Well what can I say about today.... I decided to venture out on my own for a wee tour into Coire Raibert via fiacall Coire Cas and back over Cairngorm to take some piccies of the wild weather and the snowy hills. That was the plan anyway. I didn't leave until 1pm but thought it was only going to be a little trip and the weather didn't look all that bad....
It was very windy but I thought that the winds were suppose to get stronger and then ease off again later in the day. However the winds picked up more and more and turned into a full on blizzard that I have seldom been in on my own.
If you follow the photo sequence you can see that it started off very nice and friendly out there. Blowy alright but not a bad day at all. When I got to the top of Fiacall Corrie Cas it started to become quite wild. I met Sean from Glenmore Lodge who was assessing MIC's and he told me that two folks had been avalanched at the bottom of Jacob's Ladder but luckily walked away from it.
I wasn't planning on going anywhere steep with a big avalanche hazard. Still thinking the conditions were ok I skied down Coire Raibert to have a look at the conditions on the Shelterstone. The winds were picking up rapidly and most of the time it was a complete white out. I felt quite dizzy skiing and it was to say the least an interesting experience to be out there on my own. Once I got right to the edge I couldn't believe the difference from a couple of weeks ago. Quite some cornices on the west/SW side of the burn and the buttresses looked amazing. There are some piccies lower down so have a look if you are interested in the conditions over there.
As the weather got ferocious I turned round and tried to put my skins back on. On of the skins was completely covered in snow as soon as I got it out and wouldn't stick for the life of it so I skinned back up on one skin and one ski. By that time I could hardly stand up and on my way back to the Coire rim I was picked up several time by the wind. It was now a full on continuous white out and bitterly cold. Everything froze rapidly and I literally started to look and feel like a female version of the Yeti! My hair, my face, my jacket, my eyelids, everything that could freeze froze! I was for the first time in my life worried about frostbite and concerned about getting back ok. It was a battle to get back to point 1141m and as you can gather I didn't go anywhere near Cairngorm. I managed to half crawl half ski down the Fiacall and I can't tell you how glad I was to see the mid station.
It still was a fantastic day out but I also felt I was put out of my comfort zone and realized that I am not indestructible.
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