Cold but poor viz...

Red Gully!

Looking down Jacob's Ladder!!!!!

Climbing up the Goat Track

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...

Lots of snow for our drive to the airport!

A least half a metre of snow fell overnight making digging out, packing the car and the drive to Grenoble Airport a bit of a nightmare! However for anyone heading out to the Alps the powder skiing should be excellent and the ice softer and fatter.... We arrived back home in Scotland this evening safe and sound after a very bumpy and worrying approach into Edinburgh Airport due to the high gusty winds.

La Grave ice and skiing update!

A few clouds about today and slightly milder so another rest day skiing at Les Deux Alpes for less than 21 Euros!

With high pressure for the past two weeks, it's been sunny during the day and frosty both day and night especially in the deep valleys. It's also been a lot colder this week with overnight low temperatures well below minus twelve partially freezing up the rarely formed Le Saut de la Pucelle in less than a week!

This has really fattened up the ice in the upper La Grave area with Les Valseuses touching down and now looking fat. Many of the popular reliable ice lines on north aspects such as Le Pylone, La Croupe de la Poufiasse, La Colere du Ciel, are now climbable though not as fat as they have been in some years. Based on our past experience, Goulotte d'Astarothe, Les Doigts d'Astarothe, Cagade, and Goulottes du Muretouse all look like they would be ok. On southern aspects the lower pitches of the routes in the Clots area look climbable as well as the popular routes at the tunnel such as Caturgeas, Les Moulins and Mini Moulins though the upper cigars are either not fully formed or very thin. All the routes on the south facing slopes are now being strongly affected by the late January sun.
The routes at Alpes d'Huez have given us great climbing - Symphonie d'Automne, Supercramp, Stalactus and Super Misere. Ice Bille and Misere also were in condition. There have been so few climbers about that we've had the routes to ourselves and only on Saturday did we see a group on Ice Bille.
We were lucky to arrive just after the huge dump of snow so the snow conditions were stabilising nicely and we skied at Les Deux Alpes, Alpes d'Huez and had a fantastic day skiing on La Meije from 3200m all the way down to the village at 1500m. That was last Wednesday and since then there is a lot less powder about and some runs are getting a bit scratchy but with more snow forecast...!
The roads have been very icy and covered in hard packed snow. We've had to use our snow chains as winter tyres on hire cars can be a bit of a lottery unless hiring from Geneva.
After twelve years of trips to La Grave in January, this has turned out to be one of the best with a great mix of climbing and skiing.
More details and photos on Fi's blog here

Fi on Super Misere!

"Back to Alpe d'Huez  for our last climb of the trip to climb Super Misere which looked like a Scottish icy gully on Ben Nevis....."
The full story and lots of stunning photos on Fi's blog here!

Sparkling icicles!

"Alpe d'Huez with its sunshine was just too appealing compared to the bitter cold of the La Grave valley!
This time we climbed Supercramp taking the ramp that forms the start of Supercramp direct but continuing on and across to the belay at the top of Supercramp's first pitch. The ice above was steep..."
Another great ice climbing day in the sun on SuperCramp with the full story and photos on Fi's blog here

Deep blue skies and thick blue ice...

"Another great day at Alpe d'Huez this time to climb Symphonie d'Automne.

The ice on the first pitch was much harder and more brittle than we expected..."

More photos and full details on Fi's blog here

Sun and ice at d'Huez

"The overnight temperature at La Grave has been around -12c and the ice is hard and brittle. The high pressure that has settled over the Alps has given milder temperatures higher up so we decided to go to Alpe d'Huez to get the benefit of this. The ice routes are accessed by a half hour walk along a pisted trail from the first level of the lift that ultimately ends up at Pic Blanc..."
The full story and more photos on Fi's blog here!

Lots to do over the next week and lots of headcam video too!

A spot of ice climbing!

"Ron and I went to try out our new ice axes on Le Pylone and for me, to try climbing steep ice without leashes. The ice was hard and fragile in places and the axes took a bit of getting used to but with nobody above us, we could enjoy the climbing..."
A rest from the skiing today with the full story and more photos on Fi's blog here!

Tons of snow in the Alps!

"We didn't have to go far to find fantastic skiing on La Meije, just two minutes from our apartment. We skied one run from 3200m down and across to the second lift station at 2400m to pick up the gondola back to the the top. Another run took us down the Vallons de la Meije and through the forest to the lower lift station at 1800m then back up again for a final run all the way down to La Grave..." The full story and more photos on Fi's blog here!

Fantastic weather and snow cover in the Alps with great skiing in Les Deux Alpes, Alpe d'Huez and La Meije! Given the superb weather and snow over the past week it's also surprisingly quiet which is great for us!

Tomorrow for a change and to rest our legs we'll be going ice climbing. 

Although choice is limited in La Grave and conditions thinner than normal there's still plenty of good thick ice to climb in the area and in Alp d'Huez...

