Today Nettle and I visited Coire Kander on Carn an Tuirc near Glen Shee with a Falkirk Community Trust Ski Mountaineering team of Angus, Emanuelle and James. We skied from the road near where the Clunie Water passes underneath and up over the northern shoulder of Carn an Tuirc. The snow down in to Coire Kander had been catching the sun, so we dumped skis and walked down in to the coire before climbing a pleasant Grade I rib back to our skis.
We then skinned up to the summit of Carn an Tuirc before enjoying an excellent ski right back to the road. There was good cover from the road, although some eastern aspects are very scoured. Over 900m some very icy areas are present and there is some wind slab around. There are cornices over lots of aspects and good route choice is required, particularly in thawing conditions. The turf was well frozen on the crag. Snow and rime ice was very soft where it had been exposed to the sun, however it was generally very firm. It was sunny all day with light winds. A glorious day to be out in the hills and a great way to access Coire Kander.
