'Shit, I cant find my trousers' The words reverberated in my head and while i walked away from the tent in heavy sleet i accepted the fact that we were making a premature journey east.
Evening from the shore of Loch Slapin (Rory Brown)
We had planned to climb on Skye that weekend. With a confident forecast from the locals, we had our
minds set on the mighty Clach Glas traverse and some shorter ridge routes the following day.
Steve gettin; some trou'
Unfortunately we couldnt find trousers on or near Skye, and so decided to abort the NW in favour of the reliably cold northern Cairngorms.
Driving up the ski road
Strath Nethy and Beinn Mheadhoin
After a detour to Craigdon in Inverness, and a powder wade from the lower car park, we stood at the base of the recently developed Creagan a Coire Cha-No late in the morning. I lead Jenga Buttress, which turned out to be quite fun despite the slow going. I think Rory and Steve enjoyed it too.
Steve and Rory on the final steps of Jenga Buttress
We all stayed at mine that night, and decided on the northern Corries again - despite our remote NW intentions (the price of petrol and an earlier start is a highly effective student deterrent .The deep powder in the Cairngorms limited us to nearby crags and so we opted for a route on Alladins buttress.
Steve lead the first pitch of the lamp - a technical bridge fest on big hooks - well good fun like min! Rory lead the second, slightly bold and disjointed pitch, with some harder sections. I then spent 20 minutes being drenched in spindrift and feeling very ill after the worst bout of hot aches ive ever experienced.
A pair on Original Summer Route and Me and Steve on The Lamp (Rory Brown)
Steve hauling ass (note fancy new breek)s on the first pitch The Lamp (Rory Brown)
We abbed off the top as the light was fading and noticed a few parties aborting routes across the coire.
Overall, i think we made the best of the situation and managed to get and do something. nUnfortunately the guides blogs are now filling up my facebook news feed with reports of stunning NW conditons, but hey - its now only a few days until we head in to Lochnagar!
Fiacail Ridge and an obvious trail up The Seam
