ICE AXE & CRAMPONS, COLD & WIND

Fiacaill 'a Coire An t- Sneachda

Fiacaill Buttress

Calm (ish) on the ridge this morning

Dawn and moon

Cold morning

Cornices forming, Cairn Lochan

High winds, windblown snow by mid day

It was -3 C in Aviemore this morning. A clear night with temperatures dropping again. Up on the Cairngorms it was maybe colder. A lovely early morning start before the next Atlantic weather front arrived later in the day. I took a wander up into Coire an t-Sneachda. There were a few climbers heading up on Alladins Buttress. I headed below the Fiacaill Buttress and onto the Fiacaill An Coire Sneachda ridge. There are some that say that winter hillwalking soon becomes mountaineering as soon as the ice axe and crampons comes out to play. Today then must have been a mountaineering day then as they were out for the ascent up the coire and along the ridge. First time this season for the ironmongery. There wasn't much ice about but any bare ground was frozen, no rime on the rocks. By 10am the wind had already picked up and by the time I got off the ridge and on the plateau it had increased to around 50mph. Lots of snow being blown into the corries, quite atmospheric. Cornices were starting to form in the gullies on Cairn Lochan. By the time I headed down the hill the wind seemed to have increased further. Nice winter morning foray and great to see real winter conditions.

MORE SNOW, BEN MACDUI

Cairn Toul, Sgor an Lochan Uaine & Braeriach

Cairn Gorm from Sneachda

Loch Avon Basin

Cairn Gorm rom Macdui

Coire Domhain

Lairig Ghru & Braeriach plateau

Ben Macdui & Cairngorm plateau

Coire an Lchain

Dusk, Loch Morlich

Coire Bhrochain, Braeriach

Another dusting of overnight snow across the Highlands. The Northern and Eastern Cairngorms have fresh snow down to about 800m this morning. It was well below freezing on the tops. I took a wander up to Ben Macdui. The weather front from last night had quickly passed through by this morning and by the time I reached the plateau the tops were clear and some blue skies on the horizon to the west. Timed nicely for the sun to break through as I reached the summit of Ben Macdui. Not as windy as previous days so very pleasant on the tops. The view from just west of Ben Macdui's summit is one of the finest in The Cairngorms. The Cairn Toul - Braeriach plateau and Lairig Ghru set out before you in a massive area. In the afternoon I headed back via the lip of the Loch Avon Basin and then The Northern Corries. There seems to be more snow here than over in the corries of Breariach. The snow, of course, isn't consolidated and quite soft in most places. There is some ice on north aspects and some frozen ground. Beautiful late afternoon light as the sun broke through the clouds again and a fab sunset.

WINTER HAS ARRIVED

Cairn Gorm and Ben Macdui

Northern Corries

Beinn Mheadhoin

Coire Raibert

Beinn Mheadoin and Loch Avon

Loch Avon, Ben Macdui

Cain Gorm

Cairn Gorm plateau

 Temperatures dropped again overnight along with more snow showers. This morning there was a few more cm's on the Cairngorm Mountains. More snow fell over on the west coast hills by the looks of it. Karen and I had a wee afternoon wander up Windy Rige and onto Cairn Gorm summit. High windchill on the tops. The cloud broke up in the afternoon and some nice views. We escaped the crowds on Cairn Gorm and headed down toward Loch Avon. Lovely late afternoon light. It really felt like a winter day today. Frozen ground, rime ice, snow down to 700m and a cold wind. Brilliant! Looks like a bit milder tomorrow but snow showers forecast through out next week. Bring it on!

DUSTING OF SNOW IN THE CAIRNGORMS

Dusting of snow on Fiacaill Ridge and plateau

Cairngorm plateau

Fiacaill 'a Coire Sneachda

Coire an Lochain

Sun and snow showers

The Vent

Clear skies in the morning

Reindeer out for Christmas

The temperatures had dropped to single digits and there was some precipitation overnight in The Cairngorms. It was a lovely clear skies morning in Aviemore and up on the hill looked good. I took a wander into Coire an t-Sneachda and up onto the Fiacaill of Coire Sneachda. Just a touch of fresh snow abover1000m, only a sprinkling really. There were a few icy spots on the rocky ridge to the plateau but these could be avoided. At the top a big snow shower came over and sprinkled some more over the tops. The sun came out again and everything was looking lovely. A large group of students looked like they were heading across to Cairn Lochan, then saw me and changed their route to head down the Fiacaill. One of the group (the leader?) then asked a series of questions about getting down the ridge. I think some forward planning and a map may have helped them out. There was beautiful sunny spell mixed with some more light snow showers into the afternoon. A nice wintry day, finished off with Christmas songs blasting out of the cafe across he Coire Cas carpark along with the Reindeer on show. Christmas has come early to the Cairngorms it seems. We haven't even done the bonfire and fireworks thing yet. A very surreal day at times but generally a fab day and nice to see the snow. More forecast into tomorrow. The west may well have had a lot more snow too. Winter coming.

