An 'interesting' day for the SAIS girls

Winter had returned for a little while overnight and this morning looked promising....Kathy and I were very excited about the prospect of maybe finding 50cm of fresh powder in the Cas Bowl....Well you know..we all have dreams.. Unfortunately there wasn't as much as we expected. However the pit showed some very interesting layers of which two were graupel. There was one very low graupel layer on top of crust which we didn't expect. The graupel grain can be a nasty piece as it forms a lovely sliding layer. There was also a bit of windslab and as we wandered around discovered that this was lying on a variety of aspects due to the crazy winds from all directions and variet in quantitiy and depth. Generally quite sticky and stable but something to watch out for at the gully excits.

All in all a good day to catch up with Cairngorm gossip....sorry we don't share this with you!

Tomorrow the weather looks interestingly wild....so I probably venture into dry places...

Mon 25th Feb - Allways something to do on a bad weather day

With a forecast that said conditions would deterioate a plan was made to still go in and do something....It wasn't a day for hanging around so it had to be fast and straight forward enough to keep moving.. Matt decided we should go into Fiacall Couloir in Sneachda.
Wonderful choice, great fun, fast, a bit slabby in places and more and more wind as time passed but so worth it! I did think that my hair was gonna break a some stage due to icicle growth but luckily it defrosted and I wasn't left with any serious amputations. Topping out was a windy affair too and we ditched any other adventures...Home straight over Fiacall Ridge...another wicked day.

Sunday 24th Feb

What a beautiful day! A fine day for taking some pictures in the Cairngorms....typical Scottish weather..sunshine, snow, wind, silence, occasional whiteout all in one day.

Climbed up the Couloir meeting some climbers coming down from Savage Slit. Made my way over to the Shelterstone to enjoy the silence and stunning views. Walked back onto the plateau in the early evening to enjoy the beautiful light and made my way down the Goat track. A fine finish to a fine day.

Availability

March: 8th/10th/11th/12th and 15th until the 20th
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