January 12 Conditions

Monday 30th January 2012

Exploring Creagan Cha-no

This great little crag has only really been properly developed in the last year or so. It has a really remote feel even though it is only 1 hours walk from the car. It is great to climb a route in the Northern Cairngorms with plenty of turf still in place!

Ian and I had a cold (-4 ° C) and windy (sheltered from the westerlies but definitely not south easteries!) visit today and came away with 3 routes in the bag. Recovery Gully makes the descent to start another route very easy and most routes are only about 1 pitch.

Sunday 29th January 2012

Much windier and colder in the hills today

I was out today with another University Mountaineering Club. This time the students had travelled all the way from Bath to enjoy the wintery Cairngorms. There was a strong southerly breeze and it was about minus 2 at 1000m today.

Strachan and John and myself climbed some grade II/III ground on the right side of Fiachaill Buttress which avoids the crowds which were on many routes. Strachan and John then continued up the Fiachaill Ridge swinging leads while I coached them on lead techniques.

Saturday 28th January 2012

A very calm day in the Cairngorms

Today I was working with a team from the Aberdeen University Lairig mountaineering club. We were looking at climbing skills like belaying and rope work. They swung leads on easy ground onto Fiachaill Ridge. Placing gear and setting up anchors are the most important thing when it comes to winter climbing so there was lots of practice and good windless conditions to do it in.

Across the Coires it looked very busy with teams on every buttress. I was working for Martin Moran today.

Monday 23rd January 2012

Cold, white and wintery

Today I was climbing with Mike and we did Aqualung in Coire an Lochain. Yesterday when I was on the hill there was just a few feathers of rime beginning to build on the buttresses. What a difference a night makes. Today the crags were plastered with rime and gear was hard to find.

There was good banter in the coire today with many teams from the first day of the BMC International Meet. I bumped into a Spanish friend who I climbed with 12 years ago on the Ben.

From where we were we saw multiple teams on Hoarmaster, Hookers, Deep throat and Savage. Across on the pillar between number 4 and number 3 buttresses Nick and his guest made an ascent of Pic and Mix.

Sunday 22nd January 2012

Winter Skills in the Cairngorms

Over the weekend I have been out in the Cairngorms working with Lisa, Fran, Peter, Hugo and Hazel on a winter skills course. I was working for Glenmore Lodge.

Yesterday there was a strong wind from the north west and heavy snow showers for much of the day. We managed to look at some winter skills like kicking and cutting steps, route finding and the all important navigation. Practicing an ice axe arrest when the wind was almost blowing you up the hill was quite interesting.

Today was slightly calmer and we had a great wee tour of Coire an t-Sneachda looking at cramponing, avalanche awareness and ended by digging an emergency shelter.

Sunday 15th January 2012

High Pressure and a temperature inversion

Today I was working with Tom, Nicola, Jenny, Jed and Nicola on a winter skills course. I was working for Glenmore Lodge.

We had to climb quite high to find a decent covering of snow to practice our ice axe arrest. It was a beautiful day though to be on the hill. We also consolidated the crampon skills they covered yesterday with Hannah. We spent some time looking at navigation too.

It was colder in the glen than on the hill, about 4 degrees at 1000m and below freezing in the glens.

Saturday 7th January 2012

Brief blizzards and considerable buffeting

While Fran and Verity experienced their first winter climbing we were being battered by strong NW winds.

We climbed a couple of pitches of the Twin Ribs but decided against getting blown off and learnt about retreating from a climb by using a retreivable abseil.

The freezing level was about 900m but in the wind it felt a lot colder.

Friday 6th January 2012

Warm and windy on the hills

Today I was back out with Verity and Fran. They were consolidating their winter skills learnt yesterday and learning some rope work too.

We looked at using a rope in an emergency as a winter hill walker. We dug some bucket seats and learnt about body belays.

It started off cold and clear but the warm front from the west soon arrived and it was soon plus 3 degrees at 1000m.

Thursday 5th January 2012

Wild and wintery in the Cairngorms

Today I was in the Cairngorms with Verity and Fran. They are keen to get to grips with whatever they can learn about winter mountaineering and climbing.

Today we looked at safe movement with axes and crampons. Good route finding and avalanche awareness. We also had a practice of how to self arrest a slide.

It really was very windy from the NW and cold (minus 3 at 900m but feeling much colder) so there was plenty learnt about how to stay warm and comfortable in the extreme conditions.