Tuesday was very stormy with significant overnight snowfall. This morning the car needed cleared of about 7 inches of snow and quite a few of the high roads were closed at the snow gates. They opened the ski road around 9 ish although I was concerned how all this fresh snow would affect my planned walk into the coires and the avalanche risk on the climbs with Keith.
Keith had arranged a couple of days private guiding and Fi came along too to keep us company.
Well the day turned out fine with the skies clearing and the Cairngorms winking in the sun at us!
The local outdoor centre crocodiles were busy at work establishing a good trail into Coire an t-Sneachda which we then followed with ease to the NW facing climbs after they all headed towards the Fiacail Ridge and buttresses...
I had a hunch that the NW aspect would fairly well scoured by the SW and Westerly winds!
Keith had arranged a couple of days private guiding and Fi came along too to keep us company.
Well the day turned out fine with the skies clearing and the Cairngorms winking in the sun at us!
The local outdoor centre crocodiles were busy at work establishing a good trail into Coire an t-Sneachda which we then followed with ease to the NW facing climbs after they all headed towards the Fiacail Ridge and buttresses...
I had a hunch that the NW aspect would fairly well scoured by the SW and Westerly winds!
Many gullies weren't really an option and had grown fairly large cornices since Monday.
We used safe travel techniques assessing the snow pack as we headed up for the ribs and ridges between the Trident gullies ready to turn back if need be. Fortunately it turned out to be OK and we had the climbing to ourselves. We saw a few folk heading up towards Central Gully and the start of the Runnel behind us but they turned back when they saw where we were heading...
We then followed our noses up scenic Grade 3 ground on a secondary rib up right from the foot of the main rib then two easyish pitches on soft snow with neve underneath that I'd climbed last week. We headed for an interesting little RH technical groove of around an unplanned Grade 4/5 on a mix of neve, rock and frozen turf whick I'd previously spotted...!
We then followed our noses up scenic Grade 3 ground on a secondary rib up right from the foot of the main rib then two easyish pitches on soft snow with neve underneath that I'd climbed last week. We headed for an interesting little RH technical groove of around an unplanned Grade 4/5 on a mix of neve, rock and frozen turf whick I'd previously spotted...!
We finished after a short steep rocky step onto a sunny squeeky snow and rock ridge that met the plateau between the steep soft corniced gullies on either side.
The plateau was sparkling white and the skies were blue - a great climb and a great day out for us all.
More pictures on Fi's blog at http://www.marmotte.co.uk/blog/2009/03/trident-area-coire-t-sneachda.html
The latest YouTube video above can also be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqMR84YeAfU
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