ALPINE CAIRNGORMS

Ben & George high up below the Fiacaill Buttress

Fiacaill of Coire Sneachda

Alpine style ridge

Fiacaill to ourselves today

It's a long drop down Hells Lum!

Reasonable snow cover on the plateau

Feith Buidhe

Loch Avon

Coire an t-Sneachda

Sneachda from Cairn Gorm

A great couple of days with these guys

The temperatures were up a notch and more hazy sunshine today. George & Ben out with me for day two of their adventure in the Cairngorms. We had a brilliant day, covering lots of axe, crampon and movement on steep ground. We headed into Coire an t-Sneachda, soon leaving the crowds (well, 10 folk or so) and heading onto the Fiacaill of Coire Sneachda. Great snow cover in the coire below the buttress as we worked our way over to the ridge. We had the whole ridge to ourselves, apart from the many beautiful snow buntings which were singing way all day. The snow had firmed up slightly on the ridge and was good fun. We headed across a snowy Cairngorm plateau and had lunch over by Hells Lum, for the views of course. After food the guys navigated their way across to Cairn Gorm. The snow had softened up across the plateau, we linked all the big areas of snow up by taking a nice route over on the south side off Cairn Gorm. Down Windy Ridge to end a fab couple of days and not a single ice axe arrest in sight, winter skills isn't all about sliding down mountains! :)

WINTER COME GOOD

Ben & George, Coire an Lochain ice

Great snow/ice for step cutting

High up in Coire an Lochain

The cliffs of Coire an Lochain, deserted

Sun and snow in Coire an Lochain

Lots of photogenic snow buntings around

Axe arresting

Step cutting technique getting good

Reasonable snow cover on Cairngorm plateau

Hard snow/ice, no wind, sunshine and great company. What more could you ask for for a day out in the Scottish winter mountains? March and winter came good at last. Today the old, wind scoured snow was fabulous for cramponing and some step cutting earlier in the day. Not a breath of wind in Coire an Lochain and later on on the Cairngorm plateau. Ben and George are out with me for a couple of days to get some vital skills on snow and ice. Completely new to this they just loved the setting below the cliff of Cairn Lochan. The sun was out over Strathspey and blue skies above. The Northern Corries still don't receive any warmth of the sun even in late March. Apart from 3 climbers over toward The Vent, we had the whole corrie to ourselves. Most winter instructors south of the border have now gone home and it's a fabulous time to be out on the hills if you love peace and quiet. We had a great journey in the corrie, traversing out onto the plateau where we had a picnic lunch in the sunshine. The temperature went up slightly during the afternoon with some high cloud cover. We finished off the afternoon with a stroll over the plateau and descended into Coire Cas. Great day out, more of the same kind of weather tomorrow.

SNOW SHOWERS, WINDY AND COLDER

Fiacaill of Sneachda

Icy walk in to Coire an Lochain

Fresh wind slab

Ice & frozen turf

Fiacaill

Wind slab on East aspects

Coire an t-Sneachda

Fiacaill Buttress

More snow fall on gale force winds again today. The snow showers were frequent but mainly light. The best of any bright skies were at the start and at the end of the day. It was quiet on the hill today, very few folk around now. It's a great time to be out, long days, snow and some great light when the sun appears! A quick romp over the Fiacaill a Choire Sneachda today. The gale force winds blowing right across the ridge line, great fun. Big areas of old snow now frozen hard and wind scoured. Fresh wind slab, especially on E & NE aspects. Some ice has formed in places. A very wintry day with snow being blown around everywhere and goggles were definitely an asset! Much quieter day tomorrow and the weekend looks like it could be a lovely sunny time. Don't forget the shades and sunscreen!

HEAVY SNOW SHOWERS AND HIGH WINDS

Northern Cairngorms & Braeriach

Heavy snow showers through Glen Feshie

The Cairngorms are there somewhere in the cloud

Temperatures dropping this week. A week of high winds and snow showers forecasted, especially in the west. Winter is definitely not over. There was some sunny spells in between the snow showers today. Snow was falling to around 400m and almost blizzard like on Craigellachie. This wee hill above Aviemore gives splendid views across to The Northern Cairngorms across Strathspey. 

A DAY IN SUNNY PERTHSHIRE

The Osprey has landed!

Leucistic Fallow Deer

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Yellow Hammer

Goldeneye

LM12, has he is known!

Black Headed Gull

The gales have returned to the Cairngorm Mountains, along with fresh snow. All next week is looking cold and further snow showers along with high winds. Gusts of 100mph are forecasted tomorrow. March is, of course, still very much winter. Today we headed south where it was a very pleasant day in Highland Perthshire and good sunny periods. It was Spring time down at low levels. The Ospreys have returned to the UK over the last week. Always a lovely sight to see and I guess their return from Africa marks Springtime. One of the best known locations to see these magnificent birds of prey is at Lochan of the Lowes near Dunkeld. On the walk back down into town we spotted a Leucistic Fallow Deer in the woods. A first for us!
Back to the winter hills next week with two more winter courses for me. Then it's April. Maybe still winter? Watch this space. I still have one place on 2 day group winter skills course next weekend. Drop me a line if interested.

The Northern Corries of Cairngorm, Saturday

SUN RETURNS AND AN ALPINE DAY

Carolyn enjoying the scenery in Coire an t-Sneachda

Alpine looking Fiacaill Buttress

Steep ground toward the Fiacaill Ridge

Coire an t-Sneachda

Enjoying the snow in Sneachda

Coire an Lochain

Axe arresting in the sun

Nice afternoon clouds over Braeriach

Coire an Lochain, Twin Burns

Active ptarmigan and snow Buntings everywhere today

Lean and icy on Fiacaill Ridge

There was a dip in the temperatures last night under clear skies. This morning there was some freezing going on up high and we could see ice again in Coire an t-Sneachda. The sun came out late morning and it was a beautiful looking sky over the Cairngorms. Carolyn was out with me today for some winter fun in the sun. She already had some winter experience and was wanting to build on this. We were soon away from the crowds in Sneachda, making our way away from the Goat Track area and heading over to the Fiacaill Ridge under the impressive Fiacaill Buttress. The snow was still soft in most places but all great fun. We had the Fiacaill of Coire Sneachda to ourselves. The pinnacles looking almost summer like with very little snow left. There was some crunchy ice on the traverse side of the ridge so god to get the crampons on for Carolyn. We had a bit of navigation across Cairn Lochaan before we headed down into Coire an Lochain. Toward the end of the afternoon we did some sliding in the sun which was very pleasant. Plenty of snow in the Twin Burns area so we finished off the day traversing across the coire before heading down. Top day and always good to get moving around the mountain and getting lots of different terrain, snow, ice and of course just fabulous scenery.