A day on the ice

Cairngorm Mountain was snow bound today so Paul and I joined Andy and his team in search of some low lying ice. Oui-Oui looked thin and very busy (minibus and cars) so we headed elsewhere on a tip from George Mac.

With one main fall in good condition and a number of easier, smaller and damper 8-10m pitches available We looked at placing and removing screws, front-pointing on the ice, efficient use of tools and making ice screw threads. Paul even led a short step of Grade II ice. We then headed to the main fall where Andy had a bottom rope in situ to look at movement and placing gear on steeper ground. The fall was about 20m of IV,4 and Paul did very well to climb it with one axe!