Skye Winter Climbing Festival- off to a good start.
There’s been some great Cuillin adventures already despite the roller-coaster temperatures.
Climbing highlight was day 1 when Michael Barnard and Tim Oates caught the last day of big ice. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow gave a big 50m pitch of grade IV,4 water ice in Coir’ a’ Ghrunnda. The name was a far too accurate prediction with almost all decent ice on the hill destroyed by Sunday’s warm wet pulse. They also climbed a good mixed route on Alasdair, possibly Central route which gave 3 pitches at V,6.
Meanwhile the rest of the team had a more leisurely intro & exploration in Coir’ a’ Ghreadaidh.
We climbed a 50m pitch of grade III ice and set up ropes for everyone who wanted to have a go.
We all retired to the bunkhouse for haggis neaps & tatties and a quiet drink & early night 😉
Monday dawned cold & clear again and the 5 of us that had stayed on all headed into Coire na Banachdaich. The missing ice was a blow but The White Line gave the best part of 1000ft of great fun snow stomping.
No need for crampons with such soft snow but the excitement was created by trying to “act like a feather” crossing the more hollow sections of old snow.
Rory easily won the competition for action when he dropped through a hole right in front of Craig and reappeared through a hole at his feet!
Annmarie has been off the hill for 2 years with surgery on her feet but you’d never have guessed; as the pics show she was like the proverbial pig in poo J
Things took a more serious turn once we reached the Ridge.
A wee blizzard made putting crampons on a real test but we were very glad of them for the next 2 hours. A thin cover of old snow & iced rocks led easily to the summit of Dearg and a cracking view of the In Pinn.
The wind was ripping into us by now and the descent of the West Ridge was very testing.
This theme is likely to remain over the coming week and choosing a good descent route in advance is going to be crucial. We made it down to the path just as darkness engulfed us but the crescent moon gave just enough light to allow us to save the batteries for a more serious occasion.
There’s very little but cold, wind, snow etc forecast for the coming week so looking forward to plenty more adventures. There’s a few spaces available still this weekend then plenty more room for the week after. Pack your goggles & Dachstein mitts!
