ClimbNow Blog

18/2/12 to 20/2/12 The Cairngorms and Glencoe

Euan — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:26:17 +0000

Gayle scrambling on the North East Ridge of Angels Peak.

: The team outside Corrour Bothy.

Tam, Gayle and Ann walking from Angels Peak to Cairn Toul.

On Saturday Tam, Ann, Morag, Gayle, Paul, John and I headed into the Corrour Bothy from the Linn of Dee. Light snow and strong winds accompanied our walk in.

We got up early on Sunday and ascended the North East Ridge of Angels Peak to the summit, Cairn Toul and the Devils Elbow. There is still large amounts of snow in this area of the plateau. The high corries of the Cairngorms (such as An Garbh Coire) have large amounts of snow in them and on Sunday the buttresses were white. The descent to the Bothy from the plateau had some avalanche danger.

Today I have been in Glencoe teaching winter skills near the ski centre. It has been very wet. Torrential rain and high winds have affected Glencoe all day. A number of the rivers will now be difficult to cross.

18/02/12 Ben Ledi

Wilf — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:04:28 +0000

Out with Lorna, Arlene, Rachel, Lisa-Jane, Sabine and Neil from the Glasgow Hillwalking and Mountaineering Club today doing a Winter Skills course.

Sabine, Lorna, Neil and Arlene in NE Coire of Ben Ledi

We headed in to the north-east coire of Ben Ledi and were rewarded with plenty of old snow and neve to practice on. There was a dusting of fresh snow from overnight and there was a graupel shower as we headed up in the morning.

Neil, Arlene and Lisa-Jane on steeper ground towards the end of the day

The coire was relaively sheltered from the west/north-west winds, but did catch some strong gusts; these usually accompanying the snow showers, which passed through throughout the day. Pockets of wind slab were developing in sheltered locations and cross loading was occuring. The wind slab was showing easy shears, but wasn’t deep enough in the coire to be of concern today. Freezing down to road level by the time we returned to the cars.

Rachel taking a break from front pointing/daggering

16/2/12 Stag Rocks. Y Gully and Diagonal Gully.

Euan — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:30:23 +0000

Linda descending Y Gully with Hells Lum behind.

Brian at the top of Diagonal Gully with Loch Avon behind.

I have been out in the Cairngorms today with Brian, Linda, Tam, Graham and John from the Falkirk High Tops Team. We headed over to Stag Rocks and descended Y Gully before climbing back out via Diagonal Gully.

Conditions in the Cairngorms are currently very very lean. The turf was not frozen at any level today.

15/02/12 Meall nan Tarmachan

Wilf — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:06:31 +0000

Out with Tony, Steve, Curt & Bob from Falkirk today on Meall nan Tarmachan doing a Winter Navigation course. Patches of old snow from about 650m on north through east to south facing aspects.

Tony, Bob and Steve on Mell nan Tarmachan

The major gully lines on Cam Chreag were still just about complete. The snow pack was saturated at all heights and some patches of ice were still present. Above freezing all day with no precipitaion during the day and the strong wind varying from west through to north.

Cam Chreag

11/2/12 Skiing in Gressoney and Alagna

Euan — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:39:28 +0000

Marcus, Rosie and Steve below the Canale Grande.

Rosie having a rest at the top of the Canale Grande.

Steve off piste above Alagna.

A great day’s skiing today above Alagna and Gressoney. Highlights of the day were the Canale Grande, Canale Dell Aquila and the Vallone D’Olen which all had great snow.

10/2/12 Skiing in Gressoney.

Euan — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:27:57 +0000

The team off piste skiing today above Champoluc.

Rosie enjoying the empty pistes of Gressoney.

Steve skiing the Canale S.Anna on the 10/2/12.

We have just had another great day’s skiing today in the Gressoney area. Light snow overnight allowed us the opportunity today for some fresh turns. Steve and I revisited the Canale S.Anna which gave some great skiing due to the new snow.

6 to 8/2/12 Cairngorm and Ben Nevis

Wilf — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:09:14 +0000

Out in the Cairngorms and Ben Nevis over the last four days. Earlier in the week the southerly and south-westerly winds were loading the lee slopes with wind slab and building cornices and avalanche activity was observed on Creagan Cha-no (above Strath Nethy) on Monday and Number 3 Gully on Ben Nevis on Tuesday. Green Gully, Wendigo, Central Right Hand, White Line, Glover’s Chimney and Number 2 Gully Buttress were all climbed on Tuesday, but conditions will have changed considerably since then.

There was a big thaw in the Cairngorms overnight Wednesday and through Thursday with buttresses largely stripping back to bare rock and even some of the thicker ice turning very soggy.

9/2/12 Champoluc, Italy

Euan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:08:00 +0000

Rosie off piste skiing above Champoluc.

The whole of the Monte Rosa lift system was open today. Therefore, we headed over towards Champoluc for some skiing. Conditions were good. Later in the afternoon we returned to the Punta Indren area. Due to the recent high winds the snow is not as good as it was a couple of days ago.

Enjoying the sun above Champoluc. The Matterhorn is in the background above the cairn.

8/2/12 Off piste skiing in the Italian Alps.

Euan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:46:09 +0000

The team enjoying the surroundings of the Italian Alps.

Steve skiing the Canali Dei Cavi.

Marcus skiing the Canale S.Anna.

Today is our third day in the Gressoney area. At the moment we can not get to Alagna or Champoluc due to the winds. However, we have still got some great skiing done both on and off piste. We have been using Andrea Gallo’s guidebook Polvere Rosa. Off piste highlights so far have been Seehorn, Canali Dei Cavi, Canale S.Anna and Canale Del Moos.

7/2/12 Gressoney, Italy

Euan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:20:32 +0000

The team enjoying the sun above Gressoney.

Steve chillin' out in the sun before the next pitch.

Sharon enjoying the off piste skiing in the trees above Gressoney.

Currently Rosie, Sharon, Pamela, Steve, Marcus and I are out in Gressoney skiing both on piste and off piste. It hasnt snowed for a few days but conditions are still currently excellent with lots of fresh tracks to be had.

We are staying in Hotel Residence which we can recommend. The weather was a bit mixed today but as there is masses of great tree skiing to do this did not affect the day.