The Cairngorms are ‘a little piece of the arctic in Scotland’ according to the SMC Munros Guide and the area contains many of the tallest peaks in the East Highlands. Ben Macdui (1309m), Cairn Gorm (1244m) and Braeriach (1296) are probably three of the better known and the whole area is full of steep corries and high plateaux. Access to the mountains is typically from Aviemore or Braemar.
My first 'independant' winter day in the Cairngorms. The initial plan had been to head into the Lairig Ghru over the Ben Macdui plateau to bothy at Corrour for 3 nights, taking walks/scrambles from there. However heavy recent snowfall had lead to concerns about avalanche risk on some slopes so we decided to spend our first day taking a safe reconnaissance walk into the neighbouring glen to check conditions. We walked from Aviemore to Loch Einich, then shouldered on to the North West facing slopes North of Braeriach to around Lochan Odhar (about 700m) to get a view into the Chalamain Gap. Decended into the Lairig Ghru and returned to Aviemore. This trip suggeted there were good routes along ridges and that we could start the main trip the next day. A pretty long days walk that really made me think about putting together all the information about weather and snow risk, in which I also learnt why my companion for the journey is nik named "fast Andy"
