Snow, wind and more snow!

Last weekend I was working for Maximum Adventure on a Ben Nevis Winter trip. Due to high winds and the Gondola being off, we headed up to the top car park and into Coire na Ciste for some Winter skills. We had good fun practicing some ice axe arrest in the large quantities of snow that had built up. The Ben is absolutely plastered just now and climbing looks like it will be great once we get a good thaw and refreeze. Who knows when that will happen though!

Sunday saw us heading up the Ben Track. Struggling to open the car doors at Achintee we were prepared for a bit of a battle. The winds were forecast to be 100-120mph so we were pretty sure the summit was out of the question. Thankfully there was a slight lull in the winds that allowed us to reach the Red Burn and beyond to about 750m before calling it a day. A great weekend with Mamie, Harry, Xenia and Dan, thanks for the good company!

Yesterday I was out with Kev, Joe and James on a trip round the Carn Mor Dearg Arete. Blue skies and sunshine was the forecast with some light winds. The sunshine didn't arrive until our descent so we had so atmospheric conditions on the route. The Arete was loaded with snow, with some large cornices building on the North side of the ridge. Very good value for an easy route, it felt like a good day's mountaineering. The Mountain Track on the Ben was totally buried under the snow which meant for a quick descent towards the Red Burn. With more snow in the forecast, this could be a long Winter indeed!

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