Sunday 3 February 2008

Going wild in the East 2 and 3 Feb










I've been across in the Cairngorms for the last couple of days. Ralph and Ian and I went to the Twin Ribs oweing to a Cat 4 avalanche forecast and a desire to practise some winter climbing skills in a controlled setting. After a wild start we were rewarded with some bright spells as we made our way up the most interesting ground we could find. Keeping us company with the same ideas were Ron W from Talisman Mountaineering along with Karl and 2 teams. My face fuzz came in useful as an extra layer when it iced up today (see pic). And we finshed by abseiling back down our route.


Today the snow had all begun to thaw lower down and the winds had increased. We went to the Ciste crag (AKA blaeberry butress) and had a look at placing pegs and building belays. When the wind finally defeated us we were given a lift round to join friends in the Cas carpark area (lots of skills teams all working close to the road in wet drifts) by Rob Jarvis. Rob had just come down from the plateau where they had spent the night in a snowhole and had tales of extensive digging through drifts to get out this morning to be greeted by ferocious winds on the plateau.




Two more days East coast adventures to come.

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