Sunday 14 February 2016

FROM SUN AND VIEWS TO CLAG AND RIME

The best of the views today, the sun breaking through on Cairn Gorm
It didn't last, Cairn Gorm summit 10 minutes later
Cloud
Rime

Tough conditions for ski touring I guess
The Coire Cas carpark looking a bit wintry
Another day of navigation
 One beautifully stunning day yesterday and of course it doesn't last, we were back to clag, snow showers and poor visibility today on Cairn Gorm. The theme of this winter continues! Another very cold day with summit temperatures nudging double figure minuses. We avoided the half term crowds and chose a nice, quiet route up Cairn Gorm with some navigation en route. It wasn't just a case of navigation training, you really did need to navigate today. Very poor visibility from around 600m after leaving the Ciste Carpark. Some great features to find as you work your way up the long, featureless northern slopes. It's also a great route up to the 5th highest summit in the UK, avoiding much of the ski area below it. We only saw a few ski tourers near the top. The decent was even worse vis, with a very cold northerly, near white out and the goggles were next to useless as they rimed up as quick as you wiped them. Fabulous conditions! We finished up at the Coire Cas carpark were several fresh cm's of snow had fallen. Some chaos on the roads and the snow gates at Glenmore had just closed as we journeyed home. Even Loch Morlich had it's very own whiteout today! If I hear anyone else say 'Spring is round the corner' I will take them up for a free day onto Cairn Gorm, please drop me a line :) . We are only half way through winter folks, many more days to come!

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