Absolutely Alpine on Cairngorm...

Fantastic Alpine like conditions in the Cairngorms with rock hard snow, thick ice, dry rock, no wind, deep blue skies and a warm sun.
Fi and I are out with John and Liz over the next few days looking at winter skills and then winter climbing with John on the last day.
The hard snow conditions were perfect for learning to cut steps and to move around on a variety of sculptured terrain wearing crampons.
It was only in the afternoon that the snow was just about soft enough to practise ice axe braking without it feeling like practising on concrete!