Saturday 25 March 2017

ALPINE WEATHER, ALPINE CONDITIONS

Leo all smiles, Coire an Lochain

Below The Vent
The Couloir

How long will the ice last?

The Great Slab, Coire an Lochain

In the sun, Alpine

Leo taking the lead

Hot on Cairn Lochan

Coire an Lochain, deserted again

Alpine style

Step cutting, Coire an Lochain
Wow, what a day! Temperatures were up and the snow was frozen hard, The Alps had moved to The Cairngorms. Leo had originally booked a two day course with me way back in mid December last year. There was not a single patch of snow during that period. The only course of the entire winter season I had to cancel because of lack of snow. So he resceduled it to this weekend. Well I think his wait for better conditions had well and truly paid off! We set off in warmth and headed into a deserted Coire an Lochain. We had the whole place to ourselves, bar two folk climbing well in front of us. Where were all the outdoor folk on a day like today! The snow was absolutely perfect for some cramponing technique. We worked our way up the corrie beside The Great Slab. The Couloir looked like a good bet today with no cornice problems just now, a good choice if you're thinking of climbing anything over this warm period. Leo was smiling all day and couldn't believe his luck at the Alpine conditions we had. We went up, across and down the corrie, then across the large shelf and traversed out  to gain the plateau, finally hitting the heat of the sun! What a heat! It felt like summer on the tops. Brilliant day and more tomorrow. Can't wait!

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