Friday 3 December 2010

Fine on Finnisg-aig but Oui Oui was Non Non

This evening I was at a small gathering of Scottish members of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors in Aviemore. To make the most of the day Gill and I went to Nevis Range to climb Finisg-Aig Falls this morning. We weren’t alone as acar was parked at the base of the route from early in the morning and Donald and his client and a pair from the Lochaber MRT had the same idea. So it was a sociable walk in to the base of the falls which are similar condition to the same time last year when I first climbed them. There is climbable ice (albeit wet and with water behind) to low down and you can get at least 4 pitches of climbing up to IV,4 at the moment. As we came down at lunchtime (cheers for the lift out guys) the predicted snow was just beginning to land in large flakes and we passed another pair of climbers heading in. Gil and I hopped into her car and headed east to Creag Dubh to see if Oui-Oui was climbable.
As we arrived we found George and JJ walking away from the base. From a distance it didn’t look too bad but up close it was obvious how wet and chandeliered the climb is. Is it climbable? Yes, it was climbed last night when it was colder. Could it all fall down in you? Definitely. It will be better after a few days freeze so we soloed the easy slab beneath it and headed off for Aviemore.
Chhers to George Mc for the use of the PC to post tonight :-)

Finnisg-aig was fine but Oui-Oui was Non-Non from Alan Halewood on Vimeo.

4 comments:

Jeremy said...

Thanks for the brief cameo, Alan. Great ice

Alan said...

No worries Jeremy, glad you enjoyed your day!
Al

Paul said...

We walked in as you drove out. Ice was great but top pitch was a little damp. Started route at 3pm, soloed it apart from the final pitch. A brilliant little route!

Alan said...

Aha, yes we saw you and hope you were going to solo a lot for your sake! Good job.
Al