A mixed Jacobs Ladder!

Enjoying the delights of a thin Jacobs Ladder

The final day of this weeks mountaineering course at Glenmore Lodge dawned clear and cold. We joined a string of teams heading for Jacobs ladder which was 50% snow & 50% rubble but gave a good finish to the week as we topped out to some stunning views over a very bare plateau.

The view out across the Cairngorm plateau

Last Route in the Corrie?

Friendly locals - Cairngorm reindeer

I'm currently on day 4 of a winter mountainnering course for Glenmore Lodge. However winter has gone! Today we headed back in to Coire an t-Sneachda for the guys to pitch some grade I ground using a variety of snow, direct and rock belays. A line of wet snow and ice between the Goat Track and Point 5 Gully gave us a good day out despite the rain and we were sheltered from the strong westerlies gusting over the Fiacaill Ridge above us

Warning - Reindeer on path!

Enjoying the 'ice'

Digging a buried axe belay in the rain!

The final pitch to the plateau

Poor weather navigation

Map & compass and imaginary snow!

This week I'm working for Glenmore Lodge on a Mountaineering course despite a distinct lack of snow! With a pretty bad forecast we opted to stay low and explore the mysteries of winter navigation. However conditions were far better than expected and we spent a very present day in the sun trying to get lost.

Distinct lack of snow in the Cairngorms

A very brown looking Cairngorm

The Northern Corries were looking very spring like after yesterdays thaw as we made our way back into Coire an t-Sneachda for a skills & ropework day. We occupied a small patch of snow & ice for the day and worked through bucket seats, buried axe belays, direct belays, placing ice screws, climbing ice and abseiling off snow bollards before a quick dash over to the morraines to dig some emergency snow shelters. There was a worrying amount of rock and ice fall coming from the crags although Jacobs Ladder & Central Gully were both climbed.

Coire An t-Sneachda

The remaining ice in Aladdin's Couloir

Bucket seat belay

Reinforcing the bucket belay with a buried axe

Practicing good footwork on a bulge of ice

Front pointing on steep ice

The camera never lies!!

Abseiling off a snow bollard

Wet pants day!

Topping out on the Goat Track

This week I'm working for Glenmore Lodge on a winter mountaineering course. After yesterdays stunning conditions winter was disappearing fast today with a freezing level of 1800m and high winds. The Coire an t-Sneachda crags went from white to black in around an hour or less time than some folk took to climb them! Plenty of teams out on the Message (IV 6), Left Edge (I/II), Jacobs Ladder (I), Aladdin's Couloir (I) and Fingers Ridge (IV 4) although a number opted to bail. The heavy rain from the west extended further than forecast and we got a good soaking as we looked at ice axe arrest and developed the teams crampon skills around the Flat Ice area. With a good foundation to work on we wound our way up the Goat Track and on to the plateau. A brief parting in the cloud at Point 1141 gave us a glimpse of blue sky but the wind accelerating over the Cas Ridge gave us a real battle on the descent. The remaining wind slab in the lee of the ridge was being picked up and scattered but the majority of the snowpack was sodden and flowing.

Fingers Ridge (IV 4) started in winter & finished in (damp) summer conditions!

The Cairngorm Plateau snow pack!

The Haston Line

Campbell West on Honey Pot (IV 6) from earlier in the year - slightly less rime today but very similar conditions - forgot my camera :(

This weekend I've been working for Glenmore Lodge on an Introduction to Winter Climbing. After yesterdays windfest and the monsoon forecast for the next few days today was a quick glimpse of what winter should be. The cloud cleared ahead of us to reveal well rimed crags as we headed into Coire An t-Sneachda. Today was the perfect oppurtunity to introduce the team to the delights of mixed climbing. Plan A was Hidden Chimney (II/III), plan B was Left Edge (I/II) and plan C was The Haston Line (III 4). With a traffic jam forming at the foot of the Slant and more climbers arriving all the time we accepted the challenge and went for plan C. The Haston Line proved a pretty stern test for their first experience of mixed climbing but 4 pitches later we were pulling onto the plateau feeling very pleased with ourselves. The route was in great condition with 2 distinct cruxes and plenty of enjoyable climbing in between.
The corrie was very busy with teams on the Message (IV 6), The Slant (I), Hidden Chimney (II/III), Left Edge (I/II), Original route (IV 5), Invernookie (III 4) & Fiaciall Couloir (II/III).

Cairngorm tans!

