Sunshine on a snowy day

The day dawned sunny in the Cairngorms and just got better. The copious amounts of overnight snow didn't make route selection any easier though. Jim and Bill wanted to try something a little meatier so we headed for Fiacaill Buttress in the direction of The Seam. After a careful route choice at the base of the buttress a pair passed us heading for the Seam and a team of 4 abseiled in from the top. The climbed the Georgian Variation to Invernookie which neatly left us Short Circuit in the Middle. There was enough snow to climb the main corner and a teeter up the final slab brought us out into the afternoon sun. We descended Fiacaill Ridge to maximise our sunshine time. Other parties were climbing on the Mess of Pottage and right of Jacob's Ladder. The Guides Assessment reported huge volumes of poised snow on Ben Nevis.

On a seperate note Pesda Press have just published an excellent book on Climbing Games by Mountaineering Instructor Paul Smith. For a preview of the contents take a look here: http://issuu.com/pesdapress/docs/climbinggamess . Its available on 16 April.