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2010-03-15T16:10:00.001Z

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Even more adventurous training

2010-03-15T14:08:00.005Z

Another week for me working with Ron's Talisman Adventurous Training Group and much more amenable weather this time!

Our first day was a navigation day in the Lairig Ghru and over Castle Hill then on day two, we walked into Coire an t-Sneachda and up to point 1141 and on to Cairngorm summit. It was a beautiful sunny day with huge views across the snow covered mountains.

Our next three days were spent out on expedition again up the Lairig Ghru to the snowhole site I had used before. This meant that there were already some good snowholes so we renovated them, linked them all up with tunnels and built walls on Thursday then navigated our way up Sron na Lairig in thick cloud on Friday before getting back to the snowholes for our second night. On Saturday we were up early for the walk back out.

Another fun day at skiing at Cairngorm

2010-03-04T20:32:00.006Z

Ron and I had a few runs in the ski area to begin with especially enjoying the Ciste Gully area. After a while we found ourselves back at the Ptarmigan Restaurant so after a quick break for lunch we stuck the skins onto the skis and headed up to the summit. From there, we had a great run down the south side of Cairngorm then skins on again to get back up to Windy Col.
Then the fun began with a jump over a little cornice and a descent down the slope underneath the Mess of Pottage. I must admit that I thought we were heading towards the easier slopes but hey...if Ron could do it, I could follow! My descent began ok then I had a bit of a hiccup with a couple of turns which left me a bit covered in snow but after that it was all good! After reaching Ron I wanted to go back up to ski down again without falling into the snow!
The visibility deteriorated too so after a long traverse and a few nice turns we were back in the ski area and to enjoy a couple more runs before heading home. Another great day out on the skis!
See Ron's video of two fantastic days skiing here

Skiing at Cairngorm

2010-03-03T17:43:00.006Z

Ron and I had such a good day out skiing at Cairngorm yesterday that we went back for more today! The snow was just incredible and after a few runs working our way up the ski area, we traversed off towards Coire Laogh Mor in search of fresh powder to ski. We poled our way across some huge drifts, a bit like skiing over sand dunes, then flew down into the coire on the perfect, powdery snow. The shuttle bus was running every half hour between the Ciste and the Cas car parks so back up and across to ski another descent of the coire. Ron has the video clips from us both so it will be interesting to see what he does with them.

As the day went on, more lifts were up and running although there still seemed to be a lot of digging going on at the track for the funicular.

Going back for even more skiing tomorow! It is so good to be floating on the snow rather than wading through it.

More adventurous training and lots more snow

2010-02-26T17:21:00.006Z

Over the past few days I was working again with another Talisman Adventurous Training Group.

Our first day was spent looking at navigation, weather and snow then on day two, we headed down to the drifts below the Coire Cas car park to practice ice axe braking, step kicking and cutting and more navigation. We headed up the stream towards Coire an t-Sneachda in white out conditions and deep snow so after a bit we decided to navigate our way back out to the car park.

The amount of snow that fell that day meant that day three was spent partly indoors looking at avalanche awareness skills on video then we moved outside to have a snowman building competition, to try out the tranceivers and to dig out the cars.

This has been the first time I have been glad to have snowchains to put on my car!

This morning I woke up to find a tractor digging out our car parking area then I had three hours more digging to clear a big enough parking space for the cars! I'm beginning to think that digging a snowhole might have been easier. Maybe I should dig one in my garden!!!!

A great day out around the Northern Corries

2010-02-21T18:39:00.005Z

A perfect day for our walk on the plateau around Coire an Lochain and Coire an t-Sneachda with some great views again! The snow sparkled in the sun and the hoar frost on the snow's surface made it feel like walking through feathers.

Loads of people out ski touring and a few climbers in Coire an Lochain, many more in Coire an t-Sneachda and quite a snake of people heading up the Fiacaill Ridge, Ron and his group included.

Snow, skills and sunshine

2010-02-20T17:47:00.005Z

Out today with Janice, Wendy, Gaud, Carol and Kirstin for a day of winter skills with great snow for sliding on, kicking and cutting into and for burrowing into some emergency shelters though the digging was a bit hard under the softer snow on the surface.

Fantastic weather with blue skies and sun and looks like more for our day out tomorrow too.

We spotted some strange marks in the snow which, on further examination, turned out to be where the grouse were landing and taking off!

Ron was at a neighbouring snow drift and photos from him here

More snow here in Aviemore

2010-02-16T21:45:00.002Z

Gosh, more snow! Me and my neighbours have been out clearing the snow from our cars. The chat locally is that this is a normal winter!!!

Aberfeldy and Ben Lawers area

2010-02-14T23:13:00.003Z

Over the weekend I was working for Stuart Johnston's Climbmts and the Trail magazine walking group. We had a skills day on Saturday with a walk up to Meall nan Tarmachan. Sunday was rather misty with poor visibility as we made our way up to the summit of Ben Lawers then the views appeared as we continued over Beinn Ghlas and back down.

