LOOKING & FEELING MORE LIKE WINTER!

Jacob's Ladder

Point Five on the left & Fiacaill Buttress on the right

Looking up Point Five, fab neve

Coire an Lochain

Coire an Lochain

A much colder day again with a frost down at Aviemore and sunshine this morning. Out on the Cairngorms there was much rime ice above 1000m and a windchill so making it feel and looking more like mid January! I had a wander into Coire an t-sneachda and decided on going up the wee gully known as Point Five Gully, just to the right of The Goat Track. There is still much snow in these areas as well as the easier gullies, Jacobs Ladder is complete but Aladdin's Couloir looks broken and thin in places. The snow was bomber and fantastic for cramponing, there is just a wee bit of broken ground near the top of Point Five which made it a bit awkward than usual. Up on the plateau plenty of rime ice. Quite a few folk climbing in Coire an Lochain and there seemed to be plenty of skiing judging by the half full car park. Only a very faint snow shower or two today but looks like the band of snow crossing the Scotland tomorrow will extend right across the Highlands so should be a fair amount of snow on the hills by tomorrow evening. Normal service resumed at last!

COLD AND SUNNY

The weather forecast was for another cold day but cloudy, by mid morning it was clear that we were in store for a lovely sunny afternoon. I had a bike ride up to Loch Einich with cracking views of Sgurr Gaoith and Braeriach. There is still some interesting 'white' ways up onto the mountains, if you use your imagination and are prepared to take more obscure ways to get up the hills you can be sure to be cramponing up some excellent snow conditions at the moment. Weather forecasts are saying for some fresh snowfall next few days, especially in The Cairngorms. We'll just have to wait and see how much falls from the skies. It's beautiful weather at the moment so at least you can enjoy light winds, blue skies and sunshine.

BELOW FREEZING-AT LAST

Looking over to Hells Lum Crag from Top of Pinnacle Gully

Top of Pinnacle Gully

Ice at last!

Still plenty snow for a good snow shelter

The ptarmigan are looking for snow too

Coire an Lochain

Finally it was below freezing point on the hill, what a relief after several very warm days leading to rapid snow loss. Everything that is white was frozen solid today as I took a wander over the Cairngorm-Macdui plateau to check out what is left and also to have a nosey at some snow hole locations for up coming snow hole courses. I headed over to the Feithe Buidhe area and then across to the top of the Shelter Stone crag. Just as I was looking down Castle Gates and Pinnacle gullies thinking they looked quite broken and interesting, someone popped up out of Pinnacle Gully and confirmed this was the case! Plenty of snow in the usual locations for snow holes and if you poke around a bit there is plenty of snow for playing about in. Staying cold for foreseeable future, just need a day or two of blizzards please!

COOLER - SLIGHTLY

Looking down the eastern side of Sgurr Gaoith

The western slopes

I had a quick bike ride up Glen Feshie and a dash onto Sgurr Gaoith today to see how much snow is remaining after several days of tropical weather. As expected there was hardly any on the western slopes of the hill with just a few big patches remaining in hollows and the deeper burns. I couldn' really see how much was lying down the steeper eastern crags and buttresses with all the cloud that hung about on the tops today. It was still very mild but did seem to be a bit cooler this afternoon, having to put gloves on at the top. There was a few light rain showers and it almost felt like it was turning to sleet at the summit-not quite! The sun came out late afternoon and clearer skies, a lovely cycle back down the glen. Things are looking up with clear skies and a drop in temperatures next few days, hopefully some snowfall too.

THE COULOIR, COIRE AN LOCHAIN

Coire an Lochain

The Couloir on the left hand side

Looking down The Couloir

The pinnacle at the top

Looking across to Macdui and Braeriach

Climbers at the top of Jacob's Ladder

The Cairngorms were the place to be today if you wanted sunshine, views and still plenty of snow. I had a great day out in Coire an Lochain and climbed The Couloir. This is the obvious wide gully in the centre  the main crag and is only a Grade 1 but as wonderful scenery all the way up and a terrific finish just by a pinnacle before landing you at the plateau. It's been very warm the last few days but the coire is holding snow well and the loch itself still as ice in it. The snow is pretty much soft all the way up but this didn't detract from the day. The easy gullies are probably the only things worth climbing just now. A stiff Cairngorm 'breeze' was blowing today but nothing like we had a few days ago. I just reached the plateau when the sun broke through and it was a fab afternoon, feeling very Spring like! There are now big patches of bare ground on the plateau but still enough snow cover as I spotted a group of ski tourers having fun. Coire Domhain is looking good still for snow holing. There were parties climbing Alladin's Couloir and Jacob's Ladder as I strolled back down. Looking dry and sunny over next couple of days in The Cairngorms, The place to be!

A FINE AND BREEZY START TO NEW YEAR

Ali & Rob enjoying the snow and views in Coire an Lochain

Glimpses of Cairn Toul and Braeriach from the plateau

Picnic in the sun

Plateau still holding a good snow cover

Ali & Rob were out with me for a winter mountain day out in The Cairngorms. The forecast wasn't looking great but the guys were keen and a bit of rough weather wasn't going to deter their enthusiasm. The forecast for rain/snow until mid day didn't happen, we left the Coire Cas carpark at 9.30am just after the precipitation ceased and the tops looked clear. We headed into Coire an Lochain for a recap on some basic axe and crampon technique then headed onto the plateau and over to Ben Macdui. A keen westerly was blowing at around 40-50mph and this was enough to shift the cloud for some beautiful glimpses of sun and mountain. The snow was surprisingly quite firm but as forecasted the temperatures were rising through the day. Still a very good snow cover right across the plateau and the coire's still looking very good, hopefully the mild temperatures over the next couple of days won't have a massive impact. We returned via the Fiacaill Coire Cas and it seemed that the winds were much stronger here, with gusts of 60mph so an exciting descent back to the car park. An excellent day out and another 'breezy' day on the hill. Happy New Year and lets hope a white and cold one to come!

