Basic ropework, rock & snow belays & coathangers!!!

Strong SW winds today so as planned we went to a sheltered crag to practise basic rope-work and belays.

We managed to avoid the unpleasant conditions on exposed slopes. This gave Jude and Jason time to practise linking rock anchors and holding falls using dynamic belay techniques when using snow belays. We even managed to improvise our nut placements using pebbles, rocks and our slings.

We climbed Crotched Gully yesterday just using a few slings, despite some recent internet comments saying it was currently Grade 4!!!!! 

It's amazing what can be climbed and well protected just using the rope, a few slings, a coat-hanger, some krabs and traditional axes ;-)

Cruxed on Crotched!

Another great weather day saw Jude, Jason and myself heading back into Coire an t-Sneachda to climb Crotched Gully.

We had the company of Carron, Sue and Fi for our walk in and the approach climb to the start. As we headed right up Crotched Gully the girls climbed Grooved Rib.

This was to be Jason's first ever climbing experience and Jude's first winter route. The gully was well filled with recent softish snow but bare at the crux.

This provided entertainment for all including the resident Ptarmigan as Jason perfected their mating grunts inter-spaced by calls of take in!!!! This seemed to really excite the local birds as they gliisaded down the slopes above sounding like demented chickens, to peer at what was going on below!!!

Once past the crux the difficulties soon eased to provide two more pitches of pleasant Grade 1 snow up onto the plateau past the small cornice.

The girls joined the upper part of our route and up onto the plateau behind us and full details are on Fi's blog here

Another cracking day!

Following the weekend blip the good weather has returned and not a drop of wind!!
Jude, Jason and I had a great day looking at basic rope-work while climbing up the mixed ground on Fiacaill Ridge.
From our vantage point it looked as though almost every climb in the corrie had little black climbers on it!!!

Cairngorm summit and snow shelters...

"The weather was so much better today compared to Saturday though our views over the Cairngorm Plateau were brief. Sue and I, with the Talisman Mountaineering winter skills and mountaineering course participants walked up to the back of Coire Cas then up the steep headwall........" Full details and photos here

First February Winter Mountaineering and Skills course

Amazing how quickly time flies and the weather changes. It looks pretty promising over the next few days so hopefully a few photos tomorrow will show how much fresh snow has fallen recently! Details on Fi's blog here

More sun and more ice!!!

 

A fantastic sunny day playing on the sparkling ice in the Loch Avon basin. We met John and Dave who climbed Salamander/Brimstone Grooves and Oli and fellow GMC members in Hells Lum gully. 

Despite the excellent forecast and ice condition there were only about six climbing teams on the whole crag and most of them were in Hells Lum gully!! 

We climbed a line to the left of the Chancer before abbing off and then climbing Kiwi Gully which was excellent and which Fi hadn't done.

More photos and details on Fi's blog here

Sun and ice....

"Four of us from the GMC took a punt on Lurcher's Crag in the end and found really good conditions in the northern sector sharing an easy ice line at about grade II. For once this week the forecast was pretty spot on with bright skies and much less wind than earlier in the week. Clouds did threaten from the south throughout the day but something kept them from moving further north. The route it self was in excellent condition with first time axe placements and screws and threads being bomber (a far cry from the hard won routes in the northern corries earlier in the week)...." Oli Giles

Strong SE winds and heavy drifting!

 I was out with Alan and Paul who were wanting to build on their previous rock climbing and winter Grade 1 experience. They were up with  Gloucestershire Mountaineering Club's Scottish Winter Meet at Badaguish Lodges. Coincidently GMC members had also booked Jonathan P who'd been working with us and the MPS at the weekend for guiding that day. 

The forecast looked pretty reasonable and we weren't expecting the full on winter experience - the weather had other ideas!

