Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Day 1 of a Winter Mountaineering course for James and we headed into Coire and T'Sneachda to look at crampon and axe skills as well as lots of chat around safe travel and avalanche avoidance. Working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd  

Today I was out with Jonny and Stanze (who had already done one day with Charlie yesterday) to take their winter skills a notch higher and introduce some snow anchors and emergency shelters. Staying out of the wind again we headed for the Ciste gullys and didn't get too blasted.

Day 2 and Mustafa and I headed back to The Morraines to look at all things snow anchors.  We dug (and tested) snow bollards, buckets seats and buried axes as well as re-visiting footwork and cutting steps. Working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd  

With an amazing forecast for Day 1 of Mustafa's bespoke Winter Week, it was all about getting up high.  With just enough time spent in Coire an T'Sneachda to make sure he was safe on his feet and happy in crampons, we made our way up The Goat Track and onto The Cairngorm Plateau to be greeted by blue sky low wind and sunshine. A little bit of a navigation refresher and a nice bimble round the coire rim before descending back to the vehicles. Working for Wet and High Adventures Ltd

Today I was on the hill for a 1:1 winter skills course for Wet and High Adventures Ltd . There is snow if you look for it and The Goat Track and Corie Domhain gave us what we needed for foot work (with and without crampons), axe skills, sliding and stopping and avalanche awareness.

On the first day of a Wet and High Adventures Ltd Winter Mountaineering course we had a look at all things snow starting with footwork and axe before moving onto snow anchors - bucket seats, bollards and buried axes. We did some testing on these anchors at different sizes and depths and with different axes. We then had a look at some stomper belays. As always, safe travel and avalanche awareness was a theme throughout the day and coffee and cake for the post day debrief.

Today Rich, Olly and I wandered into Corie an t'Sneachda with an open mind to see what we could do. It became quite apparent that the thaw has been brutal and as the wind was low today we opted to climb Fiacaill Ridge. It was by no means a winter ascent as although we crossed some snow to get on it we could have gone round that. The route itself was clear of snow and only a few patches of avoidable ice. Our crampons stayed in the bag and axe strapped on the side. After doing a lap of the coire, we found some snow remaining on the Fiacail Coire Cas and Olly practiced his bucket seat, buried axe and stomper before heading down for coffee and cake.

On the second day of the Wet and High Adventures Winter Skills course we headed up to Cairngorm 1245m via the Ciste to work on winter navigation skills and continue with our safe travel theme. Pretty chilly and challenging visibility at the top but we all got there in good spirits On the way down, as the weather cleared we were lucky enough to see a few of the resident Reindeer herd chilling out in the sun as well as a Mountain Hare. As always, we finished with a review in the cafe and made a plan for tomorrow.

Out with Jamie and Juliet today for the first day of a Wet and High Adventures Ltd Winter Skills course. We battled the wind into Coire an T'Sneachda to play around with different footwork technique and crampon use. To keep us warm we moved lots of snow around digging sheleters and making blocks. On the way out over the Fiacaill of Coire Cas we had some true winter weather with strong winds and limited visibility that blew use back down the hill for coffee and cake.

On the second day of the Wet and High Adventures Winter Skills course we headed to Achlean and completed a round of Carn Ban Mor and Sgor Gaoith. Some limited visibility navigation was required at the top to find the summit (a small platform that juts out into space) before headed back down out of the cloud into the warmer and sunnier low slopes. Lot of discussion about safe travel techniques and managing a steady pace for a long day out.

I was working for  Wet and High Adventures Ltd  today in Coire an T'Sneachda with 4 clients on a Winter Skills course. We looked at safe travel techniques and avalanche awareness, using crampons on the flat ice before finding some steep snow to look at secure foot work and use of axe. The was even time for a little bit of sliding at the end before walking out in the sun for coffee and cake back in Aviemore.

Today was the third and final day of a Wet and High Adventures Winter Skills course and it was about allowing the clients to call the shots, Unfortunately, due to illness Andy was unable to join us today. Wayne chose to go up to Cairngorm via Fiacaill a Chorie Cas. It was cold in the biting wind and walking south was painful at times, however, once the wind was on our backs, it was much nicer.

Today for the second day of the Wet and High Adventures Winter Skills course we decided to drive round to Glen Feshie and head up Carn Ban Mor. A mixed day with winter in the morning but warming up and thawing snow by the afternoon. Windy at times but also some stunning views..