From Wet and Windy to Perfect Winter Conditions

The start of the 5 day winter mountaineering course was first wet on Saturday. We managed to find a decent spot for most of the skills. Sunday was pretty wild high up with winds of up to 70mph and blizzard conditions. Therefore we stayed low at the Glenmore forest and did a fair amount of map reading and navigation.

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When we went up at Coire Ciste the next day we found some really good winter conditions with snow banking nicely on southerly aspects. We managed to do some emergency snow shelters and had a look at avalanche awareness.

On the expedition we went up to Ciste Mhearad and dug some snowholes on the southerly aspects in the area. There was plenty of depth there to make the holes comfy. At night the temperatures dropped to well below freezing. In the morning we walked up Cairn Gorm and then down the ski area. The all day breakfast in Aviemore was well deserved.