Through The Pines... Meall a Bhuachaille

   Yesterday we were forced to have a rest day due to the poor weather and high winds, therefore the day consisted of an outdoorsy film instead.  Today we decided to brave the high winds to venture up Meall A Bhuachaille.  Unfortunately, the wind speed was higher than expected after we found ourselves nearly blown back down to the bottom of Meall a Bhuachaille.  Once at the top of Meall a Bhuachaille, Gwilym recorded a wind speed of 73.9mph on his device before being blown back behind the cover of the summit cairn!

   Tomorrow will be my last chance to get out in the Scottish Highlands before making my way back down to the very wet South West, Devon.  I am hoping that the weather will improve down there, as I would like to get back into climbing... if not than the indoor competitions will keep me entertained and Dart Rock Climbing Centre have their Winter Competition Series coming up, check them out here.

Carn Ban Mor, Sgor Gaoith, Sgoran Dubh Mor

   Winter walking and more navigation practice today (due to the closure of the ski road!) with Gwilym and Mark, we started with a nice little walk from the car park towards Carn Ban Mor via a pathway - where Mark and myself practiced interpreting the contour lines on our map to match the surrounding area.

   On the way up to Carn Ban Mor, we were greeted by some amazing views!  The sun shining on the slopes looked amazing and were packed with snow, however we did not want to wander nearby as they looked avalanche prone and matched with the slope aspect on the avalanche forecast.

After reaching Carn Ban Mor, we worked our way towards Sgor Goaith, passing the Plateau nearby 1012.  We then got a bit trigger happy with the cameras when the weather lifted, revealing the surround area - the camera didn't do it justice; it was much more beautiful to the eyes.

   After our little camera shoot, we went to bag Sgoran Dubh Mor before descending down towards Meall Tionail and back onto the path towards the car park via a very long walk along a very long road (at least that's what it felt like).

   My time in Scotland has so far been magnificent, and today was very enjoyable - it has been a big learning curve to discover what  I need to work on in order to better myself for any future adventures.  Hopefully the rest of the remaining week will be just as good and I will learn just as much.

Snow Slopes, Coire na Ciste

  

   Today we hit the slopes of Coire na Ciste again to look at some more winter skills.  Initially the snow pack was harder than first thought, so the winter skills started with Mark slashing steps up and down the slope to help with movement.

   We also looked at making bucket seats, then reinforcing them with snow anchors such as buried axes and snow bollards - then testing them to destruction!... Gwilym tried to pull us from our seats, then we loaded the buried axes with two people, and finally ended with abseiling off of our snow bollards - with a intermediate stance in which we used a stomper belay to lower each other back to the rucksacks.

   

   We also had a look at digging into the slope to create a shelter... very hard work and very tiring!

   

   All in all, a very fun and productive day to learn and develop skills.  Big thanks to Gwilym, you can see his blog here.

  

Fiacaill Ridge

  
   Today Gwilym took me up Fiacaill Ridge, a grade II ridge which seperates Coire an t-Sneachda and Coire an Lochain.  However, upon approaching the ridge, we came across a very large group (19 people!) walking in a line, which was rather amusing.  See the picture on Gwilym's blog here.

The route itself was of good quality and was really enjoyable to climb, I seconded Gwilym up the ridge, short-pitching some harder sections, and moving together on the easier ones.  The pitch in the picture below was fantastic; we climbed this pitch with one axe, which meant that I had to think a lot about my feet and how to balance myself - often resulting in some akward bridge moves!

   The day finished with some navigation round Corie an t'Sneachda towards 1141 where we removed our crampons whilst having a nice chat to some skiers who were headed towards Ben Macdui, the visibility finally improved on the way down to the car park with some beautiful sunshine behind us.

Coire Na Ciste

   After reaching Aviemore with Gwilym, we settled into the Mountain Cafe for a big meal and to feast our eyes on some shiney gear.  Unfortunately the ski road was closed for the day, making the plans for the afternoon unacheivable.

   The day after, I managed to get out on the hill near Coire Na Ciste car park with Gwilym and Vicky to practice some winter skills such as movement and footwork, use of ice axes, and some navigation.  However, due to the wind speeds we had to stay low - we were still getting blown off balance at under 800m. 

Welcome!

Hello all! I thought I would catch up with the times and start this blog; hopefully sharing my experiences and adventures along the way, through thick and thin, fog and mist, or rock and ice (maybe we will even see some water-based adventures! Brrrrr!)

I will keep adventures and miss-adventures updated, post about any previous adventures or thoughts, and tell you about the adventures that are still to come. keep an eye out!