER WET PANTS DAY

Davey heading back up the Fiacaill with me

Still definitely winter on the Fiacaill Ridge

Ice and snow, crampons today

More ice and more snow

I'm safe!

Jacobs Ladder

Still large areas of snow on Cairngorm plateau

Cracks from warming

Lots of wonderful ice forms today

Yet again we have had 4 proper winter days with more snow fall and more big winds with cold temperatures and snow down to low levels. Followed by you know what! Another warmish spell yesterday with rain falling on the tops. Today it was hovering around zero degrees on the Cairngorm plateau. The cloud was shrouding the summits this morning with blue skies over the Strath. I had a quick late morning  blast up onto the Fiacaill Ridge to see how things are looking. By this point last winter I had already made many traverses along here in wonderful full on winter conditions. Not many this season as there really hasn't been much build up of snow at all. But it was a pleasant surprise to see ice clinging on along the rocks & turf with some icy snow higher up. A Cairngorm breeze was blowing today but not too bad, although a pair of goggles came out of the pack near the top as the rain turned to sleet/hail.Just before the plateau a chap was descending down the ridge rather gingerly with no crampons. The poor guy (Davey) thought it was an easy descent off the hill and turned out he was actually 'misplaced', 'navigationaly cahllenged' or something similar. So I done my good deed for the day and helped him back along the plateau to 1141m and safely down off the hill. It was a wet and miserable scene along the plateau but great fun and definitely a winter feel to things. Down at the car park it was another world: dry, no clouds, no wind. Davey was quite happy to be back down at his car with no big epic!