CREAG MEAGAIDH

Lochain a' Choire, Coire Ardair

The walk-in

Swimming below the Post Face

Post swim warming up

Drier and brighter afternoon

Fine view

Walking out, warming up

The walk-in to Creag Meagaidh along the Coire Ardair path from Aberader is one of absolute pleasure. So little effort for such grand views. A beautiful walk starting with lots of bird and wild life from the start. The trail is very easy angled and well constructed. All the way along the 6km walk you get more and more impressive views of the main feature on Creag Meagaidh - The Post Face. This spectacular crag overlooks a beautiful, tranquil lochan - Lochain a' Choire. Today Karen and I had a wander up to here and for Karen a swim in the icy cold waters.  The freezing level lowered a tad from yesterday and we had light snow showers for much of the day but no winds. We saw no one all day. Just two cars parked at Aberader. There is just a thin coating of snow/ice on the face. It's a slow start but steady start to winter. Hopefully it will stay cold and more snowfall to come.

WINTER NAVIGATION COURSE

No.1 Winter Skill

Good visibility 

Firm snow/ice for step cutting 

Even better visibility 

Spot the climbers

View of the day

Jacob's Ladder 

Summit selfie

Wind scoured areas

Danni sporting a frozen tail

Crampon time

Return client, Danni was out with me today on a 1 Day Winter Navigation Course. It was mild and damp first thing this morning but by mid morning there wasn't much precipitation. The high winds from yesterday had also eased right back to very light by mid-day. There is a thin coating of snow above 1000m on the Cairngorm plateau.  Some of which has gone through a melt /freeze cycle. These areas were great for Danni to get some step cutting practise in. On the tops we had crampons on. Some water ice about. Poor visibility all day from around 900m up. Ideal conditions for Navigation.  We only saw one other walker who seemed to be unsure of her location, trying to fathom it out on a mobile phone.  A few climbers about but generally it was very quiet for a winter Saturday. Danni did brilliant and spot on with all her bearings.

WINTER SAFETY TALK & CALENDARS

Last week I gave my very first Winter Safety Talk at the Cotswold Outdoors store in Livingstone. My first venture into the world of public speaking on Scottish Winter Safety. I've always had the feeling that you should only be advising folk when you've amassed a fair amount of experience.  That goes with anything in life! So after 30 odd years of venturing into winter mountains did I feel it was the right time. 20 odd folk turned up and thanks for coming along. Big thanks to Andrew, store manager who facilitated the evening and massive thanks to Chris who organized catering at half time. A grand feed of fresh soup, sandwiches, cakes, teas & coffee! Not many lectures thrown that in! There was a donation to Scottish Mountain Rescue. I forgot to take any photos.
Meantime this week has thrown up another mix of cold then warm spells.  Snow's back again today along with storm forces winds. You don't get good snow cover without the odd blizzard!
Last call for Calendars.  Just 12 left if you're still looking for Christmas gifts. £12 including P&P.

Karen braving the icy Loch Morlich yesterday 

A good spread at my Safety Talk on Tuesday 

AVALANCE AWARENESS, STEEP GROUND & NAVIGATION

Robbie enjoying another winter day

Coire an Lochain

Mixed ground for the boys

Ice forming nicely

A cloud filled Strathspey

Great conditions

Gearing up for the steep ground

Not many folk out today

Love this area

Worth checking your compass!

Lairig Ghru

Beautiful afternoon light again

Cloudscapes

Heading down

Cairngorm plateau

Excellent snow cover

The guys navigating

Navigation with the correct compass

Day 2 of Robbies & Rob's Winter Course today. We walked into a very quiet Coire an Lochain. Today's main activities were steep ground, avalanche awareness and assessment and some navigation towards the end of the day. The weather forecasts were very uncertain on the run up to today. What we actually got was a very nice day, no winds, no precipitation and some good cold temperatures. The freezing level was probably around 900m but it had been lower overnight. There were areas of neve, iced up rocks and some wind slab. The wind slab was easily avoided. Throughout our journey we discussed avalanches and how to assess the snow conditions. We headed up into an area I love, to the right of the main climbing crags. The turf lower down wasn't frozen but some excellent icy sections. There was plenty of mountain hare activity today. one wee guy kept following us up the hill. On the plateau we had a couple of hours of winter navigation. Although the conditions were benign. One of the guy's compasses had actually developed reverse polarity. Good he found out here and not when it was needed in anger! Always keep your electronic gadgets away from your compass and its worth giving it a quick check every time you head out. It was a beautiful afternoon with more wonderful cloudscapes.
A great couple of days with these guys and finished off in the Winking Owl for a pint of two. Top day.

2 DAY WINTER SKILLS COURSE

Robbie on the ridge

Rob with a good axe placement

The guys on top

Great cloudscapes

Cairn Gorm & Coire an t-Sneachda

On the ridge

The Flat Iron

Sneachda

More ridge fun

Rob enjoying his first taste of winter

Cloudscapes

teetering

Lunchtime

Top of Jacob's Ladder

Cairn Gorm

December and my winter season is well under way now. The first group winter course today. Rob and Robbie are on a 2 day introduction to winter. Like all my courses they are bespoke and with a small group we always try and get many 'skills' into the day. Considering this was the first time out on winter Scottish mountains the guys progressed quickly with bags of confidence. We headed into Coire an t-Sneachda and to the Flat Iron area. Ice has formed here so a good place for getting some crampon techniques in. We also covered cutting steps, am essential and neglected skill in winter. After lunch we headed up to the Fiacaill Coire Sneachda ridge. he snow conditions were variable, some soft wind slab, ice, refrozen snow up to the ridge line. Same conditions along the Fiacaill. The guys loving it and by early afternoon we had some lovely cloud formations and some sunshine. Hardly any wind so very pleasant. A top day out and great to see the return of cold conditions with summit temps around -2 C. Some fresh snowfall tomorrow.