With the wind and rain hammering on the van and a temperature of 9 oC outside we made the decision to head up high into Stob Coire Nan Lochan in Glencoe. The weather improved rapidly and with the freezing level dropping to 900m as forecasted the day was far better than initial impressions would have suggested. Due to an ankle injury to one of the team we made a leisurely ascent to the corrie where we looked at winter navigation, rock anchors and finished by making an ascent of a steep gully well to the right of Central Buttress. As we topped out the clouds parted giving us a spectacular view down to Loch Leven, the Ben and the Aonach Eagach. Today I was working for
Adventure Peaks on a Winter Mountaineering course.
The snow pack was saturated from the two day thaw but very stable. There were teams on Broad Gully, Dorsal Arete, Twisting Gully and Ordinary Route which were all a bit soggy but climbable with care. The colder temperatures this afternoon were starting to firm things up as we left the floor of the corrie. Just the one big gist of wind today but that did blow me off the path!
With the wind and rain hammering on the van and a temperature of 9 oC outside we made the decision to head up high into Stob Coire Nan Lochan in Glencoe. The weather improved rapidly and with the freezing level dropping to 900m as forecasted the day was far better than initial impressions would have suggested. Due to an ankle injury to one of the team we made a leisurely ascent to the corrie where we looked at winter navigation, rock anchors and finished by making an ascent of a steep gully well to the right of Central Buttress. As we topped out the clouds parted giving us a spectacular view down to Loch Leven, the Ben and the Aonach Eagach. Today I was working for Adventure Peaks on a Winter Mountaineering course.
The snow pack was saturated from the two day thaw but very stable. There were teams on Broad Gully, Dorsal Arete, Twisting Gully and Ordinary Route which were all a bit soggy but climbable with care. The colder temperatures this afternoon were starting to firm things up as we left the floor of the corrie. Just the one big gist of wind today but that did blow me off the path!
