Rich topping out on Dorsal Arete (II)Today was the first day of my Scottish season and in typical fashion it threw everything at us. We climbed the classic Dorsal Arete in Coire Nan Lochan, Glencoe in full on conditions. The existing consolidated snowpack gave good neve with an icy crust in places and the route itself was in the best condition I've ever climbed it in. The strong south westerlies were moving a lot of new snow around. Broad Gully, SC Gully and NC Gully were all heavily loaded with soft windslab by the end of the day. However the wind was swirling extensively producing lots of cross loading with some very deep drifts in unusual places. The upper buttresses were well rimed with everything frozen in place. There were a few folk about including Andy enjoying the spindrift on Scabbard Chimney (V 6). Today I was working for Adventure Peaks on an Intro to Snow & Ice Climbing.
Allan & Rich on the final pitch of Dorsal Arete
