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A brief thaw.

17/12/2017

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Yesterday we had another lovely cold and sunny day. We went up The Zig Zags on Gearr Aonach in Glen Coe which got us to the finest picnic spot in the glen! We had a wee thaw today with heavy rain to the summits but not for very long. The rain and clouds cleared quickly this morning and we had a dry day with the team from St. Paul's School at Poldubh in Glen Nevis. Looking up to Stob Ban there is plenty of snow left and most of the ice that formed on the crags. It cooled down again this evening and we will have a cold night but tomorrow the temperature will rise steadily during the day. Tuesday looks very warm indeed. This kind of thaw and refreeze is ideal for building a solid base of snow and forming solid snow-ice in the gullies for climbing. The stormy weather over the next few days will be great for us in the long run.
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So instead of wading through soft wet snow today we went scrambling, rock climbign and abseiling on Scimitar Ridge and at The Alp in the Poldubh Crags. The rock was dry for climbing The Gutter (wet inside the crack though!) which was a brilliant climbing for the pupils and great practice with their big winter boots. As a finale we went to the Lower Falls and set up a tyrolean traverse. Lots of snow melt made the river very full and it was quite an experience dangling on a rope over the main part of the falls. Well done to the pupils and staff of St. Paul's School; that was a full and very good fun three days.
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    Author

    Mike Pescod
    Mountain Guide.

    Self reliance is a fundamental principle of mountaineering. By participating we accept this and take responsibility for the decisions we make. These blog posts and conditions reports are intended to help you make good decisions. They do not remove the need for you to make your own judgements when out in the hills.

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  • Adventures
  • Ben Nevis
    • Ben Nevis Pony Track
    • CMD Arete
    • Ledge Route
    • Tower Ridge
    • Events and Challenges
    • Ben Nevis Winter Ascent
  • Skye and the Cuillin Ridge
    • Cuillin Ridge Traverse
    • Cuillin Munro Bagging
    • Inaccessible Pinnacle
  • Summer Guiding
    • Ring of Steall
    • Glen Coe Walks
    • Curved Ridge
    • Aonach Eagach
    • Rock Climbing
    • Sea Stack Odyssey
    • Private Guiding
  • Winter Guiding
    • Winter Walking >
      • Winter Skills Courses
      • Guided Winter Walking
    • Winter Climbing >
      • Intro to Winter Climbing
      • Winter Climbing Progression
      • Classic Winter Climbing
      • Guided Winter Climbing
    • Skiing >
      • Intro to Ski Touring
      • Scottish Steep Skiing
      • Ropework for Skiers
    • Avalanche Awareness
    • Fort William Mountain Festival Workshops
    • Winter Resources
  • Mountain Leader Courses
  • Sailing & Hill Walking
  • Booking
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • About
  • Sustainability
    • climate donations
  • Partners