Intro to winter climbing

I spent last week running an intro to winter climbing course with Eoin and Catherine.

Despite the lean winter things came good for us and we had a great week of climbing a variety of routes with only one soggy day!

Great conditions at Cha No

We started the week with a visit to Cha No. Although this is probably the least visually impressive of all the crags in the area its Easterly aspect and abseil approach make it a great option if the other crags in the corries are out of action due to avalanche risk. We took a quick run up recovery gully to get the guys moving on snow before finishing the day off with an ascent of Anvil gully.

Recovery Gully, Cha No

With forecasts looking less favourable in the west we spent the rest of the week climbing in the Cairngorms.

Day 2 saw us getting to grips with some mixed turfy ground below Fiacaill buttress before a tricky ascent of Fiacaill couloir on day 3. Our luck with the weather left us for day 4 with freezing levels rising above the summits. Never the less we braved the wet and windy conditions for a damp but enjoyable ascent of hidden chimney. By the end of the week the guys were a well oiled climbing team, and we flew up a fantastic and refrozen central gully for our sixth winter route of the week, a great start to their winter climbing careers!

An atmospheric Fiacaill Couloir