Cairngorm Reports

(Sponsored by Talisman Winter Mountaineering updated 12/06/2006)

To shorten download time the previous Cairngorm reports have been archived on 30th March 2005 and can be found here

For full weather details see Geoff Monks weather reports for the East Highlands here or West here (Adobe PDF reader required)

Two climbers in Aladdin's Couloir	Trident gullies and Fingers Ridge	Approach to Jacob's Ladder
Peter, Owen & Sue at belay	Owen on 2nd last pitch	Sue & Peter climbing
Cornice on Jacob's Ladder	Sue tops out...!	Carn Etchacan from plateau

18th April 2006...A bright clear sunny day with some excellent climbing to be had in the Northern Corries. Coire an t-Sneachda was almost empty today. We only saw two other climbers in Aladdin's Couloir AND yet our Easter mountaineering course had some of the best snow conditions of the whole season! The crag approaches and gully climbs had perfect neve. There's also some limited ice buildup in the drainage lines and in grooves. Still the cornices are big in many places and do require care and a rope!

The corrie and plateau cover is good for ski touring and this evening we passed two keen skiers walking in to ski Aladdin's Couloir which is full of nice neve for climbing and not so nice for skiing....!!!!

Coire an Lochain 16/04/06	Coire an t-Sneachda 16/04/06

16th April 2006...Good whiteout condition on the plateau for our groups navigation day round the Northern Corries. They managed most of the day without using crampons by a bit of step cutting. It cleared occasionally and Fi took some photos of Coire an Lochain which like Coire an t-Sneachda has some large cornices above the routes, especially the Vent...

Gullies full of snow 15/04/06	Mess of Potage & Jacob's Ladder
Fiacaill Buttress & Ridge	Walking out Coire an t-Sneachda

15th April 2006...Easy walking into a deserted Coire an t-Sneachda on firmish snow. We only saw about ten other folk all day! The snow pack became wet on the surface but was generally stable, however as the freezing level temporally rose above the tops during the day there were fresh snow sloughs off the buttresses. A sizeable snow slide (small avalanche?) down point five gully must have occurred early morning or the previous day, though when the cloud cleared there didn't appear to be any cornices above either the Goat Track or Point Five! All the gullies are still well banked out with snow. The area from "windy col" (left of Mess of Potage) right round and passed the "Trident" area are all guarded by some quite large cornices making some of the climbing route exits tricky! Barring the aforementioned cornices the easy to mid-grade gullies should be good fun after an overnight frost, early start and coolish daytime temperatures. It would be sensible to check the gully exits before climbing them though! The higher cliff in Coire an Lochain looked to be still rimed near the top. The plateau is cover is great for ski touring and Lurcher's gully still full though you now have to carry your skis the last bit back across to the ski area carpark...

Easter winter skills	cornice Cnap Coire Na Spreidhe	descending the north ridge

14th April 2006...Cooler today with a mix of wintry showers and sunshine. The snowpack was a lot firmer though crampons were not required when climbing the Coire Laogh Mor headwall. The Cairngorms looked stunning and very alpine from the North Ridge... Aviemore was packed yet we didn't meet a sole on our circuit from Coire na Ciste!

13th April 2006...A slight thaw over the past day or so has moistened and consolidated the snowpack which isn't so good for powder lovers but great for climbers....! The buttresses were fairly black today but there's still more than enough snow in the Northern Corries for great climbing once it refreezes AND also great skiing.  The gullies and headwalls are well banked up with snow and with an overnight frost and cool daytime temps should provide great climbing over the next few weeks into May....!! Take care with the cornices though as there are some big ones to avoid. Ski touring should be good too when the snow softens up later in the day or there' a fresh dusting of snow. At this time of year it's not unusual with an early start complete a ice climb and then later when the snow softens do a bit of skiing or even go rock climbing on south facing crags. If you have the energy you could in theory do all three on the same day! Our Easter Mountaineering course looks set to be a classic, I'm temped to take the skis along for the descents...!

