WARMING UP IN THE CAIRNGORMS, SUMMER IS COMING!

The team enjoying warm sun and rock

Lovely scrambling in the sun

Largely clear of snow

Higher up

Great fun

Fiachaill Ridge

Nick enjoying the scenery

Cairn Lochan across to Ben Macdui, good snow cover still

Cornices melting fast

Pic-nicing half way up

The crack is getting bigger!

Group number 2 from those lovely folk at Cotswold Outdoor in Livingston.  5 more staff and customers on a day out with me today. It was beautiful warm and sunny weather, especially the afternoon when the temperatures rose. We had a fun day along the Fiachaill Coire Sneachda. Folk getting some scrambling skills in and it was nice to have warm rock now, unlike yesterday when we were clad in gloves much of the day. Rapid snow melt off Cairn Lochan on the way down, looking like a burn from just below the summit. Summer is here? Winter is finally over? :)

FIACAILL FUN WITH COTSWOLD OUTDOOR

On th rock

Snow & rock

Mostly snow in the coire

Colin enjoying the fun

Check out the drops

In the cloud

Nesrly there

Final section in the cold

Young Finlay findingit a doddle

Hard going in very damp snow on plateau

Plenty of friendly snow buntings in the coire

Snow trenching

Cotswold Outdoor Store, Livingston are out with me this weekend for some adventurous mountain days. Two groups over two days. A mixture of staff and their customers who are now regular clients on my winter and summer courses. We headed into Coire an t-Sneachda for some snow skills before heading up onto the Fiacaill Ridge. All the pinnacles are now largely clear of snow but there are some small areas of the white stuff to tackle, spicing it up. It was a warm, clear day in the coire but some high level cloud and a stiff SE breeze quickly got us grabbing our warmer layers. No heatwave up here. Well done to the team of 4 including young Finlay who is fast becoming a budding rock star and Alpiniste.

MAY WINTER SKILLS IN THE CAIRNGORMS

Plenty of snow in Coire an t-Sneachda for snow skills

Soft snow

making our way to the Fiacaill

Loving it

Rock and snow on the ridge

Graham cooling off on the top

The team on Cairn Lochan

Celebrations

See how much sliding we can get in

More

and another long slide down

Dave and his group of 10 folk booked a day out with me just a few days ago. Their annual weekend away to the hills usually includes a big day on the mountains and some wild camping. They saw last weeks winter conditions and thought it sensible to get some instruction on walking safely in snow. With such a big group of 11 folk I had Rich help me out today. It was great fun and all the guys had similar fitness levels so we stayed as a group quite nicely. We headed into Sneachda to run through the basics before heading up to the Fiacaill Coire Sneacda. It was very hot in the snow on steep ground. The ridge still as snow banked up along its western side. There are some patches of bare ground on the plateau but the snow cover is still extensive despite the heatwave. Great fun bum sliding down from Cairn Lochan iinto the coire. A fun day out and a great bunch of guys who loved every minute. We never saw another soul all day Winter fun if you still want it! Cheers to Rich coming over from the wild west to help me today.

SNOW LINGERING AND WINDS HOWLING, CAIRNGORMS

Winter climbing?

Goat Track a nice ski run

Point Five Gully well loaded

Fiacaill Buttress

Glide Cracks above the Great Slab, Coire an Lochain

Summer like down in the Strath

Pierres footwear. Erm, not today

A glorious sunny day over in the Eastern Highlands. The winds were much, much stronger than forecasted. I had a wander into Coire an t-Sneachda to see whats left of the snow since the heatwave. On the walk in I was thinking back to just last week and it was big drifts and snow ploughing straight from the carpark. Today it is all rocky path into the coire. The SW gales were fair blowing down the path but they were forecasted to ease as the day ptogressed. Out of nowhere a French man stumbled upon me asking what was the best way up to Ben Macdui. Clad in sandals and jeans and 'not a very good map' as he desscribed it. Within 10 minutes he has my email address and keen to book a day out with me, cheers Pierre! The winds howled in the coire but I persevered and headed up to the notch on The Fiacaill Ridge. I didn't quite get to the ridge before I gave up the struggle!  There were streams of spindrift pouring down off the plateau into the corrie and it was a struggle standing up at times. Lots of snow and good depth. I would  reckon there is more volume of snow today than this day 12 months ago. The heatwave continues but I have 3 days of 'winter' work coming up. When does the winter end?  Maybe it will be Monday for me, but who knows.

WARMING UP IN THE CAIRNGORMS

Great day for the Osprey

Some snow loss across the Cairngorms last few days

Blue skies afternoon

Ben Macdui and the Lairig Ghru

Sharper next time!

The temperatures went up another notch today in The Cairngorms. Over the last few days there as been a fair bit of snow loss but it is May and I guess that should be the case! Still, there is a lot of snow up high despite the warmer weather. It was a beautiful, if windy afternoon. Blue skies and Osprey watching today. Fabulous activity for many hours today from this icon of The Cairngorms National Park. A true success story and a glorious sight in the blue skies. Warming up even further by the weekend. The SAIS for Northern Cairngorms and Lochaber is still in operation at the weekends. Enough said.

A WARMER WEEKEND

The Northern Corries of Braeriach, Saturday

Lairig Ghru, Saturday

Great Crested Grebe

The Northern Corries, Cairngorms from Meall a' Bhuachaille on Sunday

Glenmore Squirrel

The beginning of May and finally it actually feels like Spring, well down in the glens anyway. It was a beautiful weekend, especially Saturday with much of The Highlands bathed in warm sunshine. Even today (Sunday) it was much better than expected with bright skies and the cloud lifting off the mountains. Still huge amounts of snow on the big mountains and temperatures only just over freezing point on the tops. There is still skiing available and still very much winter conditions if youre venturing onto the higher Munros of Lochaber and The Cairngorms. I still have three more days of 'winter work' next weekend. Will that be the last? Whos knows......