Monday, 27 February 2012

Scottish Winter 2012

And Sho, another outstanding Scottish winter season comes to an end. Spent 7 weeks in Scotland over December, January and February this winter in the Cairngorms, Lochaber and Glen Coe.
 Conditions in Scotland over the season were a very mixed bag of Arctic Tundra (-20C) right through to near tropical downpours. (16C) It was very much a case of moving about the country to follow the best winter conditions, in the main Lochaber had the best snow whilst the Cairngorms were at times very bare but had excellent low temperatures and immaculate ice.

Glen Coe

Descent from Buachaille Etive Beag

Winter Skills in the sun 

  The freeze-thaw cycle was quite abrupt with a huge temperature range over a very short time space resulting in alarmingly rapid stripping of the more exposed crags and lower slopes but this in turn produced outstanding neve! :-)

100km per hour winds on Cairngorm Plateau

Goat Track Gully

Castle Gates Gully

 Over 30 Munro summits were stood on, a tad over 40 winter routes up to III were climbed in all the conditions that only a Scottish winter can produce. Alas due to the thin snow conditions only got a couple of days skiing before the pistes turned to slush then bumpy ice. :-(

Series rope work

Grade 1 ground in the Cairngorms







  



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