Established in 1992 Talisman Mountaineering | Cairngorm Guides | Aviemore specialise in winter skills, climbing and guiding in the Cairngorms. This is a day to day OR monthly diary of what we get up to on our courses and the winter conditions in the Scottish mountains...!
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Showing posts with label Cairngorm winter skills weekend Aviemore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cairngorm winter skills weekend Aviemore. Show all posts
Another great winter skills and Scottish winter mountaineering day on Cairngorm with Islean and Alec and a great start to the New Year. We managed to get plenty of navigation practise, crampon practise on little cornices and on crevassed terrain, lunch in a snow-hole as well as basic rope-work and abseil techniques!
Bullet hard snow, sun and absolutely stunning views across Scotland above the sea of cloud together with the most amazing sunset as we headed back down.
After the two day winter skills course Islean and Alec are now ultra keen to come back for the full winter mountaineering and winter climbing courses.
A bit of a hike but well worth it for a fun winter mountaineering and winter ice climbing adventure on Cairngorm' east facing 'Alpine Face' on Cnap Coire na Spreidhe. This secluded area is right in the heart of the Cairngorms but does require a long approach over Cairngorm's shoulder into the Strathnethy.
We had near perfect weather, ice and snow as we climbed yet another new unrecorded ice route which we called 'Mhearad's Fall'!
The the main frozen waterfall route is a good early or poor season choice when there's lots of escape-able Grade 2 or even Grade 3 variation before it banks out.
If you don't mind the long approach there are several other short ice climbs to the right and even some longer 300-400 metre mountaineering routes on Spreidhe's east facing 'Alpine Face'.
'Mhearad's Fall' - a new Grade 1/2 winter route up the Ciste Mhearad waterfall from the Strath Nethy. The route normally banks out to a Grade 1 snow gully but in cold lean early season, it reliably forms a number of ice steps at around Grade 2/3, if taken direct.
Later in the season when banked out provides a challenging off piste descent which for the less bold can be abseiled!
More photos can be found on our Facebook album here.
Two places still left on this weekends Winter Skills course running on the 7-8 January 2017 so what are you waiting for, book now!
Great weather though with a bitterly cold easterly wind for the start of our weekend Winter Skills and our five day Winter Mountaineering/Winter Climbing courses. Photos on our Facebook album here.
Some fresh snow today and very busy in Aviemore and the Cairngorm ski centre. We avoided the popular venues and had the place to ourselves looking at basic winter skills, emergency shelters and climbing steep snow slopes and through cornices.