Good ice in Aladdin's Couloir (I)

This weekend I'm working for Glenmore Lodge on an Introduction to Winter Climbing course. The weather forecast was particularly spectacular with snow, storm force winds and a risk of lightning to contend with. We headed into Coire An t-Sneachda where the crags were briefly illuminated in front of us by a burst of sunshine. However as we approached Aladdin's Couloir (I) the wind increased and the cloud dropped giving everyone a full taste of winter. The ice in the narrows is in great shape offering approximately 30' of grade II. We were blown up the rest of the gully by a very strong updraft which had stripped the snow back to the old neve. Topping out on to the plateau the wind was gusting around 70mph which made reaching the top of the Goat Track a good challenge. The descent in to the updraft coming from the corrie was completed blind due to iced goggles but things had eased significantly by the time we reached the MRT stretcher box for a spot of lunch. The walk out was almost pleasant as the wind died away and as we dropped out of the cloud we were greeted by a winter wonderland with a covering of snow down to Aviemore.
The new snow has been driven in on strong north westerlies and there's plenty of pockets of soft slab around with some cross loading on the Goat Track area. Drifts were knee deep on the walk out and there's a good couple of inches at the Lodge but any exposed areas are still scoured back to the old refrozen snow. Plenty of Cairngorm tans in the Lodge bar tonight!

The view as we dropped out of the cloud!

Friday night film - BMC International Meet

BMC INTERNATIONAL MEET 2012 from ReelTime Adventure on Vimeo.

Cairngorm conditions improving...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Wild & Woolly in the Cairngorms.

Classic Scottish winter mountaineering!

This weekend I'm working for Glenmore Lodge on a MCoS Student Winter Skills program. This is a great initiative which offers subsidised training to those who have historically been a high risk group. The weather forecast was pretty grim with 100mph gusts forecast for the plateau so we headed up in to Coire Cas to have a look at the basics. The walk in was very pleasant with bursts of sunshine but above us we could see plenty of snow being moved around on very strong westerlies. There is still very little snow in general so we and a number of other teams were all heading for the old neve in the lee of the ridge. The winds significantly increased as we geared up quickly reducing visability to a few meters but the group persevered and through the medium of sign language we were able to look at footwork, step cutting, using crampons, self belay and ice axe arrest. The ski area reported 60mph winds with gusts of 90 and quickly shut for the day. However our biggest challenge was walking back to the carpark, directly into the driving snow. I suspect most of the group will be shopping for goggles tonight! Back at the Lodge for tea and cake we were able to chat through everything that had gone on and assess the effectiveness of their systems and equipment. Tomorrow's looking a wee bit calmer but should still be pretty challenging.

Having a look at the snowpack prior to this evenings avalanche lecture

Windfest in the Cairngorms

Aladdin's Buttress in Coire An t-Sneachda

Today I headed east for a training day with Glenmore Lodge. The weather was forecast to worsen in the afternoon with the arrival of a front so we headed into Coire An t-Sneachda to have a look at conditions. The freezing level was just below the car park but followed us up in to the corrie. Compared to the west there was surprisingly little snow with a number of slopes scoured clear by the strong north westerly. The Northern Corries are becoming far busier and today was an opportunity to discuss alternative methods and areas for instructing in the area. There were a few teams out braving the conditions on the Message (IV 6), Droidless (VI 6), Red Gully (II), Crotched Gully (II) and the Runnel (II).

Association of Mountaineering Instructors AGM

The Cairngorm ski area and Norries

This weekend was the 2010 AGM for AMI (Association of Mountaineering Instructors) at Glenmore Lodge. The two days were also an opportunity to carry out some professional development with over 100+ like minded instructors. I undertook the BMC FUNdamentals and Learn to Train workshops looking at coaching developments in climbing which provided plenty of discussion and new ideas. Nick Bullock gave a great evening lecture after dashing back from the Shelter Stone as described in his entertaining article for UKC. A very successful weekend for the Association with plenty of interesting developments planned...

MCofS Student Winter Skills

Day 2 of the MCofS Student Winter Skills dawned cold and clear with not too many hangoveres evident! The ski road was still shut so we headed back up to Ryvoan Bothy to continue looking at navigation, avalanche avoidance and ice axe arrest. The group from Strathclyde University covered a wide range of experience and it was great to be able to bounce a few ideas around interspaced with the odd snowball fight!

Post Holing at Glenmore

Post holing through deep snow.

This weekend I'm working for Glenmore Lodge on a MCofS Winter Training course for University Mountaineering Clubs. The Lodge has only just dug itself out of the snow that fell during the end of last week but 65 students had made a big effort to attend the course. We headed up towards Ryvoan Bothy to look at a variety of winter skills including navigation by pacing and timing, emergency snow shelters, avalanche avoidance and ice axe arrest.

Room with a view!

Winding our way back to the Lodge.

The deep snowpack was very noisy as we moved around on easy angled slopes. On investigation the unstable layer of hoar frost is still very much in evidence beneath approximately 50cm of soft windslab creating a high avalanche risk (east facing slope at 350m). There was some evidence of small slides on the steeper sides of the valley along with a number of impressive sun wheels.