Cairngorm Reports
(Sponsored by
Talisman Winter
Mountaineering updated
03/01/2006)
To shorten download time the previous Cairngorm reports have been
archived on 30th March 2005 and can be found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)
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| Frozen Loch &
Northern Corries |
Climbing Corries
31/12/05 |
31st December 2005...Happy New Year
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| Coire an Lochain |
crossing the
plateau |
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| Shelterstone crag |
climbers on the
Escalator |
climbers on Kiwi
Gully |
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| nice ice....! |
Hells Lum Crag |
climbers on iced
slabs |
29th December 2005...A sunny but bitterly cold
day with a biting SE wind. The temperature was minus 12 at my house
this morning and WELL below freezing during the day in the sunny
Cairngorms (The Cairngorm weather station report gave temperatures and
windspeed of -9c with 44 mph SSE winds...) We took a wander round Coire an
Lochain which is offering some limited good but lean climbing and across a
surreal sparkling white plateau to climb the ice on Hell's Lum. Several
other parties had the same idea with Kiwi Gully and the Escalator being
popular. There was also a team on the 1st pitch of Brimstone Grooves. I'm
not sure if the whole of Kiwi Gully was climbed as an experienced team
abbed off as we arrived when the ice ran out! The ice on the Escalator and
the slabs to it's right were complete although more like grade 3 than the
usual grade 2 later in the season. Due to the low temperatures the water
ice was brittle but thick enough to take ice screw protection. The upper
pitch had a good neve finish without a troublesome cornice to worry about.
The walk out across the plateau is easy on good hard neve BUT down the Cas
ridge is a pain in the knees due to limited snow cover and icy rocks...
28th December 2005...Another very cold and
sunny day with temperatures not rising much above minus 3 in the villages.
The higher crags are now quite well rimed and a number of routes are being
climbed in lean but good conditions on frozen turf and hard snow There are
some good ice pitches in places and lots of fun to be had if you know
where to look.
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| Northern Corries
27/12/05 |
Coire an Lochain
27/12/05 |
27th December 2005...Over the past few days the ground and old snow
pack has refrozen and with careful route choice there is still some very
limited climbing available on the highest routes away from Coire an
t-Sneachda. Some sizable snow fields are left on the plateau and on
southern aspects but a lot more snow is required.
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| Coire an Lochain |
Shelterstone from
Coire Domhain |
Vent towards Savage
Slit |
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| Hells Lum iced
Slabs |
Loch Avon from
Hells Lum |
Hells Lum |
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| Nice ice cascades
to play on..! |
icy steps and good
neve here |
rimed rubble in
Coire Sneachda |
17th December 2005...Very cold last night and today with a high wind
chill. Coire an t-Sneachda suffered badly from last weeks thaw and the
torrential rain on Thursday with the higher Coire an Lochain fairing
slightly better. The remaining snow has now frozen solid with the water
courses freezing fast. Several large groups of climbers were seen heading
into Coire an t-Sneachda and Coire an Lochain. The wise headed for the
Lochain and hard mixed routes such as Savage Slit others headed for rubble
strewn gullies. We left the hordes and headed across the plateau to the
Loch Avon basin to play on the ice and to check out conditions. The cover
on the plateau from Cairn Lochain to Ben MacDui is excellent with hardly a
rock showing. It's not so good as you head back to Cairngorm. The south
facing slopes around Hells Lum have a good covering of hard neve and ice
was thickening fast on the waterfalls and on the crag ice routes. It was
bright, clear, the sun even came out and we had the place to
ourselves....! On returning back across the plateau and around the misty
top of the routes in Coire an t-Sneachda we were surprised at how little
snow remained in the gully lines from our last visit on Monday. A large
group of about a dozen were emerging from the top of Aladdin's Couloir
some clad with the latest ice tools and climbing gear so we thought that
maybe our observations were wrong. They told us the gully was in good nick
with lots of snow and ice. I headed over to have a look at the snow dusted
and frosted rubble and thought....!! If only they knew?
