ANOTHER BRIEF THAW

Heading up to The Couloir 

Ice dripping 

Coire an Lochain 

Sun? Not today

Down

Crampons not required 

More ice

shelter 

Coming and going, a kind of winter 

Two days of 'warmth' and we are back to limited snow and ice again. It's been one of those winter's. The last week or so we've had cold conditions and some light snowfalls and things looked on the way up. Today was rain at all levels but by afternoon it turned to snow at around 800m. This weekend I have Father & Son team,  Simon & Fraser out on a two day winter course. They've previously had a couple of winter courses so are quite familiar with the winter scene. We headed into Coire an Lochain and some steep ground around the base of The Couloir.  This Grade I winter climb is looking lean at the moment and more like Grade II today with a couple of teams ascending roped up.  We made a wee tour of the coire,  getting as much up, down and traversing as possible. Good fun despite a 'wet pants' day. Winter returned this evening.  Snowing on the way home from Nethy Bridge. Wintry tomorrow , thankfully. It all starts again...