120mph winds on Cairngorm today

Its been a wild day here in the Northern Cories of the Cairngorms. There was on RAF Sea King chopper working this morning lifting a casualty from one of the ridges who had been blown over in the wind and the fall resulted in a head injury. Some people braved the elements and got some climbs in, Lisa and I turned back at the boulder fields prefering to make for Inverness climbing wall!

"Out of Doors" on Cairngorm

Its been an interesting day as always on Cairngorm! Today Kathy was with Mark Stephen recording for radio Scotland. Apparently the program will be aired on "Out Of Doors" which you will all already know is on from 7-8am on Saturday mornings. You can also find it on www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland so that should be fun and of interest! Mean while on Cairngorm the sking was pretty good with amazingly good cover and fantastic carving snow! On my way back from a short ski tour I went in past the office at Glenmore Lodge and found Kathy striking her Tibetan singing bowl.. it's all very spiritual this Avalanche prediction work!

CORIE-AN-T-SNECHDA- Cairngorms

Fiacaill Buttress in excellent condition this Tuesday morning! This photo was taken from the Mess of Pottage area where we were climbing:At Newtonmore this morning I woke to warmer weather and the ice on the drive way had all but thawed away. At Cairngorm car park it was +3 degrees but the snow in the corie remains well frozen and the approach paths are still very slippy with ice. The climbing is superb, but there is a lot of fresh and windblown snow covering the ice and frozen turf. This is especially true for Northerly aspects. It was Stephen's last day climbing and he had a plane to catch from Inverness in the afternoon. Hidden Chimney on the Mess of Pottage is a handy short route for such days and as you can see from the photos, it's in good climbing condition although the easier gullies, traverse lines and scarp slopes are suspect. Technical buttress climbs are in excellent condition.

Climbing on Hells Lumb today

Kiwi Gully on Hells Lumb was in nice condition today! The above photo shows raised foot prints, which gives an clear indication of the fact that there used to be quit deep snow there, but is not there now!As its all been transported elsewhere by the strong winds yesterday. I wonder where its gone? One of the question mountaineers ask themselves when they see these "raised footprints" as sure as anything it means there is wind slab and instabilities on the lee slope! The other photos show Stephen having an ace climbing time!

Well, you may be wondering why it is called Kiwi Gully? I met an old old local mountain guide in the Cairngorm car park tonight and he said the first ascentionist, Tom Patey found the remains of a Kiwi while he did the climb!!! Apparently he reckons that Kiwi's ( From NZ) were common in the Cairngorms until the were replaced by the Dotterel and Ptarmigan.... I think he was telling fibs myself!!!!! Does anyone know why its called Kiwi gully?

Full winter climbing conditions

Those who were bold enough to get out of the car at the Cairngorm ski area car park this morning and brave the approach walk, were well rewarded with a wonderful day. Spindrift, poor visibility and wonderful conditions for torquing, squeezing, lay backing and hauling oneself up on unpredictable placements! Scottish winter climbing at it's most exciting, there is no where better in the world where you can train for inclement mountaineering conditions in the greater ranges than right here on our back door! These photos are of Stephen again on a wonderful Cairngorm classic! Tomorrow, I suspect gullies on northerly aspects will be full of snow with some interesting cornices. It's defentely worthwhile checking the SAIS blog and reports.

Winter Mountaineering - Cairngorm Mountains

Saturday 24 January 2009: It's cold but amazingly pleasant on the hill. It has been a clear day with occasional outbreaks of sun shine. Consequently there are lots of people skiing, ski- mountaineering and winter climbing and I would say it has been a busy day in the Cairngorms. Cairngorm Mountain's car park seemed full and the Huskey racers were out in large numbers, mushing their trusty dog teams down at the Hayfield and speeding their way through the ancient Pine Forrest! They are well organised with a several mobile shops selling burgers and steaks and all sorts of dog mushing consumables! It's also rare to see so many posh four wheel drives in one place. Husky racing is obviously a sport for the wealthy and there was me thinking that such outdoor people utilising dog power to transport them selves through the wilds would not be motivated or even interested in driving a Chelsea tractor! Aye, life, it's overflowing with surprises and I dare say the wisdom of us humans is plain for all aliens whizzing through space to see!
But then I am a mountain guide myself! Conquistador of the useless - hu- A noble profession some say!
Anyway, here are some photos of Stephen climbing in Corie an Sneachda and as you can see the conditions are good, if anything there is too much snow in the gullies covering the rocks and good ice placements. Stability wise or is it instability, things are pretty solid although easterly aspects must be a bit dodgy as once on the plateau we could see lots of spindrift blowing across and down over Hells Lumb. Cover for ski-mountaineering is pretty good although west facing slopes exposed to the winds are stripped down to the boulders. They say the weather is to be wild tomorrow and there are reports of a serious avalanche in Glencoe. I say you are safe to enjoy your Burns supper tonight, and if you have a dram to many, it's probably not such a bad idea to have a long lie in the morning!!

Conditions in the Highlands

It has been cold and snowy over the past week or so; there is more snow over in the West at present but it is looking very white here in the Cairngorms. The buttresses are plastered in snow and many people have been out climbing in the Northern Corries. Cold temperatures are expected to continue with lighter winds forecast for Friday.
Below is Coire an t-Sneachda taken at around midday today.