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| Aladdin's to Goat
Track 12/12/05 |
Fiacaill Ridge
12/12/05 |
Monday 12th December 2005...a good overnight
frost has refrozen the snow pack although not long or hard enough enough
to prevent some post holing through the boulder fields! Most of the gully
lines in Coire an t-Sneachda are now thin / broken but still climbable
albeit at a harder grade. Jacob's Ladder is broken in several places and
Aladdin's Couloir now has a mixed ice and rock section at the narrows. The
Trident area, surprisingly looked better than expected with Spiral Gully
further right looking interesting...! Despite the low temperatures
overnight and today the turf and moss was still soft with the rocky rubble
dangerously loose. There's probably a lot more snow in Cairn Lochain but
we didn't get to check it out. The plateau and the south facing slopes
still seem to have a good deal of snow for ski touring and in some gully
lines.
Sunday 11th December 2005...since Friday there
has been a continuous day and night thaw with all the buttresses stripped
black by Saturday. Overnight and on Sunday with temperatures in double
figures the thaw continued leaving patchy cover on all but the highest
slopes. Fortunately the snow in gully lines, crag aprons and corrie
headwalls that has survived is now freezing up, just in the nick of time
and so should provide a good solid solid neve base. A few of the easier
gully lines look to be more or less complete with a dribble of ice on the
Mirror...!
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| Walk in to Coire an
t-Sneachda |
Climber on
Aladdin's? |
fun mixed
climbing... |
8th December 2005...What a difference a few
days of hard frost make and pity about the forecast weekend thaw... One of
the most enjoyable early season winter days I've had for a long time with
over 200 photos taken some of which I'll upload later when I have time.
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| Cairngorm Icefalls! |
Mess of Potage |
Aladdin's Buttress |
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| Fiacaill Ridge |
Mirror to Goat
Track area |
Moonrise in Corrie |
The past two days have been cold, clear and
sunny and although the wind was from a southerly direction today blowing
quantities of snow into a few of the gully lines this wasn't noticeable on
route, at least on the ridges and buttresses where we were on. Don't know
about the Gullies though...! Today there was some fresh windblown snow and
some windslab building although the walk in and approach slopes below
Aladdin's were nice and firm without being icy. The snow on the slabs,
ledges and corners around the Aladdin's area gave fairly good axe
placements compared to the bottomless powder and rime of not so long ago.
The smaller cracks were quite icy and there was some verglas and thicker
areas of water ice in places but other than that the climbing was really
enjoyable without feeling too iffy. Higher up the snow is still powdery
but stable underneath. Ice was developing on the chockstones of
Patey's Original Route and the Mirror Direct which is now quite thick.
Several teams were climbing on the Mess of Potage on routes such as
Melting Pot, Message and Pot of Gold etc. On Aladdin's Buttress several
lines were climbed such as Para Medic or the Third Wish? and Doctor's
Choice. No one was on White Magic which looked plastered white! Most of
the Trident Gullies were being climbed such as the Runnel etc. Over on
Fluted Buttress climbers were seen on Spiral Gully, Wavelength, Fluted
Buttress Direct, Cruising or Sax Appeal?, Broken Gully, Fingers
Ridge and no doubt Red and Goat Track Gullies. In all a busy December day
but still quiet compared to peak season...! I'll add some more details
later.
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| Looking up Central
Gully |
Lots of rimed rock! |
2nd pitch Pygmy
Ridge |
6th December 2005...The
buttresses are plastered in thick rime and hoar in Coire an t-Sneachda and
I an told in Coire an Lochain. About 20cm of ice on top of the rock needs
clearing, the cracks are hard to find and quite icy if you want
protection. If you are delicate you can climb on the hoar without touching
the rock so in good challenging winter condition...! Definitely want an
adze and hammer for clearing snow and hammering in protection. The path
into Sneachda was good today and only took an hour despite no overnight
freeze last night. Today the approach slopes could be climbed without
crampons with nice bucket steps and should freeze up tonight. All the
gullies are well filled with softish snow but with some harder snow in
places. Signs of previous avalanche activity in Trident Runnel area but
today the snow although fairly soft seemed relatively stable. Visibility
was again poor. We went up Central Gully then across to Pygmy Ridge and
down Aladdin's Couloir which was pretty banked out.
Forecast is for a warm spell this weekend? If you want to get out in the
snow and ice I'd do it before Friday unless you want buried in it...!
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| Aladdin's &
Mirror 4/12/05 |
5th December 2005... despite the slow thaw
there's still lots and lots of snow above 600 metres making travel through
boulder fields tedious. It never really thawed that much above 3,500 ft
and the high buttresses in Coire an Lochain are still very thick with rime
ice. The upper half of the mountain now has some more fresh snow! The
freezing level is lowering and this should improve climbing conditions.
