Snowy and blowy at the Ciste crag

CWA Training at the weekend at The Ice Factor 

 

 The nice wee gully/groove at the left end of the crag   

 Paul building a belay at the end of a short pitch

 Snow squall

 Mixing it up

Not a bad day really

Friday I did the tax return, saturday and sunday I directed a CWA Training in Lochaber and like just about every other Instructor I know fielded enquiries from the media looking for people to comment on the tragic avalanche that robbed 4 keen outdoors people of their lives on Bidean na Bian. Davy Gunn has an excellent simple explanation of why an avalanche occurred on this day here.

This week I'm back at Glenmore Lodge climbing with Paul. It was forecast to be pretty wild today and in order to give him a chance to climb something a little harder than he has before and for me to check out his gear placement, stance management etc. in the wild weather we went to the Ciste Crag. It was a bit snowy and blowy but could have been a lot worse and we jumped on to the short, steep, turfy Gully at the left end of the crag (III, IV? a lot of clearing required today). After a second easier pitch Paul led us t the top placing some gear and building a belay before we nipped back to the base of the crag for a another 3 pitches through the slabby ground and then the steep wall above and finally, carefully, through the loose upper gully. Not a bad use of a pretty wild day!