Smoking again!

This morning it was milder and drizzly at sea level but Gill, Emma and Sal took me climbing back to the Finnisg-Aig Falls for another climb on Smoking the White Owl. Its changed a bit since I did it on 30th December- the top is fatter and even with the low thaw there was another couple of pitches of climbing below where Roger and I started. Sal and Gill led us past a team of 3 friendly chaps (one of whom was doing well on his first winter lead) and soon we were standing at the base of the beautiful ice formation of the final (crux) pitch. First Sally and then Gill led up, lashed by occasional blasts of spindrift and we were delighted to find that the gondola was still running (if swinging a little wildly) to get us down in time for coffee and cake at the cafe.

So its milder low down but above 300m the ice is still hanging in there with slightly cooler temperatures.