WINTER SKILLS IN THE SUN AGAIN

Movement on steep ground

Heather & John enjoying the neve

Crampon technique

Sharp crampons needed just now

Another day in the sun and snow

Self belay

Wet nappy position

 Heather and John are out on a two day winter course with me. Despite the limited snow and ice conditions just now, there are plenty of areas within The Cairngorms to get many essential winter skills. The Northern Cairngorms are just about the best place to be if you are looking for winter conditions. There was a sprinkling of fresh snow on the crags above 1000m from yesterdays flurries of snow. Everything white is once again solid. Some rocky run outs above the snow fields. We covered lots of vital skills today and plenty of avalanche awareness, despite the low avalanche risk we have at present. Another day of blue skies, sunshine and feeling quite cold in the wind. Nice to come home with dry kit for the fifth day running :)

WINTER NAVIGATION, MORE CRAMPONS & SNOWSHELTERS

More crampons today

Winter navigation

Snow hole City

Hard work digging at the moment

But quickly getting a shelter dug

Poor visibility

Cairn Gorm Snow Bunting

Of course we have snow!

Day two out with the Cotswold Outdoors group. Today we put all the skills learnt yesterday into action and the guys made a route up to Cairn Gorm. We used all the available snow from the Ciste Carpark and on the way we covered lots of navigation. In the afternoon we took a peak over in Ciste Mheared, snow hole city as I call it. Lots of folk here, I wondered where they all where as we saw no one all day up to then. After some snow shelter construction we made our way through poor vis up to Cairn Gorm summit, finishing  the weekend on a Munro summit. A great couple of days as per usual with the Cotswold guys and a big thanks to Geoff who was out with us this weekend.

COTSWOLD OUTDOORS ANNUAL WINTER SKILLS

The team on crampons

Step cutting in the sun

Axe arresting

Crampons on

Self belay

Plenty of snow

Neve

Glisade down

Cotswold Outdoor Store in Livingston have been coming out on a winter course with me over the last 3 seasons now. I have a great working partnership with Chris, the store supervisor, who brings out a group of customers and staff  for me on various mountain skills courses throughout the year. We always have different weather and conditions. The last couple of years we have had some breezy days but today it was  beautiful clear skies and just a gentle Cairngorm breeze. The temperatures well below freezing last night, the snow pack once again frozen solid. Plenty of snow for us to play on in Coire an Lochain. Today we focused on core basic snow craft skills. Boot placement, step cutting and lots of wonderful cramponing. We finished off the day with some icy sliding (ice axe arresting). There are some serious, rocky run outs at the moment so careful choice of where to practice this is essential. You can easily get some very fast speeds on 20 degree snow slopes. A great day to be out. Much colder than yesterday with the cold wind blowing.

FROZEN SNOW & TEMPERATURE INVERSION IN THE CAIRNGORMS

Neve and a beautiful day in The Cairngorms above an Inversion

Coire an Lochain

Plenty of hard snow to play on

Warm in the sun

These needed anywhere white today

Chalamain Gap above the Inversion

Sgor Gaoithe and Creag Meagaidh

Meall a' Bhuachaille above the inversion

Lurcers Crag, inversion in Strathspey and some ugly wind farm

A day in the hills isn't a day out without these guys

One of the many reasons people hire guides in winter is for their knowledge where the best snow and ice is,  especially in lean conditions. We are indeed in a very lean period but what is left was fantastic today. Colder overnight temperatures had frozen up the existing snow pack, anything white was frozen solid today and plenty of ice about. Some of the corries in The Cairngorms are still holding snow and plenty to play on if you are looking to get some use of those axes and crampons you bought over Christmas. It was a beautiful day on the hills with a temperature inversion this morning. North and east facing slopes were cold in the shade, the tops were bathed in warm sun and absolutely no wind. Not very January like! Still big areas of snow on the plateau, don't get caught out thinking it's summer just yet! A busy period of work coming up for me, the main winter season is upon us. Some fresh snow and a few storms would go down a treat though.

CREAG MEAGAIDH SNOW

Creag Meagaidh summit plateau

Matts first taste of winter

A very thin looking Coire Ardair

Easy Gully

The Inner Corrie

Looking into Coire Ardair

Descending from  from The Window

Just enough for a snow hole

 Return clients Andrew, Jonathan and Matt were out with me for a days walking in winter. Well I thought Creag Meagaidh may be holding more in the way of snow so we headed out that way. Easy Gully was going to be an option to gain the summit but on close inspection it looked like the may be a river flowing under the snow pack judging by the waterfalls off the Post Face draining into the gully. The Window looked pretty bare so instead I cam up with a more adventurous route to gain the plateau. We found some nice ribbons of snow here and there. Enough snow on the plateau to warrant getting a map and compass out. We decide on a quick descent after bagging the Munro summit and came back down a very bare Window. The guys loved the day, despite the lack of 'WInter' conditions. I have seen worse in January, it was a tad colder too.

WHAT'S LEFT OF THE SNOW

Coire an Lochain

Cairn Gorm

Sgor Gaoithe

Lurchers Gully & Braeriach

Cromdale Hills

Still no sign of fresh snowfall in the next few days. On the plus side it did feel colder than yesterday on the hill. Needed an extra layer, hat and gloves on the top of Meall a' Bhuachaille today in the stiff breeze. Northern Corries of The Cairngorms looking quite depressing at the mment. Coire an Lochain is the best place for snow just now. Please don't all rush there and hack it all to bits as I'll be there with winter skills groups next few days! Temperatures are coming down and looks much colder by the weekend. Keep the faith folks, winter can return within a day or so, as we've all witnessed this winter.

MILD, SLOW THAW & CAIRNGORM WILDLIFE

A benign, mild day in Coire an Lochain

Mountain Hare taking shelter

I've seen less snow in mid January

Good day for ptarmigan

Still winter like, just

Not much ice in Coire an Lochain

Hare again

Time to go

For a walk

Yet another frustrating massive temperature rise, it looks like it's going to be one of those winters. The weekend was very cold and very snowy, some folk would say too much snow!. Today and yesterday was very mild. Much of the snow at lower levels has now disappeared and there is hardly any ice left on the crags. With summit temperatures in The Cairngorms at +4 degrees today. Having said that  I have seen less snow on the hills in mid January so all is not lost! It was a good day for some Cairngorms wildlife watching in the corries. Plenty of Mountain Hare and Ptarmigan roaming around.  Very light winds and some nice bright spells of sunshine, a lovely day to be out. Forecasts are suggesting a colder spell by the end of the week, just what we need to consolidate the snow.