Off to the Alps for some skiing and ice climbing!

As the post says...
Over the next two weeks I'll post an update of the conditions in La Grave - time and internet access permitting...

Cheers Ron

Winter climbing conditions video and today's photos!

A few video clips from yesterday's (05/01/12) climbing day on our Advanced Winter Mountaineering course!

Another windy report and photos from Cairngorm's summit today (06/01/12) are on Fi's blog here

Wintry mixed Cairngorm gnarl!!

Our advanced Winter Mountaineering course spent yesterday learning basic climbing and alpine rope-work completely sheltered from the wet windy weather at a dry local crag! They all picked up the rope-work and belaying quickly. However I'd stressed that we'd be climbing in more wintry conditions today and that even clipping a krab or tying a simple knot would be challenging - and it was!
We headed into Coire an t-Sneachda in surprisingly calm conditions, however once into the main coire visibility deteriorated (sorry no photos) with the wind and spindrift making their presence painfully felt.
Due to the soft slabby snow and poor snow-ice build-up  I'd decided on a safe but challenging mixed rocky rib for our climbing day.
Our route was technically tricky especially for non climbers, but really well protected with slings using spikes and bomber threads. This was fortunate as the weather was challenging even with goggles due to the painful spindrift and everything icing up solid!
Everyone including Eugene a total non climber did really well. Climbing snow covered rock and rime ice is never easy, even in calm weather.
We abseiled off due to time and wind then ploughed and post holed on the deep wind slabby snow drifts back to the corrie floor. Despite the difficult weather everyone seems to have enjoyed the challenging conditions and arctic Cairngorm experience!
Visibility was poor but from what I did see many of the gullies and crag aprons are starting to fill in. The crags are now white and rimed but with limited ice build-up. Many areas are wind scoured so climbing route choice is limited with ridges and buttresses best.
Cairngorm Mountain opened a few of the ski tows today and the Coire Cas carpark was relatively busy. There is an easy trail into the corries though the paths were becoming icy on the walk out.

A much better day than expected!

A much better, less windy and less snowy day than expected from looking at ALL the weather forecasts!
It was totally calm this morning and milder than expected so we all headed up towards Coire Laogh Mor to dig, avalanche pits, emergency shelters and  look at snow belays.
The wind and snow did pick up a bit by late morning but it wasn't unmanageable and was good test for goggles.
We headed down to another completely sheltered snowdrift as the winds veered to the NW and spent the afternoon digging snow belays and looking at basic winter ropework.
The afternoon turned out quite pleasant though we didn't notice any cars on the ski road. We found out later that the snowgates were closed!
The Cairngorms are looking slightly more snowy on sheltered aspects though west facing areas are very much scoured.

New Year course new snow!

A good wintry start to our first course of the 2012. It's been snowing on and off all day and the snow has turned quite heavy this evening causing problems on the roads.
Fi was out with the group going through all the basic axe, crampon and walking skills sheltered from the strong winds. Full details on her blog here

Snow hole expedition on the Cairngorm plateau!

A good winters day with lots of fresh drifted snow on Cairngorm for digging spacious overnight group shelters. It looked set to be a great night out BUT temperatures rose extremely rapidly this evening. The warm winds and rain arrived earlier than had been forecast this morning with the snow turning to slush even at summit level!

Our group decided to repack their sleeping bags and sacks to return to base due to deteriorating conditions and snow stability!

In contrast to this morning's climb up with fresh snow in the ski area, it was melting fast in the WARM winds on their torchlight descent back to the cars. Full details on Fi's blog here and Part 1 of Simon's blog here
It's to be mild tomorrow before it turns cold YET again!!

Simon has a good write-up and lots of photos of the course on his personal blog at www.alwaystakeacompass.com

A proper winters day on the Cairngorm plateau

We had a good mountain journey in manageable BUT proper windy winter conditions with rimed beards and eyebrows, goggles, maps, compasses and good micro navigation techniques!
Most of the  recent snow has been blown into sheltered hollows on SE to NE aspects leaving most northerly aspects wind scoured but rimed.
A select few sheltered areas on the plateau have gained a metre or two of fresh windslab. This sheared easily when traversed on setting of a small slab avalanche and was great for teaching avalanche awareness. The snow was also ideal digging snow blocks and squeaky snow shelters for our snow-hole expedition tomorrow night.
Within the ski area the upper runs looked scoured and bare. Once we descended the traverse and into the Cas we found a lot of deep drifts which should piste out well on a few middle runs and allow the ski centre to reopen again.
Judging by the fresh snow buildup on SE aspects any winds from the south over the next few days will significantly improve the snow cover in the NC's - here's hoping....
More wintry photos of day 3 on Simon's blog www.alwaystakeacompass.com can be found here
Since my return home there's been several heavy snow showers in Aviemore and a good few extra cms of snow at 400 metres.
Fi was out with a winter skills group in Coire na Ciste and found our old snow shelters here