FIRST PROPER WINTER DAY

 

Cold Northwesterlies late yesterday and overnight brought some very welcome snow to the mountains, especially the Cairngorms. This morning was the first day this season we had a few snow flurries at Aviemore level. The winds had eased down so looking like a good day to be out.

Having lived in Aviemore for almost 10 years now I was totting up roughly how many times I have romped along the Fiacaill Coire Sneachda ridge in Winter. I calculated an average of at least 20 times per winter so that comes to 200! Plus all the other occasions prior to that (lots more!). That seems quite a few! It is never the same conditions every time.  It is the only ridge in the Northern Cairngorms unfortunately. Unlike the west coast where there are so many. This morning I notched up another ascent.

There was a team of climbers somewhere on the cliffs in Coire an t-sneachda. The cloud was down so couldn't see where. Snow was lying to around 550m. Lots of beautiful rime ice over the rocks and frosted vegetation everywhere. Despite the lack of views it was terrific to be coasting along under great early winter conditions. 

A gusty, stiff breeze near the top. Poor visibility for most of the plateau area up to the summit of Cairn Lochan. I headed on down into Coire and Lochain, just as I got to the Lochan the skies suddenly cleared and blue skies overhead.

A beautiful end to the day with bright sunshine and snow on the ground. Temperatures are on the way up tomorrow but over the weekend they drop again with blizzards and gales forecast on the Cairngorms. Early next week should look good!