Winter skills…looking for a venue?
18th March 2012
Above. There’s a lot of doom-and-gloom about what remains of the winter but there’s still some sport to be had here and there on our patch. Coire Chriochairein, in the shot above, is an excellent and quite atmospheric but little used winter training venue. There’s snow-ice down to about 700m and grade 1 & 2 ground up to about 950m – excellent if you need a venue for a winter skills group, or if you’re out on your own and fancy a bimble up something vaguely sporting. About 90 minutes from the car park up the excellent Coire Ardair main footpath for most of the way until you break off right at the mouth of the corrie. Recommended, but pick a day when its been cold so that snow-ice has had a chance to form a crampon-friendly surface.
Above. Bellevue and Pinnacle Buttress. Stripped of ice of course but Raeburn’s Gully is complete if a little narrow. Exit at the top is somewhat adventuresome at present though moving left gives easier options.
Above. The Post Face. A little frost where Last Post normally hangs; everything elsewhere has gone of course. Easy Gully is complete but narrowish with some interesting crevasse-like features. Cinderella in the Inner Coire may well be do-able as well but no recent reports on conditions.
Above. Bellevue Buttress in more detail – another infrequently used training ground. The RAF were in the corrie today; Budgie-the-Helicopter is just visible in the photo.
Looking mild and wet for a time. Next SAIS reports and forecasts on Thursday 22nd March
Comments on this post
Got something to say? Leave a comment
