SHORT THAW

No crampons needed!

Crampons needed!

Fiacaill Buttress 

Avalanche debris,  Alladin's Buttress 

Snow Shelters 

Nice afternoon 

Descending Windy Col 

For the first time since about Christmas it rained up on the mountain tops. Temperatures rose during the night and into today. Summit temperatures were well above freezing. Despite this there is plenty of deep snow in the Cairngorms to survive a thaw. Charlotte is out with me this week on a 4 Day Winter Course. Today we walked into a misty and drizzly Coire an t-Sneachda. By the time we arrived at the Moraines the rain had ceased and the cloud lifted above the tops. We looked at the snowpack and made some Avalanche assessment in the coire.  After digging a snow Pit we made a snowshelter for elevenses.  Later we went up to Windy Col , going through good footwork and axe placements.  We went up, across and back down into the coire.  Of course the snowpack is soft with the warm temperatures and rain. By the afternoon there was some bright spells and blue skies. We finished off the day at the Flat Iron with some crampon techniques on the ice. Getting cold tonight and temperatures dropping. The snowpack should be nicely firmed up tomorrow.  Cold continues into most of this week with light winds.