day one of winter fun

At the very beginning of February, signalling the end of an intense round of prelims, we jumped in the minibus and drove north for the Cairngorms. Things were as they should be: our wooden chalet was covered and surrounded by snow. It was necessary for most of the group to test the snow quite thoroghly the very evening we arrived.

Since Tim and James had missed out on a planned winter climbing trip earlier that week (due to slightly too wintery winter conditions), we split in to two groups: the climbers team with Miss Goolden and a winter journeying and skills group with Mark Davidson and Chris Thorne.

I currently only have images of the climbing team. The mountaineering team did an impressively long trip around the western shoulder of Coire an Lochan, over the top of Sneachda and there the team split again: Chris taking a team over the summit of Cairngorm while the others headed down the ridge of Coire Cas. It was bitterly cold.

The mountaineers get the layering right for their big journey ahead.

For their first Scottish winter route the lads tackled Fingers Ridge, a classic grade IV,4 mixed route in Coire an t Sneachda. James looking utterly at ease. I regret not taking a photo at the start of our route, which looked more like a Subeay queue than the great outdoors.

An indication of just how busy our route was: two teams of two ahead and the cliffside crochery that followed!

 Timmy negotiates the Fingers.

 Slipping through the fingers of the coire?

The feathers in the top left of this picture are a great indication of the wind direction that has been happening - the crystals and moisture in the air stick to those already on the rock, and so they grow.

The pitch before the Fingers - a lovely, delicate outing up a narrow crest of stacked rocks.

Careful James: almost, almost a full smile; certainly a detectable one!