Ptarmigan ski area 10/04/06	Coire an t-Sneachda 10/04/06	plateau & Carn Etchacan

10th April 2006...Great skiing and not too busy on the piste. Some great powder on south aspects at the back of Cairngorm although some north west aspects were wind scoured and icy. However the wind had changed direction this evening and was blowing huge plumes of spindrift back over into northerly aspects with some silky smooth powder below the Cas headwall to finish the day off on... :-)

Coire an Lochain	Lairig Ghru	Cairngorm MacDui plateau
Ian with Braeriach as background	plateau sastruga

9th April 2006... Lots of fresh snow and great skiing on and off the piste. It looked as though it was hard work walking through the thigh deep snow drifts today but it was excellent for ski touring. Despite the fantastic snow conditions for skiing throughout the whole mountain and it being a Easter holidays weekend the Coire Cas ski area carpark was far from full. Queues for the ski tows were also minimal, not that I'm complaining....!!! Today was mainly bright and sunny although on the plateau it was a complete whiteout at times and required careful navigation on skis to avoid shooting off over an edge!. Lots of drifting snow and signs of recent cornice collapse and avalanche activity on the slopes above the Lairig Ghru on Braeriach.

7th April 2006...Very wintry with lots of fresh snow blowing about and a very high cat 4 avalanche risk. Comments from some local skiers that the white lady is in the best condition for over 10 years. In the past week or so there have been lots of ski descents down many of the climbing gullies...! Some areas are being wind scoured and there is limited ice for climbers but beware of the cornices and avalanche risk from those above as well as on your own route...!

Mess of Potage & Jacob's Ladder	Coire an t-Sneachda 29/03/06
Aladdin's, Trident, Fluted areas	Mark & Tim climbing Jacob's Ladder
Cornices near Jacob's

29th March 2006...Still tons of snow in the Cairngorms. The plateau has great cover together with the popular climbing venues. The buttresses lost the riming during the thaw but have retained now refrozen snow on the ledges in the grooves. All the main gully lines for ski touring and climbing are complete and the main runs in the ski area are still good. The snowpack started to freeze up on Tuesday when Mark, Tim and I were climbing onto Fiacaill Ridge and was frozen hard on Wednesday giving superb conditions in the easy gully lines such as Jacob's Ladder and the approach slopes. The weather was wild though blasting us with spindrift....! The large cornice over Jacob's was refrozen on Wednesday and climbable on the right although it has fracture lines about two and half metres back from the lip after the thaw! Several other exits are similarly affected. Since we headed out from the Cairngorms it has been snowing heavily again...!

Snow build-up is excellent in the Cairngorms and should be great for the Easter break. We still have limited availability on our 3 day and 5 day Easter courses though places are now filling very quickly. See www.talisman-activities.co.uk for full details.

morning break in the boulder field below Aladdin's Buttress	Mess of Potage & Jacob's Gully note the big cornices on the left	a wide and deep Aladdin's Couloir
The Trident & Fluted Buttress area looks superb	Fingers Ridge & the banked out Red & Goatrack Gullies	crampon practise on the water ice below the Fiacaill Buttress area

25th & 26th March 2006...The mild, wet and stormy weather forecast for weekend actually turned out to be dry pleasant and mostly sunny on both days. The ski area was relatively quiet compared to a few weekends ago yet there was superb skiing to be had throughout the mountain. Despite the ongoing thaw there's still plenty of snow in the Cairngorms. The gullies are very well banked out and the buttresses still fairly white in places, in fact Fiacaill Buttress was still plastered white at mid afternoon on Sunday despite temperatures in double figures! Very few climbers about but the skiers were out in force in some of the gullies such as Jacob's... They by passed the large cornice in Jacob's Ladder on the right. However there were signs of avalanche activity from the day before below the 40 thieves area with a runout almost to the moraine ridge where we were digging snow shelters and some climbers released a small slide on the Mirror today...! Once the mild weather passes and the snowpack refreezes on Tuesday / Wednesday we should finally have some great climbing conditions in most of the easy to middle grade routes.

Nice ice and sunshine!	Lovely!!	Peter's 1st pure ice climb

21st March 2006...It doesn't get much better than this... The only problem it's in the west! The off the wall comment today was: "In the east skis are useful on the climbs and in the west crampons are useful on the ski runs....!" Only joking, honest?