Snowhole and bivi exped

2010-02-11T19:51:00.009Z

For the past few days I have been out on a great snowhole and bivi expedition with Ron's Talisman Adventurous Training group. We dug out some luxury snowholes then had a fantastic day climbing Braeriach the following day. The low cloud meant that good navigational skills needed to be used to avoid the cliffs and the cornices hiding them then as we reached the summit, the sun came out and brought out the views across the whole of Cairngorm. As if this was not enough of a challenge, the team decided to bivi out under the stars for their second night and woke up to find a covering of snow on the bivi bags.

The pictures tell it all!

Lairig Ghru

2010-02-07T20:42:00.004Z

I was out this afternoon with one of Ron's Talisman Adventurous Training groups. We headed out into the Lairig Ghru and around Castle Hill for navigation and skills practice in mild temperatures, light wind and visibility that was none too bad for a cloudy day.

Coire an t-Sneachda

2010-02-03T15:37:00.005Z

A short day out today so Alan and I went in to Coire an t-Sneachda to see all that we didn't see yesterday and we got lots of opportunities for photos and cramponing on the flat ice at the back of the coire.
There were climbers on Hidden Chimney, Central Gully, Spiral, Patey's Route and lots on Mirror Direct and more. It all looked stunning! Ron was out with Mark on Jacob's Edge and Hidden Chimney, more here.

My trusty laptop is still not playing so I'm slowly getting the hang of vista for uploading pictures...! Technology is obviously not my forte!

Goat Track Gully

2010-02-02T20:03:00.003Z

Alan and I followed Ron and Mark up Goat Track Gully today. We went up to the right of the buttress initially over the steep, icy step then back into the gully and up with the wind increasing as we climbed up. Great neve and ice and the rock was plastered with rime ice.
By the time we reached the plateau, we had snow showers and cloud giving white out conditions.
Thanks to Ron for digging out the belays!

More snow fun

2010-02-01T21:57:00.003Z

Alan and I went to some huge snow drifts to dig out some belays and visit the snowholes dug out the other day by Notts Uni MPS. There was a cold wind today though we did see some occasional glimpses of blue skies.
Photos to follow when I find out which pc they are on! My usual laptop for working on my blog has crashed...aargh!

Emergency shelters, a bit of ropework and some crevasses

2010-01-30T20:33:00.004Z

Today Fergus and I went out with the Notts Uni MPS group to a great spot for digging emergency snow shelters. We were very sheltered from the wind and even had blue skies in the afternoon. The snow was so good we all got a bit carried away with the digging and design so ended up creating the Munro Pineapple Society luxury snow shelter estate! After just a short time digging we had snow shelters accommodating two, three and four people.

After a very comfortable lunch in the snow shelters we went out to have a look at some basic ropework and then went off on a journey to explore the crevasses above where past cornices had collapsed and refrozen, even giving the opportunity for some natural emergency shelters though I would have to be convinced that the temperatures were going to remain cold before I spent the night out in them!

Ron and Jonathon headed towards Coire an-Sneachda with their groups and more from Ron here at the Talisman Blog

Winter skills, huskies, reindeer and mountain hares

2010-01-29T21:00:00.003Z

Fergus and I were out today with Nottingham University Munro Pineapple Society mountaineering club for Talisman Mountaineering Activities.

A heavy snow shower shut the ski road just as were were trying to head up so we walked up from Glenmore then they opened the road again! The weather was better than we expected with surprisingly light winds in Coire na Ciste and great snow for step kicking, cutting, ice axe braking and a walk back over towards the ski road on wind scoured slopes which were good for getting used to using crampons.

In addition to all this we had the huskies racing past at Glenmore, the reindeer herd came along to have a curious look at us whilst we were step cutting and a mountain hare bounded past us on our walk back to Coire na Ciste. We walked back along the closed link road which has huge drifts at least shoulder high and also some steep and well frozen snow slopes to play with!

More snow tomorrow!

La Grave

2010-01-24T17:11:00.009Z

There was a lot less snow in La Grave than Aviemore when we arrived but some mixed weather in the first week gave some more snowy days then our second week was good with more mild temperatures and some lovely, plastic ice.
We climbed most days and the first photo shows Caturgeas which was too busy on the first day we went there so we went back again but earlier to be at the front of the queue. As we abseiled down at around 1pm, there were at least twelve other climbers there and ice and spindrift avalanches were coming down with increasing regularity as the sun hit the upper slopes of this south facing route.
The next photos shows Saut de la Pucelle, the rather grand waterfall just below La Grave and Valseuses, a steep pillar of ice which I found just a bit too intimidating. Another time hopefully!
After that, Goulotte d'Astarothe, Goulotte de Muretouse and Cagade gave us two great days out as did Le Pylone on our last day when Ron decided to lead one huge 60 m pitch up the steep side! Another great day.
I had one day skiing at Les Deux Alpes with Ian and we just had to stop in the sun for the obligatory chocolate chaud.
Back in Aviemore and most of the snow has been shifted or has melted from the village though many gutters are now lying in gardens including mine! So I'm now looking forward to finding how things are out on Cairngorm.