On our walk in it quickly became apparent that the strong SE wind and blowing snow (wind chill of minus 25) was going to affect our day making even the simplest of tasks more difficult and filling everything up with spindrift.
On the plus side the drifting snow was building fast on the NW aspects covering the approach slopes, crag aprons and filling up the gullies for the first time this winter. Unfortunately it was also building large overhung cornices over some routes, one of which I later heard had collapsed and avalanched down the Runnel!!!
Most of the main gully lines were busy but surprisingly Goat Track Gully and it's variation was free, after a French team abseiled off to join the queue at the foot of Red Gully.
I couldn't believe our luck in locating the only vacant classic line in the corrie. As a bonus it was now filled with snow and sported some nice steep ice in the corner for the guys to test their mountaineering axes on! The guys did well on the tricky steps which felt harder than the grade compared to normal.
Paul also experienced his first hot aches and nausea after completing the ice pitch saying afterwards he really enjoyed the experience and wanted to do more though possibly not with the hot aches!!!
After the climb we had to hang on to everything stuffing the frozen gear into our sacks for our descent.

The Goat track was slabby so we decided to battled across the plateau to the relative shelter of Coire Cas, avoiding the large cornices now forming over Jacob's Ladder, Mess of Pottage and on the Coire Cas Ridge. The upper ski area is drifting in nicely and with the cold weather everything is starting to look really good for winter sports in the Cairngorm's...

GREAT viz, great day but busy!!!!!

One of the best days of the year so far weather-wise though very busy in the ski and climbing areas given the limited snow cover.
Lot's of climbers on lots of routes with even Coire an Lochain looking busy!!
To avoid the masses we headed off towards the mixed ground on Fiacaill Ridge with our MPS students. Jonathan, Robbie, Jonny, Henry, Arno and myself were fortunate to have a great vantage point for the goings on in the main climbing area and the place to ourselves. Both the mountaineering and the climbing teams looked at rope-work and leading as they climbed up towards the the ridge crest on progressively good snow. A couple of the committee, after a good day on the Seam yesterday, headed over to Coire an Lochain. They climbed Central Crack Route and said the coire was very busy with climbers from the International Climbing Meet and even a film crew before the SAR arrived!

Fi's MPS winter walking group had a great day too as they traversed the mountain looking at navigation, avalanche awareness and emergency rope skills. They even managed to get some unique 'Sun Dog' photos! See Fi's blog for more details here ,Jonny's MPS Facebook photos here and Arno's photos here and our Facebook album here!

Cold but poor viz...

Red Gully!

Looking down Jacob's Ladder!!!!!

Climbing up the Goat Track

Jonathan Preston guiding Hidden Chimney

Robbie on the Grade 2  ice pitch onto the Slant!

Jonny and Robbie ready for action

A lot less visibility today than was hope for but it was cold! Fi, Jonathan and myself headed into a fairly busy Coire an t-Sneachda with our respective Nottingham MPS groups and several other training groups.
As Arno, Henry and myself headed up the Goat Track to Coire Domhain we noticed quite a few folk out climbing in VERY thin and less than ideal conditions. The Runnel, Central and Crotched gully were looking especially busy no doubt due to the almost complete lines of old snow in the Runnel (apart from the crux chimney!!!) There were folk climbing a number of other lines such as Fingers Ridge, Red Gully and Fiacaill Couloir. Nottingham MPS teams were on Fiacaill Ridge, The Seam and Hidden Chimney with Jonathan. Climbers were also on the Haston Line, Yukon Jack (retreating?) and Jacob's Ladder which can be seen in one of the photos above!!!! Several skiers spotted on the plateau carrying skis! A few more photos of the Winter Skills group on Fi's blog here

Better visibility for tomorrow is being promised so hopefully a few better photos from the plateau, Coire an t-Sneachda and Coire a Lochain.

Cairngorm's Northern Corries looking wintry again!

Northern Coires from Loch Morlich

Coire an t-Sneachda

Coire an Lochain

Over the next few day Fi, Jonathan and myself are out with Nottingham University MPS teaching winter climbing, winter mountaineering and winter skills.
The weather was cold and clear today with the outlook looking nice and wintry for the coming week or so.
We had a look at the Northern Corries which looked more wintry than expected, with some fresh snow in the gullies and crags, despite yesterdays big thaw...