4 DAY WINTER COURSE

Mick enjoying the Fiacaill Ridge

This is fun! High up on the Fiacaill Coire Sneachda

Coire Sneachda

Goat Track

Fiacaill Buttress

Coire an t-Sneachda & Cairn Gorm

Rime Ice a plenty

More Fiacaill fun

Climbers on Fiacaill Buttress

Alladin's Buttress

A fine day out!

Mick is out with me for a 4 day course this week. He's already got some winter experience in The Lake District and Snowdonia so he is hoping to build on this. Going at your own pace on a bespoke, tailored course are the big pluses of hiring an instructor on a one to one basis. Mick already has lots of confidence so we quickly got onto some exciting ground. We headed into Coire an t-Sneachda. The route into the coire is well trodden so an easy stroll in. It was a fine morning with light winds and sunny skies. We worked across the coire and under the Fiacaill Buttress to gain the notch on the Fiacaill a' Coire Sneachda. There was some nice, icy ground and refrozen snow high up to give Mick some experience in front pointing on the steeper slopes. Most of the snow is still unconsolidated. Up on the ridge the rocks are well rimed with deep banks of snow on the traverse under the crest. We had the place to ourselves. Mick loving every minute of the route up onto the plateau. The winds picked up by early afternoon with plenty of spindrift blowing about. A high windchill on the plateau. Plenty of folk out climbing in the coire. A grand day to be out.
A busy period for me with 11 days of work on the trot. Looking like some great winter conditions on the run up to the Christmas period.