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...!
A good couple of days with Tom looking at Scottish winter skills and winter navigation in a variety of weather and snow conditions.
On the first day we had good firm snow for cramponing and step cutting and as the snow softened we looked at ice axe arrests before climbing up to the summit of Cairngorm for lunch. After lunch we looked at digging emergency snow shelters before heading down as the winds increase to storm level.
In contrast to Saturday Sunday was wild all day with gale force winds and heavy snow which was perfect for learning about winter navigation and looking after yourself in a winter environment, see the video!
The forecast for later in the week were for the winds to increase to storm force as winter returns.
With more manageable westerly winds of less than 80 mph and an overnight freeze forecast for Monday night, Stuart, Dave and myself headed up Cairngorm for our planned snow-hole expedition.
As we battled the up the hill I was surprised how much snow loss there had been from the previous day and concerned that we might have an uncomfortable night in a collapsed dripping snow-hole!
Thankfully we arrived just in time to claim and remodel our snow cave for the night.
As the temperatures dropped and the snow firmed up the guys sculptured a lovely line of steps to lessen the discomforts and hazards of going for a night time call of nature without crampons, it worked well!!
There were a couple of other teams up for the night but once inside our dry icy frozen shelter it felt like we had the whole mountain to ourselves and we enjoyed a very comfortable night.
Today after breakfast we headed up to Cairngorm's gusty summit before heading back down, taking great care not to slip on any hard snow and water ice!
On our last day we avoided the 90 mph plus winds and had a more relaxed instructional day looking at micro navigation.
The good news is that winter returns over the next day or so and just in the nick of time!
Despite the mild temperature we had a fun weekend of winter skills with Annie, John, Craig, Stuart and Dave looking at ice axe and crampon use, navigation, avalanche awareness, emergency snow shelters and basic winter rope-work and belays.
It's a lot to take in during a weekend and really only give a taster of winter so Stuart and Dave are staying on until Wednesday for the snow-hole expedition and to consolidate their winter skills and micro-navigation.