Patey's Route & Aladdin's Mirror	Col between Aladdin's Mirror & Couloir
Peter enjoying himself...	Looking towards Fiacaill Ridge

20th March 2006...The slight thaw and refreeze has firmed up the snow making the the approaches and descents a breeze. We climbed up Aladdin's Mirror which although covered in deep softish snow with hardly a rock showing was in great condition and felt secure with the ice axe shafts plunged in up to the hilt. On the approach we had a look at Patey's Original Route and the Mirror Direct both of which were banked out to half height but were quite surprised at the lack of decent thick ice on the bulges above. The last few metres of the Mirror Direct were powder snow over rock...! There's just not been enough of a thaw freeze cycle for ice to build yet.

Easy Gully & the Post Face	A fat and busy Last Post	Cold Climb classics Pumpkin & the Wand
	A thin start to South Pipe Direct	Thicker ice higher up

18th March 2006...Great ice climbing conditions on Meggy BUT with big queues on all the popular classics. On Saturday Creag Meagaidh's carpark was full by around 07:30 and emptying by 19:00! Although to be honest on some routes the build-up is leaner than normal. Also the ice was thin and crusty in places with the breakable crust on the snow needing care. The higher you climbed though the better and thicker the ice. The Last Post looked very fat and very busy with at least 5 teams on it. Generally conditions were pretty good for the time of year and without too much of a worry on the gully exits. One of the major hazards is other climbers knocking ice down and knocking out your front teeth or worse...!

Good conditions 16th March 2006

17th March 2006...Out in the west yesterday which was nice and sunny with some fantastic snow and ice conditions. The build-up is not as good as normal but what there is is now in great condition. It was so good on some routes that you could almost run up them with every axe placement being perfect...! The down side was the icy piste knackered my back and ribs when I fell flat on my back getting off the chairlift...! Over in the east there's been a lot more snow although the snow-pack has now firmed up well with many routes well banked or even buried. Soft snow still drifting into the gullies. It's looking really good for our late March/April Winter Mountaineering courses and our Easter courses which still have availability.

Sneachda burn filled over.	West slope of Fiacaill Ridge
Cornice on Jacob's 14/03/06	Fiacaill Buttress 14/03/06

15th March 2006...With the temperature drop today the snow in the Cairngorms has firmed up surprisingly well and was quite icy in places, to the extent we were wishing we had stiffer boots and heavier skis as opposed to Nordic! I suspect some of the higher areas will be quite crusty and subject to post holing although it was firm enough lower down. All the gully and stream lines seem to have filled in and even the small bridge from the Coire Cas lower car park was buried! It's quite incredible the change... We didn't manage to see any of the climbs but an email and pictures from Henry below give an idea of the cover... The lower forest x-country ski trails are now broken and icy and need fresh snow.

Hi Ron,

Some pics from yesterday (14/03/06) Fiacaill-Sneachda area. - Feel free to use if you wish.
Walked up Fiacaill ridge on what began as a sunny afternoon, in great snow cover and fairly solid above 800m. Picture shows Sneachda burn filled over. No sign of stepping stones. Well bonded snow on Fiacaill, and several parties climbing Fiacaill Couloir & Buttress lines. - All reported safe climbing on these aspects, but reported Aladdin/Trident/Goat Track areas very heavy loaded with snow, NOT safe for walkers & climbers.
Plateau was whiteout with mist, and very tough navigation. No visibility, and corniced edges hard to decipher, when inspecting gully exits! - Jacob's Ladder exit had collapsed. No sign of having been climbed recently. Party reported seeing avalanche debris on lower slope. - Sorry photo is best I could get in the mist!
Temperatures due to fall, should provide good climbing for a while yet, especially on a day with better visibility.

Regards,

Henry Orr

13th March 2006...A brief thaw today moistened the snow surface at 400 metres but made very little difference to the deep snow drifts on north facing aspects. Some of the drifts are well over 3 metres in the hills around 5-600 metres at the back of my cottage. The windpack was perfect for Fi and Ben to quickly dig a large snow hole to spend tonight in without having to venture onto the stormy Cairngorm plateau. I had a great ski back home to tea, cake and a coal fire following the large drifts in the lee aspects of the ravines and hollows of Slochd. The windpack was excellent for skiing just back from the corniced edges! For the first time this year many of the north facing drift sites are now full of deep snow. The forest ski tracks at Slochd are 99% complete and are quite deep with a base on the north side although they are thin in place on some of the south facing tracks where the trees have been cut and have been exposed to the sun.

