Sunday 22 March 2015

CREAG MEAGAIDH AGAIN

Tim and Eva on the final pull up to The Window on Creag Meagaidh
Looking into Easy Gully, note the recent rockfall, avalanche debris and some glide cracks halfway up
All smiles again on their third big day out
Avalanche debris out of Cinderella in the Inner Corrie
Looking back down to The Post Face and Corrie Ardair from the plateau
Post Face
For Eva and Tim's final day this weekend we headed to Creag Meagaidh and for me the third time on Meagaidh in as many weekends. The west was looking a bit damp when we left Fort William this morning but soon the cloud lifted as we drove north eastward. Despite the weather forecast predicting a cloudy, drizzly day we had a completely dry time and the cloud was well above the tops virtually all day, We headed to the foot of Easy Gully as the guys were up for another adventurous day. As we sat at the lochan it was clear that it wouldn't be a wise choice today. There was recent avalanche and rockfall activity off the sides of the Post Face into Easy Gully. Halfway up the gully there was also some glide cracks which looked a bit ominous. % minutes after declaring to Eva and Tim that we'll be taking a more sensible route, another small rockfall came trundling into the gully, they got the picture! We headed up to The Window and again there was fresh avalanche and rockfall activity from the Inner Corrie crags. I got the guys doing some navigation to the main summit of Meagaidh, perfect timing as the cloud came in for half an hour to make the navving more realistic. They did well and were spot on getting to the top in poor visibility. Still excellent cover of snow on the plateau but the ridges and spurs off are now becoming bare. We enjoyed some lovely bright afternoon skies on our way back along Puist Corrie Ardair. Still excellent snow down to 700m to romp back down to Aberarder. We only saw 4 people from a distance all day and no sign of any climbing going on anywhere. A great end to three brilliant days with Eva and Tim. Their first forays into The Scottish hills and we enjoyed some great snow conditions, visiting three different areas over the three days. They went home happy bunnies with the highlight being the fabulous day on the CMD arete yesterday, well done guys and great company.

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