5 day Winter Skills Course
Working for - Jagged Globe
8 clients
2 instructors, myself and Ed Chard.
Day 1 - Uplift to Aonach Mor, using the eastern flanks where there was helpful snow to look at moving in crampons, ability to use an ice axe and ice axe arresting.
Journeyed up the Ridge to the ski lift and descended the lift line as there was a old hard patch of snow all the way to the lift station.
Strong South Westerly winds but we found good shelter on NE aspects.
Avalanche hazard was low, with fragile cornices on coire rims.
Day 2 - Stob Coire nan Lochan
broke its 2 groups of 4, Once reaching the coire basin i used the NE aspects to the right of the summit, there were some short but excellent snow gullies to practise daggering and exiting a steep slope. Good neve, not to hard but enough to have very good purchase. I was kicking steps with ease and having the group follow me up.
Descending the gully after reaching the summit.
Day 3 - Coire Tullach
High winds and a deep thaw meant keeping off any exposed SW aspects, the tullach gave us good shelter and good snow to look at snow anchors. We used the river tullach gully to go into the coire which was excellent and gave interesting ground for the group to move through. Deep thaw starting to fill the rivers as we started to descend.
Day 4 - Buachaille Etive Beag
Experience day! 80mph winds, heavy rain all day, with the intention of just getting to the col of buachaille etive beag, but after the first hour we were all completely saturated and decided to head off the hill and do some avalanche and forecasting chat back in the warm, dry hotel.
Day 5 - Complete wash out.
We went ;wet; abseiling in the Ballachulish corrie.
Area :
Glencoe North (Loch Leven To Rannoch Station)
This area covers the northern side of Glen Coe and the mountains north of Rannoch Moor. Notable features include the Pap of Glencoe, the Aonach Eagach ridge (home to a few kilometres of horizontal scrambling) and the remote peak of Stob na Cruiache which is generally accessed from the train station to the east. Includes all major peaks above 600m.