12th March 2006...Very stormy today with lots of snow blowing about into hollows and affecting the roads. The A9 was closed this morning and the ski areas stormbound. The winds are from a south easterly direction so we SHOULD expect large amounts of snow to be drifting into the north facing ski and climbing gullies. This is great news once the weather and snow pack settles. Late Sunday afternoon I took a wander up the local hills which actually looked to have less snow on them than yesterday as they had been severely wind scoured down to the heather and icy old snow. However on previously thin north and NW aspects around 500 metres, substantial snow drifts of well over a metre in depth and large fragile cornices had formed in the lee of any sheltered hollows and ravines. Again Monday is to be very stormy but slightly milder before the temperature drops. The weather outlook for the coming week is for it to continue cold with lots more snow in the NE...! In the meantime road and foot travel will be difficult with a very high avalanche risk in the gullies.

On Saturday 11th March despite the 7-10cm of snow at Slochd (400m) the local ski tracks were wet and sticky as the ground and old snow had not fully refrozen. Higher up on the local hills the old snow patches have survived well and were just starting to re-freeze. They provided enough depth in places to build snow shelters just half an hour from the A9... ;-)

Coire an t-Sneachda 8th March 2006 More details can be found on the MacMountaineering page
Aladdin's and Fluted areas in Coire an t-Sneachda 5th March 2006	Stuart climbing Hidden Chimney Direct  on the 5th March 2006

9th March 2005...The thaw over the past few days has stripped a lot of the snow at lower levels leaving roads clear. There's was still a fair bit of wet slushy as well as icy snow on the local hills and forest tracks this morning. The higher hills still have good cover though with the return of colder temperatures we now have breakable crust as opposed to deep powder....! On Monday with the fine weather the RAF managed to get the helicopter de-iced and flew it to Glenmore. Also apparently quite a few of the  grade 1 gullies in Sneachda were either skied or boarded! Due to the waist deep snow in the east we were over in the west on Tuesday and were surprised at the difference in snow cover on "Meggy" and the "Ben" compared to the "Gorms"....! The forecast is for a lot more snow over the weekend and the return of even colder temperatures next week....!!!!

A very white Coire an t-Sneachda	Stuart & Fi with stranded helicopter. Aladdin's is behind.	Stuart climbing on Mess of Potage

4th March 2006...A flounder along a well beaten trail into Coire an t-Sneachda took us to the latest tourist attraction and a nice chat with it's RAF occupants. The Sea King now looks as though it may be there for some time! At the moment climbing in the Cairngorms requires a fair bit of avalanche awareness and swimming especially on the approach slopes where it was all too easy to almost disappear completely into some of the huge holes under the snow. On the well protected mixed climbs once you've cleared the first half metre of powder and slab there's some decent neve in places, honest...! The gullies are full of fresh snow and best avoided until they consolidate. We didn't see any decent ice though it would be buried. It was very gnarly today with strong winds, spindrift and whiteout on the plateau which although it froze our clothes, hair and eyelids in place, it made for some atmospheric photographs..! The ski area has been transformed with some good skiing and boarding. It was very busy with the shuttle bus operating from the Ciste today.

x-country ski tracks

2nd March 2006...The Cairngorms were absolutely stunning today sparkling white in the sunshine. The mountains are now buried in powder with a cat 4 avalanche risk which is not great for climbing but superb for alpine (on piste) and cross-country skiing...  A BBC Scotland News update on the latest Cairngorm RAF ice sculpture can be found here and a great picture of the helicopter and Coire an t-Sneachda can be found on Cairngorm Mountains website here

Nordic skiing in Glenmore forest	Lunch at the reindeer hut

1st March 2006...We avoided the arduous trail breaking and category 4 avalanche risk after a late opening of the ski road and made good use of the great snow cover for nordic skiing in Glenmore forest. The cover is also good at Slochd now for cross country skiing. The avalanche risk is high in the mountains. There's tons of powder snow drifting about so take care...

