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| Alpine conditions, with a wind |
Another bright and breezy day in the Cairngorms. Day 2 for Gavin & pals on their winter skills course with TarmachanMountaineering. Today we headed into a strong headwind in Coire an t-sneachda.
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| Fiacaill Buttress |
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| Brilliant snow |
Leaving a very windy Coire Cas carpark it was a sure bet it would be another day tussling with a gale in the mountains. The walk into the coire was a struggle but by the lochans it was fine.
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| Less busy on the cliffs |
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| Far calmer at the Eastern end of the coire |
It was a lot less windy at the Eastern end of the coire so we gained the plateau up to Windy Col from there. The snow was superb after overnight freeze of the snowpack.
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| Firm snow |
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| Sun and snow |
Windy Col and the slopes up to it were well sheltered. We took a wander up to Cairn Gorm summit (5th time this week) as some cloud drifted in. It was breezy again with a high windchill. This was perfect a spot for some Navigation. We made our way to Ciste Mhearad and then eventually to Coire Cas. We finished up with some axe arresting in Coire Cas to end a top 2 days.
Good luck to the guys who came out with me to gain essential winter skills for a trip up the 4000m summit of Gran Paradiso in the Alps this summer. The skills learned here in our breezy and challenging Cairngorms is above and beyond requirements for many Alpine glacial crossings.
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