Beinn a Chaorainn

Difficult approach through the forest

Today I was working with Mike Pescod and Donald King again. Today we decided to take the college students on a ridge journey - the chosen venue was the East ridge of Beinn a Chaorainn. The days journey started with a route through the forest, and we immediately discovered all the damage form the storm last Thursday - trees everyehere! There was a LOT of snow on the ground which was deep, and difficult to walk through. We took turns to complete breaking the trail. Luckily the students are all very fit. The walk in was definitely my cross training gym session for today.

The surface was firmer after the forest

The sun was out, and I wondered if it was a mistake leaving my sun glasses at home. The fun started as we left the forest behind and we moved toward the ridge - which was looking splendid in it's winter outfit

Still sunny on the ridge

As always the ridge was awesome. The sun was soon hidden by the snow flurries which moved in. We climbed up into the descending cloud base.

The snow had closed in

Very poor visibility navigation

At the top we discussed navigation strategies to move to the southern top. The cornices on the eastern coire rim were massive, as seen from earlier in the day.

Looks like a compass - what's this photo for?!

A happy team

A very happy team on the way down

On the way down we managed to find some snow that we could have some fun in - it's always good to be 5 years old in the snow. Another successful day of winter in Scotland.

Snow On Beinn a' Chaorainn

Ray with a snowy backdrop of the middle East ridge of Beinn a' Chaorainn

Today I was at the College with the Second Year students on their Hill Skills Module assessment. We wanted a good place for navigation mixed with steep ground. In the last 24 hours the colour of the hills changed from autumnal to decidedly wintry - the high tops above 700m have turned white. We headed for Beinn a' Chaorainn, not knowing how much snow we would encounter. The East ridge scramble in summer conditions would have been a great venue choice for today, but it was too wintery for the equipment we had with us so we headed up the southerly East ridge aiming for the 1049m top. The day seemed to be all about navigation, until we hit the snow at 700m, when the focus seems to shift towards throwing snowballs!

Lewis sporting his new bobble hat !

The snow line was at about 700m today

Lewis - where's that snowball going? Chris keeps out of the way.

The snow was soft and wet - perfect for a quality snowball. The ground was however also soft and decidedly unfrozen. The group did well today with their nav and are set up well to move onto their Summer ML course. Now the group are looking forward to their winter mountain biking and paddling. The most impressive lunch of the day goes again to Ray - Pepper Pasta and Chicken Kievs. The most inappropriate lunch item goes to Lewis for his Gobstoppers (although we all had one). Well done guys on a successful assessment - keep safe on those bikes and kayaks! How about taking up winter hill walking, or winter climbing?

A good day - Ray, Lewis, Lewis, Chris and Holly walking back

Beinn a Chaorainn

Gary and Nic

Jagged Globe Winter Mountaineering

Today I was with Gary and Nic and we wanted a good day of mountaineering with a little bit of a challenge. We headed for Beinn a Chaorainn and had a great time. It was one of Gary's first ever climbs, so he enjoyed working out what to do with frozen turf and how to use front points on rock. Nic has recently done his Summer ML training, so he was up for testing his nav skills at the summit.

After a great day they both want a little more challenge tomorrow.

Beinn a Chaorainn, East Ridge

On the approach to the East Ridge

Chris climbing - his clients look on - they know they've got to follow !

Myself with Nial and Shaun

We followed the knife edged ridge as much as we could

Chris at the front checking out the route - check out the shades!

Wish every day was like this. We all have sunburn now !

On the way down

Working with Zac and Chris again. We decided to finish our mountaineering course with an ascent of the East Ridge of Beinn a Chaorainn. We all had our shades packed. But nobody had suncream - error ! I think I've got panda eyes..

How long can this weather carry on for - I don't want to jinx it. Fingers crossed.