28th February 2006...Lots of new snow on northerly winds closed the ski road today. The rescue helicopter forced to land in Coire an t-Sneachda during a rescue yesterday is now frozen in place and under 24 hour guard until the weather improves. The RAF crew were assisted (rescued!) by Cairngorm Mountain Rescue and RAF Rescue teams....!  Snow has been falling all day to quite low levels even in Aviemore. We walked from Glenmore into Coire Cas through deep drifts which by mid afternoon were knee deep and more in places sheltered from the wind although a lot of the northly aspects appeared quite scoured. We practised our ropework and snow belays on a steep old snow drift and had lunch sheltered from the wind in our snow shelters. The heavy snow continues to fall tonight making driving treacherous. There's now enough snow low down in the forests for cross country skiing and plenty in the ski area to help fill in the runs. There must now be huge cornices and drifts on the southern slopes...

Coire an t-Sneachda 25/02/06	Crampon practise...

25th February 2006...Very busy today with biting easterly winds and a firm to crusty snow pack.

A black Red Gully, Goat Track Gullies and the path!	Climbers on Fiacaill Buttress area Invernookie & the Seam behind.	Looking towards Cairngorm and the cliffs of Coire an t-Sneachda
Bruce and Grant enjoying the climbing and the weather	Mother and son team Anne and Daniel bag their first climb...!	Looking across the plateau to Carn Etchacan

22nd February 2006... A stunning day...! Much improved cover on the plateau for ski touring. Many of the popular gullies such as the Trident and Jacob's gullies are full of soft snow and have fair sized cornices to negotiate! A good BRIEF thaw on Thursday and refreeze on Friday should improve the climbing.

Mess of Potage and Jacob's Ladder 21/02/06	Aladdin's / Fluted Buttresses 21/02/06	Fiacaill Buttress and Ridge 21/02/06
	Walking out of Coire an t-Sneachda 21/02/06	Coire an Lochain from Twin Burns 21/02/06

21st February 2005... Very busy with much improved snow cover in the Northern Corries although it's still quite bouldery on the approach and crag aprons there's now reasonable tracks to all the popular venues. The popular ice routes in Coire an t-Sneachda are little more than powder covered rock. The gullies and buttresses are covered in soft snow and need a good thaw freeze to improve the climbing and bring them into condition. Jacob's Ladder was again very busy although it's not in good condition with a very poor build-up of soft snow and no decent snow ice. The long term weather outlook is promising though.... :-)

Lunch stop on Sunday 19/02/06	Fell in a hole and took this shot!	Snow cover on southerly aspect.

19th February 2006...Very wintry on Sunday with good whiteout conditions on the plateau for navigation practice on our winter skills and mountaineering courses..! Lots of deep drifts on SE slopes and much improved cover on other aspects. On the lower runs the snow cover is still thin for skiing with rocks showing on the middle runs although the M1/2 was narrow it is almost complete. The gullies and buttresses are covered in deep soft snow.

16th February 2006...More snow showers today on southerly winds is drifting snow into the the Northern Corries gullies. Fridays forecast is for a lot more of the same... :-)

The walk in to Coire an t-Sneachda with sparkling snow covered grass and boulders.	The start of our gully climb with clear skies, sunshine and a hard neve approach.	3rd pitch and the weather changes with snow devils, spindrift avalanches..!
Marilyn & Peter get the full winter experience with clothing and hair frozen in place!	Winter returns with a dramatic sunset behind Fiacaill Ridge amidst plumes of spindrift	A very thinly covered Mess of Potage & Jacob's Ladder but at least it's white...
Aladdin's Buttress with a few patches of neve and dusting of fresh snow. No ice on the Mirror.	The Fiacaill Buttress area has some larger areas of old snow although the ridge was scoured.

15th February 2006...Winter returns with sun, strong winds and snow showers! A refrozen snowpack, fresh snow and a lot of spindrift today made climbing interesting on one of the few lines in Coire an t-Sneachda that had ALMOST survived the thaw. Some of the gully exits now have reasonable sized cornices and unstable scarp slopes on NE aspects. The old neve in a few of the gullies is only partially frozen in places, the loose boulders and rubble are now covered with soft fresh slab. Extra care required with some of the rock belays as the granite blocks are not fully frozen in place. The general cover is still petty thin in many gully lines but will be improving as they fill in with the new soft snow. Though most gullies are definitely not recommended at the moment until the snow consolidate with a few melt freezes. A few lines are complete but are poorly built up so harder than normal...!!! Jacob's Ladder now finally sports a cornice but the gully really has very little build-up below and was still snow covered grass and loose rubble on Wednesday morning so definitely NOT recommended. Buttresses have thin snow cover on the ledges but little rime with the turf just starting to freeze. The approach slopes and crag aprons are still very rocky. Very little NEW ice developing with the classic ice routes in Sneachda just snow covered rock. On the plateau it is now quite icy between the boulders with a lot of drifting snow... The other side of the Corrie an t-Sneachda from the Mess of Potage looks nicer as it has areas of old refrozen snow. Coire an Lochain and the inner Cairngorms are definitely a better bet if you want a reasonable build-up of old snow and ice. Conditions will be changing rapidly with the stormy conditions and any fresh snow fall and so looking reasonably good for the week ahead once the weather and snow pack settles.... The forecast for next week is for the weather to settle after the weekend with a ridge of high pressure developing and colder temperatures.