La Grave

2010-01-07T20:47:00.002Z

Off to La Grave for some ice climbing and skiing not that there is not enough snow here! Maybe by the time we get back the eight foot long icicles might have dropped off my roof hopefully not taking the guttering with them!

2010-01-06T19:41:00.007Z

Heaps of snow again in Aviemore so we went in search of a place to look at snow anchors and some ice climbing. We walked in along the old A9 in deep snow and had to crawl under the trees that have succumbed to the weight of the snow. It was quite fun to see the Talisman Basecamp motorhome blanketed by snow with some interesting looking cornices hanging off the roof!

Our slope for looking at snow anchors had a lot of soft snow but showed how they could work well if created properly and also how easily, in very soft, fresh snow, they could fail!

After that we found some ice for a bit if mixed climbing - steep ice, rock and soft snow all made for an entertaining climb for everyone.

More from Ron here especially about how difficult it currently is to just to get back home!

Micro navigation and cross country skiing

2010-01-05T20:24:00.004Z

Today the forecast of heavy snow made us think again about our plans to climb so instead I went out to look at winter micro navigation this morning with Steve, Matt, Dan, Gareth and Chad. By lunch-time, it was snowing heavily and cars were having a bit of difficulty getting up the Glenmore Road and the snow gates at the bottom of the ski road had been closed. We hired cross country skis and picked out a route around Loch Morlich through the trees and across part of the loch itself.

Even the Loch Morlich ducks had a coating of snow!

This evening Aviemore is quite cut-off as the A9 is closed at Drumochter and Daviot so it's not possible to go north or south. The train has also been off due to the derailment at Carrbridge and then the bad weather.

Snow and ice

2010-01-04T19:55:00.003Z

I was helping out Ron today with the mountaineering course as we looked at techniques for moving safely up and down on steeper ground - all sorts of belays using ice, boulders, trees and the snow and different methods of abseiling.

Chad's picture of Dan shows the ice well and more photos from Ron here
Still more snow forecast and the icicles hanging from my roof are now six foot long and growing daily!

Trail breaking, snow shelters, snow and more snow!

2010-01-03T17:16:00.006Z

Today we set off again away from the ski area and the Northern Corries to find a good slope for ice axe braking and after a good bit of sliding about packing down the snow, we had our slope. After that we headed uphill through the trees along snowy trails with a big team effort at trail breaking to find somewhere we could dig snow shelters and look at the snow in more detail - interesting cornices, drifts and windslab.
The snow was rather too deep and soft for crampons but we put them on to experience just how important it is to clear off the packed in snow from the base of the boot to make sure the crampons fit properly and also how easy it is to lose things in the deep, soft snow. It was starting to snow again as we headed back to Aviemore.
I forgot to take my camera today - bother! One of Ron's pictures above and a couple from Chad.

Deep drifts and lots of queues

2010-01-02T19:43:00.002Z

The first day of the Talisman New Year winter mounatineering course and traffic queues on the ski road through Glenmore meant we turned back at Loch Morlich to find an alternative location a bit nearer to home. We waded and swam through deep drifts to reach our summit in a brief spell of sunshine. Chad, Matt, Stepehen, Gareth and I then returned to Aviemore to meet up with Dan who had been diverted to Edinburgh airport yesterday when Inverness was closed. After a chat about winter kit and a look at crampon fitting, we're all set for another day out tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

Aberfeldy and more snow

2009-12-30T23:37:00.004Z

I was down at Aberfeldy today working with Stuart Johnston climbmts.co.uk and the Edinburgh Tiso Winter Skills course. With so much snow about we had lots of discussion about snow whilst we practised useful skills for winter hillwalking.
Back to Aviemore to find that a quite abit of snow had fallen and it had drifted over the main roads as I drove back.

Coire an t-Sneachda

2009-12-28T22:04:00.010Z

We went into Coire an t-Sneachda today on a good but long trail which made the walking much easier than yesterday. The track goes down towards the stepping stones but don't cross over (unless you want to head towards the Fiacaill Ridge which is where the track looked liked it was heading) as the track then follows the stream up towards Coire an t-Sneachda. Step out of the trail and the snow is at least knee deep!

We were looking for a good place to look at emergency shelters, snow, some basic abseils off snow bollards and more snow! The moraine ridge was perfect.

Today we had views towards the climbs and could see some climbers heading up Aladdin's Couloir, Mirror Direct, Aladdin's Mirror perhaps towards Pygmy Ridge, Red Gully and Goat Track Gully.

The ski area was very busy today and we were lucky to get into the Coire na Ciste car park at nine thirty this morning. The skiing and snowboarding did look fantastic!

More about Talisman Activities and more from Ron here.

Ron is out with Richard, James, Nick and Steve tomorrow to find some steep ground to look at technical climbing skills. I'm off to Edinburgh for the day!