Buttock arrest
18th December 2017
(Above) ‘Strictly Come Divvy Dancing’ in the car parking area at Aberarder Farmhouse this morning. Local overnight temperature inversion turned all the compressed snow into shiny, bullet-hard ice about 4cm thick – perfect for taking a flyer on as you stepped out of the car! Was even worse this afternoon when it was covered in a thin film of meltwater. A challenging start and finish to the day but survived both with coccyx (and dignity) more or less intact!
(Above)Â Looking towards Coire Chriochairein with the main Coire Ardair path just visible. The photo conveys the present snow cover at ‘Meggie pretty well. East to South aspects holding more snow than elsewhere particularly above about 600m. The thaw is becoming well established at all altitudes though.
(Above)Â Lower slopes of Coire Chriochairein – SE aspect here. The snow surface becoming corrugated in the thaw due to differential melting in the upper layers of the snow. Most noticeable at the moment in deeper snow below about 700m.
(Above) A detail shot of Coire Chriochairein. A few cornices around and some of them are shedding small chunks. Expecting to see more of this as the thaw takes hold.
(Above) The Post Face of Coire Ardair before it was enshrouded by mist. Some limited ice development noted but the thaw may well see at least some of it disappear.
(Above) A look into Easy Gully. The large and broad exit ramp of Easy Gully is more or less devoid of significant snow cover. Gully itself is complete but narrows with altitude. Today’s formal snow profile observations took place here.
(Above) A well-defined mantle of mist/cloud enveloped the Post Face as I departed back down Coire Ardair in the early afternoon.
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Stan Wygladala
19th December 2017 10:36 am
Only once in this country have I experienced âfrozen rainâ, and that was here in Bristol about 25years ago!
I particularly remember my daughterâs car being totally encased in clear water ice.
We live in a very hilly area and a young couple were â crag fast â across the road holding onto a lamppost. I put on my crampons from out of the garage and went bravely to rescue them. Disaster. The moment I got there they grabbed me which resulted in three people floundering around like upturned black beetles.
meagaidhadmin
19th December 2017 3:21 pm
Brilliant story, Stan!
Fifteen to twenty years too early for YouTube et al but if it had been captured on video it would have gone viral and you’d now be a social media star. (Formal editorial comment: A dubious honour.)
Ah, the ‘floundering around’ attributable to faulty crampon technique, perhaps? Pieds a plat? I will pass this evidence on to the mountaineering police at Glenmore Lodge!
If it were me I’d have front pointed over there on my hands and knees heroically wielding two ice tools. Would have made for epic video …but for all the wrong reasons!