And yes with all this fresh snow blowing around the avalanche risk will be high in places so check the SAIS avalanche forecasts here!

looking towards Ben MacDui	Tuesday's route	ice is nice 14/02/06!
Marilyn, Peter & Fi returning	Coire an t-Sneachda

14th February 2006...Another early start saw us crossing a wet and slushy plateau but at least the rain was now falling as snow on the tops with the prospect of the weather clearing and getting colder later. As suspected despite the thaw there was still a fair bit of thick ice left on a few select climbs. Fun was had selecting the best line with the thickest ice to avoiding breaking through to the waterfalls underneath! Again we had the place to ourselves and as forecast the weather cleared and the sun almost came out... A fun day despite a wet start. On returning to the ski area the wet snow and slush on the plateau was firming up and will no doubt become very icy later. Strong winds and snow are forecast so fingers crossed yet again...!

ascending Cairngorm 12/02/06	lunch time....
how to fit 14 into 1 snow hole!	winter skills group	cornices on SE aspect

11th-12th February 2006...Wild with driving sleet / snow on SW winds on Saturday to bright, and calm on Sunday, we had it all. The south-westerly winds on Saturday didn't blow as much of the snow onto northly aspects as we hoped for and the cover on the north facing aspect is still very still thin in contrast to the snow depth and cover on southern and eastern aspects. It was quite a bit warmer by mid afternoon on Sunday and in many places the thin fresh cover of snow was turning to mush on a hard icy base of old snow. The rime ice was also falling off the snow fencing and no doubt the crags in huge photogenic chunks! The existing pure ice climbs away from the crowds in Coire an t-Sneachda are still providing good sport with solid ice screw belays on plastic ice although the snow was softening on the upper pitches today.

Northern Corries 10/02/06	looking NE
PYB skills group on Cairngorm	Fiacaill Ridge from pt 1141	Aladdin's from pt. 1141

10th February 2006...A great day to be out in the sparkling white hills. Thanks to Fi for the photos.... The deeper accumulations are currently mainly on the south to east facing aspects but with the winds changing to a southerly direction tomorrow we should see the snow filling in the northerly aspects and with a brief thaw and a refreeze midweek the outlook is promising... A lot of action taking place today with most lines being attempted. The mixed climbing should be good with frozen turf, ice and not too much snow. The easier gullies are still thin and with one or two exceptions look better than they are....!!

9th February 2006...A lot more wintry with subzero temperatures though not as much snow as hoped. The outlook has also changed yet again!! A thin covering of fresh snow on northerly aspects, deeper accumulations on southerly and easterly. Harder mixed climbs being done as well as old existing snow ice climbs. Gullies in Northing Corries are still very very thin. Will update with photos tomorrow (Friday) late afternoon.

Winter Skills group on Cairngorm	snow shelter construction

4th-5th February 2006...Our Winter Skills teams had a good two days over the weekend thanks to our instructors Fi, George and Brendan's local knowledge. However, the easier accessible snow patches for ice axe and crampon practise with safe runouts were diminishing rapidly. The large areas of snow on the coire headwalls are now too dangerous for novices due to the rocky runouts below. There was still plenty of snow on the high plateau's sheltered hollows for snow-craft and emergency shelters on Sunday but a long hike is now required. It's been very stormy and mild since the weekend so I'm not sure what is left lower down. The weather outlook for the Cairngorms is now very very promising from Wednesday onwards with freezing temperatures and significant snowfall forecast into next week. Fingers and toes crossed for some reasonably SIGNIFICANT snowfall as the temperature drops. It'lll help save the boot leather and the old knees...! See the latest East Highlands report courtesy of Geoff Monk and Associates here

