Making the most of a lull in the poor weather!

Todays weather was forecast to be awful with Heavy rain most of the day and winds gusting up to 70mph on the summits so we opted to make the most of a few hours of dry sunny weather in between the chaos!

We drove up to the Coire Ciste car park and made use the snow slope 50m from the van. We made good use of the time practising Winter Mountain Leader Rope work.

Digging bucket seats and buried ice axe belays and testing them by belaying each other and taking a few slides to practise the art of dynamic belaying. We then attached the rope to the ice axe anchors in the snow and attempted to make them fail by 4 of us pulling on the rope from the safety of the flat ground below. Gwilym backed up the axes with a braking system to prevent any failing axes flying toward us at speed.

Following this we had a look at stomper belays and snow bollards. We belayed each other up and down the slope using the stomper and using the snow bollard to back up our bucket seat.

To finish the session we used our snow bollards to abseil down the slope using the south african method.

It has been a useful 5 days in the Scottish highlands gaining log book time towards my Winter Mountain leader. Thanks to Gwilym from Wet and High Adventures for some pointers in the right direction.

Tomorrow I will be driving back down south, stopping off in Shropshire to attend a MIAS Level 3 mountain bike instructor course for two days before heading home to Taunton.

In search of 'ICE' on Lurchers Crag

Having looked at the weather and avalanche forecasts last night we opted to head out to Lurchers Crag in the Lairig Ghru in search of some ice to climb. The plan was to head out reasonably early and   get the 6km walk in from the Sugar Bowl car park through the Chalamain Gap done leaving us time to get two routes done and then walk out. We thought an ice route and a ridge would make for a good day out.

The guidebook stated that there were two un-named short ice routes that were graded 2/3 at the start northern end of the crag. Having found them we geared up and started out on the route, the ice was thawing quickly and unstable so we backed off and headed for another route, the plan now to climb one of the ridges. Traversing high along the banked out snow along the crag we came across the start of Window Gully (IV) where the Ice looked to be good and with the added altitude it should have been more stable in the cooler temperatures.

We climbed the first 45m pitch of relatively good Ice and consolidated snow but when Gwilym started on the second pitch the ice was clearly in poor condition due to the previous days thaw and the over night temperature drop had not improved the ice as expected.

Having built a suitable abseil station using we backed off the route and headed back to the car park. The day ended with 13km of walking with stunning views of the Northern Corries and the Lairig Ghru but unfortunately no climbing. With hinesight we should have stuck to the original plan of climbing a ridge but it was good to practise escaping from a route so not all was lost.

Ciste Crag - Winter Lead Climbing and Short Roping

With Gwilym's MIC (Mountain Instructor Certificate) assessment coming up in the near future, Olly, Charlie and myself headed to the Ciste Crag in Coire na Ciste to be Gwilym's guinea pigs for the day.

We looked at winter lead climbing including building belays, use of winter tools and climbing technique with crampons. We each took it in turns to lead a route and Gwilym was able to practice guiding on a route with two clients. We climbed in parallel and in series and climbed as a pair with Gwilym supervising.

The day was finished off with a session of short roping up and down grade 1/2 ground and I built a bucket seat with a buried axe belay to negotiate the last snow slope for practise.

A good day with lots of opportunity for learning and only 1000m from the car park!

Sgor Gaoith and Carn Ban Mor

Today Olly and I headed further west than yesterday for a day ascending Sgor Gaoith (1118m).
Its was a crisp morning with a little frost on the roads leading around to our start point of Auchlean.

The forecast was for a dry day but a cloud base of 900m, the weather matched this perfectly and once we ascended above 900m we were in a white out. Perfect for navigation practise. The climb up is long and drawn out and we were buffeted by the wind. After reaching the summit cairn of Carn Ban Mor we headed north along the ridge to the exposed summit of Sgor Gaoith. The summit cairn of the is minor is right on the edge of the Eastern crags and care needed to be taken in the white out conditions to find it. With the previous heavy snow and high winds the cornices were large and still building.

We then descended the mountain via Meall Buidhe which can be seen in the third picture, this picture was taken as we were dropping out of the cloud. From Meall Buidhe we dropped down onto Meall Tionail where we came across 6 Ptarmigan. My first sighting of these birds, I was impressed as to how camouflaged they were. (can you spot them in the last image?)

The day was finished of by descending into Coire na Cloiche and onto the road for a 3.5 km trundle back to the van. A good day out covering 16.5 km through soft snow.

Cairn Gorm and the Northern Corries

Today we awoke to blue skies and clear mountain tops so thought we would make full use of the day.

While Gwilym took Charlie off for a days introduction to winter skills, Olly and I opted to get a big day  under our belts and get the legs used to winter conditions.

We made our way up onto Cairn Gorm from the lower ski centre car park and skirted around the top of the northern corries before descending back to the ski centre. Due to recent snow the going under foot was heavy at times.

Having not been to the Scottish Highlands in winter conditions for 2 years it was nice to get out and have blue skies and stunning views before the forecast change in weather.

With 16.5 km covered the legs were truly welcomed back to the winter conditions

Drive north for some continued professional development.

Today I drove north to Aviemore in Scotland with Olly and Charlie to meet Gwilym for 5 days of winter mountain based CPD (continued professional development).

The 540 mile drive took 11 hours due to traffic issues but when we arrived Gwilym had sorted our accommodation and following a quick brew we went out for Haggis and Chips before returning to pack equipment for the following day out in the mountains.

The plan for the week is to gain a few quality mountain days in winter and the possibility of some winter climbing.

There re no photos today due to the 11 hours sat behind the steering wheel.