ARCTIC CONDITIONS CONTINUE

Neve in places & sun!

Coire an t-Sneacda looking fine

Windslab

A fine morning 

Cutting steps

Axe arresting

Busy again on Mess of Potage

Windblown snow on Eastern aspects

The Arctic type weather and conditions continued again in The Cairngorms today. Summit temperatures at least -6 degrees C . Windchill very high in the 30mph winds. We had some fine sunny spells and blue skies though so it was a glorious day to be out. Debbie and husband on a 4 day course with me this week. These courses are proving very popular this season. You get plenty of quality time to get all the vital and essential skills into four days. Being a bespoke course it gives even more quality time to hone skills. We concentrated on good movement on snow and neve with axe and crampons. Good areas of hard snow for step cutting on our way up to Windy Col. The mountains were heaving again with skiers and climbers and mountain goers. Always a busy period and with great snow conditions this year even more so. Despite the thongs of folk heading into Coire an t-Sneachda, we still found loads of areas which we had to ourselves. We finished off the day with some sliding off the Fiacaill Chais ridge. The winds picked up a tad in the afternoon with lots of windblown snow getting deposited on Easterly aspects. With these very cold temperatures no consolidation is taking place. Avalanche potential in many areas. Take care out there folks and pick your routes carefully. Keep checking the SAIS. More snow on it's way tonight and through much of this week. Winter continues!