Today I was out for the first day of two with Willie and Jason.  A few of them meet up every year for a spot of winter climbing and this year they fancied the Cairngorm's.  The other team went out with Dave Kenyon.  Jason, Willie and I wandered into Coire an t'Sneachda to see where the masses were heading.  With folk on, or heading to some of our intended routes we scanned the guide again for more inspiration and found ourselves making our way up Wavelength (III,4).  I couldn't quite see why it only got 1 star in the definitive guidebook but in the selected guidebook it receives its worthy 2 stars.  It was a great route and no push over at the grade, gear was a wee bit tricky to find but generally ok.  Dave and his team went up the Message (IV,6) and then did The Seam (IV,5).

This week I have been catching some large doses of vitamin D whilst working for Glenmore Lodge.  I have been out with a team of 6 complete newbies to the winter environment so we had plenty to get on with.  The biggest problem with the week I have just had is that all the group now think Scottish winter is always blue skies.  To be honest I'm pretty sure they have all become 'fair weather walkers'!  We had one day (Wednesday) which was cloudy, windy and cold.  The group felt this was the living end....to be honest it was still a good day in Scottish winter standards!  We ventured throughout the Northern Corries covering a variety of terrain and found ourselves wandering near to the crags which were littered with climbers.  There were a few times I wished I was strapped to a crag this week but to be honest it was really nice to be in the sun all day rather than some shady north facing crag.  It was a fun week, digging was hard work, cramponing was easy and sun burn was severe!  Must head back to the shady crags now!

Great Stone Shoot with Sgurr Alasdair on the right

George and Julian enjoying one of the many snow aretes

Descending into Bomb(er) Alley

Ridge looking very snowy

After yesterdays brilliant gully we wanted to have a change of scenery and get on top of a ridge for a little more exposure.  George has his Gold DofE expedition upcoming so he took the map and compass and navigated us to specific points that I pointed out on the way in.  I think he'll do just fine on his exped.  On arrival into Coire Lagan it looked stunning.  Snow covered tops, wind swirling snow into tornado shapes and not another soul in sight.  George hadn't climbed Sgurr Mhicconnich or done an abseil in the mountains so this was our objective.  Up the An Stac (screes) snow slope, up and over Mhicconnich, abseil down Kings chimney and down Bomb Alley back into Coire Lagan.  Conditions were great on the ridge, not quiet as good as when I did the winter traverse but still great.  We encountered some fantastic mountaineering with some very exposed snow arêtes and fantastic views across the Cuillin.  A great 3 days out with Julian and George.  Its really nice to get away from the honey pots and explore new areas.  On our descent just below The Great Stone shoot we heard shouting and spotted 2 guys at the top of An Stac (screes) snow slope waving an orange bivi bag.  They clearly needed help so I packed my bag with all my kit, briefed George and Julian and then shot up to see what was going on.  Fortunately neither of them were injured but they were pinned on the ridge with no axe or crampons, unable to move.  I chucked a rope round them and 9 stompers later they were lowered back onto walking terrain. They followed us out as they didn't have head torches either.  I'm sure they will always carry axes and crampons in the future and hopefully a head torch!

Another nice morning on Skye

George (16) and Julian (slightly older) racing up snow

A great atmospheric gully

Julian and George climbing into the sunshine

The Cuillin looking snowy, unfortunately couldn't fit the whole ridge in

Happy father and son team

Another fantastic view out to sea

Down climbing on perfect neve

After yesterdays skills day Julian and George were keen to push their limits and get involved in some gully climbing.  This was George's first time on graded terrain and remarkably climbed very well.  He was quick and efficient and everything was 'not bad' for him which is great.  We climbed South Buttress Gully (II) which produced 2 tricky pitches of ice climbing pitches (top end grade II, if not udging into III) with plenty of helpful snow in between.  The conditions were great on the route, brilliant ice for axes but it didn't take screws very well.  We topped out into the sunshine and proceeded onto the Summit for an amazing view of the Cuillin ridge which looked plastered with snow. Ice was forming in various places and Mike was out with his client on Escape from Colditz (III) and said the ice was stonking after a wee bit of front and back footing on rock.  We saw one other couple out heading up Great Gully (I) to gain quick access to the summits who were accompanied by a tiny little dog who made a solo ascent of the gully.  Very impressive.  We made our descent down Great Gully which is very banked out was an easy option under the conditions of today.

Today was the 1st of 3 for father and son team Julian and George (16).  The aim of the day was to practice those all important skills before embarking onto graded terrain.  Plan A was a quick up lift to Aonach Mor but with high winds we drove into Glen Shiel and picked a coire which looked suitable.  We ended up in Coire a' Chuil Droma Bhig which was very secluded and impressive.  We navigated our way into a great snow patch for some ice axe arresting, cramponing, mixed mountaineering before climbing steeply out of the coire rim.  from here we hand railed up to Maol Chinn-dearg before George did some more navigation back to the car via  Druim Coire nan Eirecheanach.  One of the best parts of my job is exploring new areas, climbing new Munros and making things work in an unfamiliar environment, bringing together all the essential skills to have enjoyable and safe days out in winter.

Final day for the winter mountaineers James, Simon and Eric and we wanted to finish off with a ridge traverse.  With the Forcan Ridge out of the question (Simon had done it last year), we opted for the tricky horns on Beinn Alligin.  I wanted the guys to take a lead into the day so they were navigating  route finding, leading and breaking trail throughout the day.  The tricky sections they were route finding, helping each other and looking after the team whilst I secured them with a rope.  It is a fantastic ridge traverse, topping out on two Munros and we had fantastic views of Liathach and the surrounding mountains.  A truly stunning experience.  This week I have been working for Moran Mountain.  I back off to Fort William for a wee while but back up in the North West soon.....with a new camera!

Today we opted for a shorter day as the team was exhausted from our wee mini break so Meall Gorm was the sensible option.  We took the 7 minute traverse to the base of Six Track Mono Blue (II) which is a brilliant 200+m route cutting through the cliffs.  I led the team up in short pitches where we were focussing on technique on steeper ground and introducing the concepts of belays, their uses and limitations.  Unfortunately we came across a fatality on the route, a small mouse was partially buried in the gully so we excavated it out and sent it down to the bottom.  A real eye opener for the guys that winter climbing can be dangerous without the correct equipment!  After topping out we navigated over the plateau before looking at descent techniques down the descent gully.

The last two days I took Simon, James and Eric on their first over night stay in winter.  Snow holing was out of the question so we went and stayed in Bearnais Bothy which gave us access to the remote Munro of Bidein a'Coire Sheasgaich (945m).  The first day the team navigated us in through windy, dry and very cold conditions, hauling fuel for the stove and food for the night.  On arrival, as expected, the bothy was empty so we lit the fire, cracked open the whiskey and route planned for our second day.
After an early start we carried light rucksacks up Bidein a Coire Sheasgaich weaving our way up its steep face finding tricky sections and steep snow to negotiate, touching on the odd bit of grade I ground but generally quite exposed terrain.  Once joining the summit ridge we ascended for handshake and a quick descent as we had a monster walk out after picking up our kit from the bothy.  A nice wee expedition with the rain coming in only for the last few hours.  Still no camera yet.