ANOTHER STUNNER IN THE CAIRNGORMS

Dave & Marc on The Fiacaill Coire an t-Sneachda

Fiacaill Buttress

Dave enjoying the Cairngorm winter

Marc enjoying the ridge and sunshine

Coire an t-Sneachda

Alladins' Couloir

Marc high up on the Fiacaill

Fiacaill Buttress

Rime and snow and sun on the Fiacaill

Can't stop him!

Cairngorm plateau

Another stunningly beautiful winters day in The Cairngorms. Blue skies, below freezing on the tops, no wind and lots of wonderful snow. What's not to like? Dave is out with me for two days of winter skills/fun in the Cairngorms. Marc was with us today for a day of shadowing for his upcoming Winter ML Assessment. After a quick run down on axe, boot and crampons we headed up onto the Fiacaill Ridge. It's much more beneficial to get folk moving about on the winter hills, even if it was Dave's first time out with axe and crampons. So we went for a mountain journey covering lots of skills including plenty of avalanche awareness and avoidance. Dave was grinning from ear to ear all the way along the ridge. The snow is still soft and unconsolidated in many places and on many aspects. Plenty of wind slab about and some places I would never venture into given the current avalanche conditions, despite many footprints in these areas! A great day out and came home with a red face and dry gear. More please!