John and I were out yesterday with a Falkirk ski-mountaineering team of Alan, Elsie, Findlay, Rebecca and Rob. We headed west to Beinn an Dothaidh to try and make the most of the new snow after last weeks thaw. This worked well as we were able to skin from about 450m.
We skinned up in to the North-East Coire of Beinn an Dothaidh before putting the skis on our back and climbing Emel Ridge. We’d chosen this route as a good option given the fresh slab, which had developed on Friday on top of old snow in gullies.
We then skied to the summit before descending to near the head of Allt a’Coire Ghabhalaich on excellent new snow. From here we had a long skin around and up to the head of Coire Daingean before descending back to the mini-bus. This was generally on good fresh snow, but without any real base and with burns showing and often requiring the removal of skis. A long day with the final descent and carry of skis back to the van being in the dark.
Some snow showers during the day. Accumulations of new wind slab on North through to East facing slopes and in sheltered locations on other aspects. The exposed turf was well frozen, but where insulated under new snow the turf was soft. Good conditions on Emel Ridge and teams on Stairway to Heaven and on the buttress around Zig-Zag Gully. A starry night as we headed out and a hard frost developing.
