Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th February

Out in the Cairngorms yesterday (Monday 9th). There was deep unconsolidated snow on lots of aspects and skis or snow shoes would be very useful at the moment.

Today (Tuesday 10th) I was out with Jane and Pamela over on Beinn Udlaidh. Pamela headed off to practice some skills and Jane and I climbed The Cramp, which had good ice that was thick enough to take screws where required. There were some sections of less firm snow ice, but these were generally on the less steep ground. The cornice wasn’t huge, but big enough to be thought provoking and could have been bypassed with a traverse to the left.

The atmosphere in the coire was fairly social with a team on Quartzvein Scoop (which looked to have a fairly big cornice); a couple of teams doing The Land of Make Believe with varying finishes; a team on West Gully and other voices away to our right. Two teams decided against Peter Pan Direct not liking the ice. Organ Pipes Wall and The Smirk both looked potentially climbable.

The old snow is firm neve. The more recent snow isn’t particularly deep, but hasn’t consolidated and some cleaning/care is required. Sunny during the day with cloud arriving about 4pm and some rain/snow on a southerly wind as we drove back down the road.