DEEP & STEEP

 

It's certainly been a good start to winter. Lots of deep snow from 500m upwards in the Cairngorms. We've had hardly any wind on the summits the last few days and the temperatures have hovered around freezing point on Cairn Gorm. So the unconsolidated snow is still there, deep and soft!

A reasonable forecast for today again. Benign conditions.  Light winds and dry. I decided on a day over the Fiacaill Coire Sneachda. I can never tire of this wonderful wee ridge. The only ridge walk in the Northern Cairngorms. Thankfully the trail into Coire an t-sneachda was well beaten with footprints so much easier walking early on. When I set off there was some beautiful blue skies, sun and lovely cloudscapes. 

It was still hard going , despite some footprints leading over to the toe of the ridge. Higher up things got easier and the views were outstanding.  A world of white, deep snow covering all slope aspects. 

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There were just two folk in front of me, gearing up to tackle the Fiacaill. Wonderful snow cover over the pinnacles and the West slopes were well banked up. I went round the Crux section. Here the slopes were banked up to about 45-50 degrees of bottomless snow. A full body work out as I swam up the slopes and back onto the crest of the ridge. 

The cloud did steadily drift across from the west  but got just enough time to enjoy wonderful views along the ridge.

Along the plateau it was poor visibility and hard going once again, even with a few footprints along the Northern Corries cliffs. The cloud was down to 800m by mid afternoon and some light snow turned to drizzle. More deep snow, even worse below 900m in Coire Cas. The ski area had been well beaten down with ski tourers so a nice stroll on firm snow for the final 30 minutes. Top day. If you're venturing up this way over the next few days it doesn't look like any improvement in snow consolidation. Go away from main routes and you'll have your work cut out, but all good for winter fitness!