Initially expect a breakable crust in places...! Good skiing on the upper
mountain but icier lower down. See the
MacMountaineering page for
detailed report of conditions in Coire an t-Sneachda on Sunday.
1st December 2005...A definite thaw today and
over the next few days. With the return of colder conditions after the
weekend the surviving snow pack should be a lot better for climbing.
Fingers crossed it doesn't thaw too much...! See also the
MacMountaineering page.
29th November 2005...Apologies for no photos
but I forgot my camera and my partners battery went flat with cold. The
northern corries are absolutely plastered with hardly a rock showing and a
great base for skiing on and off the piste. The best overall cover for
years and it's only November. There's been a huge change since the weekend
with snow drifting into the corries. Reports of fantastic skiing on
Cairngorm Mountain though visibility has been poor on the middle and upper
slopes. Away from the skiing area walking has been difficult and time
consuming though was a lot easier on Tuesday due to the firmer snow under
the fresh drifted powder. The Cairngorm cliff's were under full winter
garb providing a challenge for the true winter devotee. No ego massaging
easy ticks for the dry toolers today, but a good understanding of
snowcraft as well as hard graft to clear the holds and cracks. All without
the assistance of hard neve or ice for the axes. How people expect to
climb anything without a proper ice axe and adze to clear the snow beats
me! The turf was frozen, the cracks covered in rime and snow but
thankfully not blocked by hard water ice or verglas so after clearing
protection was really good! Visibility was poor almost whiteout so even
finding some the climbs with extensive local knowledge was tricky so again
good navigational skills a must...! On most aspects all the scarp and
approach slopes from the corrie floor were covered in good deep snow and
the gullies appeared well filled from what we could see. There was very
little ice build-up though and a thaw and refreeze will be needed to form
more ice and hard neve. All in a fantastic start to the season and it's
still only November. With the forecast winds due to come from the south
and west on Wednesday a lot of last weeks storm snows will likely be
redeposit on northerly and NE aspects adding significantly to the build-up
but unfortunately increasing significantly the avalanche risk and cornice
development. So take care.
28th November 2005...Good nordic skiing on the
south facing tracks of Slochd. The north facing track are fairly scrappy,
thin and broken in places so it was a pleasant surprise to find such good
skiing on on the south of the hill. Again a good base on the higher hills
for backcountry and ski mountaineering on similar aspects.
27th November 2005...Cairngorm Ski Area open
today with a run from the top to the carpark via the road...! Pictures
later.
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| View from the front
door 12 noon |
26th November 2005...It's cold and very very
wet! More travel chaos due to the weather with the heavy rain at lower
levels washing away a lot of the snow and causing landslides. A train was
derailed near Slochd at Moy this morning. See BBC new
here. Train
passengers are being bused between Aviemore and Inverness. Visibility in
Cairngorms poor but helicopter activity around the area...?
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| snow Slochd 25th
November 2005 |
25th November 2005...from -4 to plus 8 on Wednesday to -4 on Thursday
at Slochd summit (400 metres)! The very warm temperatures on Wednesday
have thawed the frozen ground which was wet and soft before the new snow
fell on Thursday. The icy roads caused a road accident near Slochd
Carrbridge junction on the A9 that damaged the power lines to Slochd and
Tomatin. On Friday morning the depth of snow outside my house was 24cm in
the morning. During the day the snow became very wet although it is still
lying to a good depth at around 400 metres. I'm not sure how much snow has
actually fallen in the mountains or Northern corries but with the high
winds it's probably been scoured and blown over to the other side...? It's
actually now raining heavily here at the moment :-O (21:30 hrs.)
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| Coire an Lochain
18th Nov '05 |
20th November 2005...Travelling back north
from Spain we were surprised by the amount of ice on the rock cuttings by
the side of the A9, it had obviously been very cold in Scotland recently
not to mention Spain! An email inbox of winter reports and great photos
from Pete MacPherson confirmed this with lots of early season action in
the Cairngorms over the past few days. With subzero temperatures,
substantial snow fall and blizzard conditions forecast for the end of the
week in the NE it's looking very promising. Full details and Pete's photos
can be found on the Mac Mountaineering page
here. Some other recent
photo's of Coire an t-Sneachda by Cathy Mordaunt can be found
here
on the UKClimbing website.
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