LIATHACH TRAVERSE IN STUNNING WEATHER

Liathach ridge

Claire & Robin with the Classic View of Liathach

The traverse of Liathach is one of the finest ridge walks/scrambles on the planet and my second favourite mountain. When a one day fine weather window comes along and you get two keen folk (and their dog) up for a spectacular day out then you're on to a memorable day in The mountains. I persuaded Robin and Claire that Liathach is a must do mountain. Robin has just 50 Munros left before completion with Claire a few more to catch up on his tally. They hadn't climbed any of the Munros in the Torridon area.  Robin also has just 50 Corbetts to tick off (mountains between 2500-3000ft).
They had just had a rough weather day on the Wednesday up on a Corbett in the Strathfarrer area. In the afternoon we met up and headed NW. It was raining when we arrived in the glen so a pint in the Torridon Lodge was a good excuse to get out of the rain. The campsite was deserted when we arrived, of course. We trusted the weather forecast which stated clear skies for the following day. It was!

Sparkling early morning light on the approach to the ridge

Stunning early morning light as we set off up the steep slopes and onto the ridge line for our grand traverse. It takes approx 2 hours to get onto the ridge and up to the Eastern summit of Stuc a' Choire Dhubh Bhig. There are numerous 'Munro Tops' along the ridge, this being one of them. It's a shame not to visit this summit as it gives one of the classic views of the Liathach ridge and Beinn Eighe to the east. Unfortunately  Robin was suffering with a niggling knee injury. We had the dog to think about too. Coupled with the fact of lifting a small dog over some of the scrambling, Robin made a sensible decision to head down the hill.

First view from the ridge, Beinn Eighe & Flowerdale Forest

The first Munro summit, Spidean a' Choire Liath

So it was just Claire and myself to continue. The roller coaster traverse now begins. The traverse of Liathach involves a 7km ridge line with a section of scrambling over some spectacular Torridonian sandstone pinnacles, Am Fasarinen. Before this airy scrambling there are two minor tops to walk along before reaching the first Munro of Spidean a' Choire Liath. We were treated to wonderful clear views throughout. To the North and West lies The Flowerdale Forest. These smaller mountains are equally spectacular and stunning view points from their tops. The bigger hills that dominant the landscape are the Munro massifs of  Beinn Alligin and Beinn Eighe.

A Brocken Spectre from the summit

Beinn Alligin and Beinn Dearg from the descent off Spidean

We were treated to a Brocken Spectre from the summit. Just a lonely wisp of cloud floating by to give us this spectacle and the only bit of cloud we had all day! The low overnight temperatures had left a wee bit of frost on the summit slopes of Spidean so a bit of care on the icy quartzite rocks was needed.  The descent off the summit drops down to the start of the fun bit, Am Fasarinen. This section of the ridge gives some sensational scrambling at around Grade 2 if taken direct. Claire has plenty of experience with rock climbing and Via Ferrata so she breezed along on this. There is a by-pass path much lower down which I would definitely not recommend. It traverses on steep, often loose ground and has become quite eroded over the years, especially around the numerous gullies. Of course you miss all the fun too!

First scrambling section

Down as well as up!

More up

More down

Steep descents on fabulous Torridonian Sandstone

The views are good too!

It just keeps on coming!

In between these sections of pinnacles there are moments to relax and walk! We were savouring the clarity of light, hardly any breeze and just stunning views. Today you could pic-nic on the pinnacles. There was only 4 other people we saw on the mountain. Of course November means shorter daylight hours. Setting off a bit earlier and having a good steady pace means you can still enjoy the odd rest stop. It's normally a 7-8 hour day.

The final pinnacle

The final down climb

Am Fasarinen and Glen Torridon

After Am Fasarinen it's just a simple stroll up to the second Munro, Mullach an Rathain. The views from this 1023m summit are outstanding. You geat an amazing view 1000m below to Loch Torridon with Beinn Alligin and a distant Skye Cuillin as clear as a bell.

The view from Mullach an Rathain

Northern Pinnacles of Liathach, Spidean a Choire Liath & Beinn Eighe

There are plenty of gullies too!

The initial descent is a path in steep scree. The long walk down has been made much nicer over the last few years with a well made, pitched path in the upper reaches of the Toll Ban all the way to Glen Torridon. There was a terrific moon on the drive back home. Brilliant day out and next time Robin will be there! Second finest mountain on the planet. Next up An Teallach!
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