We had very long days as we had to walk a bit further but benefited with routes to ourselves and good snow and ice. In the more accessible venues very few routes are complete or are dangerous due to the amount of traffic. Those that are complete in Coire an t-Sneachda for example are very thin and icy with serious run outs below. Even the paths were dangerous with ice to slip on covering the grass and rubble underfoot while being bombarded by queues of idiots on completely bare two star gully climbs dropping rocks and axes from above. Many of the routes could be easily climbed in mountain boots with bare gloved hands so don't warrant axes and crampons trashing the fragile soil and sparse vegetation. There was a callout for the rescue services almost every day and several fatalities in Scotland over the week. A very black week indeed.

However, if you had a bit of common sense, map, experience and were prepared to walk an extra half hour or more there were plenty of good ice climbs to do.....especially if you ignore the guidebooks...! The plateau still has good cover and the higher inner coires still have good snow and ice in places. You DO have to walk with crampons and know how to navigate in nill visibility though, if need be.... The good news is more snow is forecast for later on the this coming week.

coping with the white hell!
Looking towards Fiacaill Ridge	Looking south	Winter Skills course members

29th January 2006...Sunglasses essential, fantastic walking weather above a sea of cloud with views right across Scotland. A few cm of fresh snow has cosmetically improved the general cover but conditions for climbing and skiing are still marginal on the underlying  patchy base of old icy snow. It been cold over the past few nights with some easy gullies sort of complete. Also the ski have staff managed to get one of the upper tows operational this weekend and a Lodge ski course managed to find some powder...! Still it's been great weather for hill-walking and teaching winter skills and the buttresses are now looking whiter. We still need a lot more snow as the recent fresh snow will quickly disappear with any slight rise in temperature. Make the most of it while it lasts...

6th January 2006...Sorry to report (no not really ;-)) we'll be ice climbing and skiing in the French Alps over the next few weeks so the site won't be be updated until after the 23rd January 2006. As for Scotland it's been another very cold day with the light snow flurries drifting into north facing slopes. The ground is quite dry but frozen solid at low levels, have fun...

nice ice in left Twin Burn

5th January 2005...Today in contrast to the perfect cold sunny weather of late was pretty wild with very blustery strong SE winds and snow flurries making it difficult to put on our harnesses never mind climb. However, the frozen watercourse of left Twin Burn looked superb and offered lovely climbing on neve and ice bulges all the way from the lochain to the plateau. It was whiteout on the tops and quite lot of fresh snow was being deposited on north west facing slopes and our faces. With everything iced up the cameras and head torches packed in with the cold. The guys had an adventure today...!

New Year winter skills course	snow hole city..	Coire Cas headwall

3rd January 2006...After an overnight mild spell which stripped some of Monday's cover the sky cleared and the temperature dropped at first light on Tuesday. It turned out a beautiful crisp and sunny day for snow craft and a picnic on the tops. The ground is still frozen rock hard and very icy.

The surprise of the day happened on the arctic alpine Cairngorm plateau when a poor wee bemused mouse leaped out and escaped from the top of Fiona's rucksack onto the snow. The mouse had sought refuge inside her sack that morning after escaping from her cats only to find itself now lost on the top of a Scottish winter mountain... Poor wee soul...!

Potage & Jacob's	Climbers in Jacob's Ladder
Aladdin's Buttress area	Fiacaill Buttress

2nd January 2006...Many thanks for the email report from Henry Orr "A Good number of climbers out, in generally bright and fair conditions, despite shortage of filling in routes. Views are of main Coire an t-Sneachda climbing areas, and a picture inside Jacob's Ladder, with 2 parties making initial stances. Everybody seemed happy to be out in the sun, and not too busy on the paths. Some ice filling in the gaps, but the light dusting of snow can't be relied upon to hold any weight for tools or protection."
 

Archived Cairngorm's Reports:

• Archived 18th April 2006
• Archived 31st December 2005
• Archived 30th March 2005
• Archived 12th February 2005
• Archived 30th November 2005
• Archived 31st March 2004
• Archived 29th February 2004
• Archived 31st January 2004
• Archived 17th December 2003

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