FINAL WINTER SKILLS OF 2012



There was yet another day of gales exceeding 70mph on he tops yesterday but these had eased to a gentle 30-40mph today thankfully. The temperatures during the last 24 hours have been up and down like a yo-yo too. We had snow down to Aviemore level yesterday morning which turned to rain at higher altitudes by yesterday evening . This mornings wet start became drier and the freezing level dropped once again to around 600m by late afternoon. Family and friends group of Ali, John, Andy and Tom were out with me for their intro to winter walking skills day. We headed up to the Eastern side of the Fiacaill Coire Cais which gave us some shelter from the westerlies and we had plenty of snow to develop the skills of movement on winter terrain. There had been some recent avalanche debris here, probably the cornice of the ridge edge fallen off from yesterdays warmer temps. We found some excellent patches of neve on the Coire an t-sneachda side too to hone some cramponing techniques. We finished the day with some axe arresting. Interesting on the walk back down to the car park that the softer snow we walked up in the morning had actually frozen up hard within only a few hours.  Have a great Hogmanay and best wishes for New Year!

COIRE AN LOCHAIN, COLDER AGAIN

Hard snow after yesterdays thaw! Mirjam & Thomas happy bunnies

Mirjam getting a good running belay off an icicle or two

Bucket seat & axe belay

We had some nice blue skies today

Team on Savage Slit

Coire an Lochain still well rimed

After a very brief mild  and rainy spell of 24 hours yesterday, it was back to lower temperatures today. The winds had died down and it was a pleasant day on the hill with just a few light snow showers down to 600m. We even had a few bright spells and the tops were all clear. Today Mirjam & Thomas were out with me for some steep ground skills and a brush up on some rope work, managing belays and stances whilst climbing. This is for their forthcoming two day winter climbing over in Lochaber early next year. Today we decided to avoid all the crowds heading into Coire an t-sneachda and instead we headed over to Coire an Lochain. Here we had peace and quiet with only 3 other folk seen all day, one guy soloing  The Couloir and a couple of guys on Savage Slit. We covered rock belays, snow belays and some avalanche awareness as we headed up on the eastern side of the corrie. The snow was excellent, nice and firm with ice around lower down and above about 1100m the crags were still well rimed up. Another wild and cold day tomorrow with some fresh snowfall too.

POINT FIVE GULLY, CAIRNGORMS

The team gearing up below Point Five

Looking across from our gully to The Goat Track & Fluted Buttress

Skiers heading up The Goat Track

Bucket seat & Axe belay's in tandem

Nearing the top. Cairn Gorm in the distance

Invernookie on The Fiacaill Butress looking busy!

Another cracking festive period day here in The Cairngorms. It was probably the best place in the UK to be today, we escaped the approaching weather front and had a dry, bitterly cold day with about a minus 10 C temperature on the tops. Geral, Gail, Dave and Malcolm were out with me again for part two of their winter course and we were again concentrating on moving on steep ground and some rope skills. We headed into Coire an t-sneachda and avoided the crowds by going up Point Five Gully which lies between The Goat Track and The Fiacaill Buttress. Seldom is there anyone here so a great place to practise some snow belays. We made our way up the gully constructing various belays and enjoyed fabulous hard neve. There was some drifting snow blowing down the route but nothing of concern. Indeed it was quite windy this morning walking in and lots of spindrift blowing around from last nights light snow showers.  Looks a tad windy tomorrow with higher temperatures and unfortunately rain on the hills. Saturday and Sunday back to colder and snowier conditions.

A CRACKER OF A BOXING DAY

Hard, untrodden snow and blue skies! Looking over to Beinn Meadhoin

Karen enjoing the sunshine and fab snow

Guess what I got for Christmas?

Loch Avon almost frozen

Looking over to Shelter Stone Crag, Ben Macdui & Braeriach/Cairn Toul

The Cairn Gorm weather station well rimed - The wind isn't always a bad thing!

We've enjoyed beautiful Christmas Day and Boxing Day weather here in The Cairngorms.Today though was an absolute cracker. The two nights of low temperatures have frozen the snow pack solid and it was cramponing all day on the hill. WE wanted a bit of peace and quiet so took a longer, more scenic and quiet route up onto Cairn Gorm. The early morning cloud drifted away and a glorious blue skies day with not a breath of wind. We quickly left the Cairn Gorm summit for even more solitude-descending down to Stag Rocks for some great views out to Loch Avon and the Shelter Stone Crag. Remember this time last year? Torrential rain at all levels and gales. It's a fantastic start to winter!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A beautiful Christmas Day morning on Meall a' Buachaille! Merry Christmas everyone!

'TWAS THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS

What a relief and a welcome change today- the first day since last Tuesday that there was light winds and the mountain tops were clear, well at least in the morning. The temperatures had also dropped over night with the clear skies. I was joined by Dave, Gail, Malcolm and Geral for their two day winter course. They were wanting some instruction and a fun day out so we headed on up to The Fiacaill Ridge. The car park at Coire Cas was busy this morning with a lot of skiers but we didn't see many folk out on the hills and we had the ridge to ourselves. The guys were looking for some instruction in simple rope work and moving together 'on the rope. We had excellent snow conditions with hard snow and the rocks were well rimed making it feel very wintry. Lower down the hill there is a crust on top of still some softer layers. We got to the top of the route when the snow started falling again but toward the end of the afternoon the skies cleared again for a lovely finish to the day.  Tomorrow looks a very nice day too, so maybe sneak in a hill day before the excesses! Merry Christmas Everyone!