On Monday 10th Euan and I met up with Mac, Sharon and Steve. Euan and I had a brief view of Coire an Lochain the day before and thought Western Slant might be a possibility as it didn’t appear to have the cornices above it that a lot of the routes in the coire currently do. We soloed up to the toe of No. 4 buttress and then pitched across the first bergschrund and up to near the base of the route. A second bergschrund had to be crossed to gain the route, which is currently started direct in to the chimney.
The route was in good condition with the exception of the exit; the crack in the right wall and the chokestone are burried and although there is no cornice the exit is on very steep soft snow requiring an extremely steady approach a long way above gear. There are still sizable cornices threatening a lot of routes and some impressive crevasse features on The Great Slab.
Today Mac, Steve and I were back in Coire an t-Sneachda. We planned to climb Rampant, but I followed my nose and the previous ascensionist’s foot prints and having looked at the guide I think we climbed the first pitch of Rampant and the right-slanting ramp line of Trampled Underfoot. Anyway, this was a great combination in the current conditions and had an excellent steep corner just before the belay.
The ice on Rampant was generally very good for climbing, but not great for ice screws.
Sunny just about all day today with no new snow and a very Alpine feel.
