On Tuesday we have gone up to Ciste Mhearad for digging a snowhole and staying overnight. The original plan was to get up there on Monday but the wind was gusting up to 70mph. So that was a none-starter. The weather was just perfect for getting up to the Corrie and we started digging at around 11:00am. The first metre of snow was some of the hardest I have ever encountered. It was like cutting through concrete and had to use a saw to get anywhere. After that it was a bit better with much softer and wetter snow. We had to dig down and than in to make any progress, which meant that it took a little longer than usually and got done after over 5 hours of digging. This had to be the hardest snowhole digging I have done in quite a few years.
The night was very still and there was a magnificent orange growing (almost) full moon. In the morning we went up Cairn Gorm and then down Fiacaill Coire Chas.