Day 4 of Winter Skills and Mountaineering Course with the Austrian Alpine Club based out of Killin.
Reasonable day weather wise, spent teaching snow anchors skills to a group of 9 with another instructor. Slow start and walk in with our group meant we arrived at the stream crossing and decided not to head all the way up into SCNL, instead choosing to head SE up the slopes left of the stream crossing, that head up to Gearr Aonach shoulder. We dunped bags and dug a long trench with the group to look at the profile of the snow and it`s variability. We identified some useful layers we could use in the snow. We then looked at Bucket Seats, then Buried Ice Axes, Linking the 2 together and then body belaying. We then considered leading past and using a carabiner to redirect the rope, thought about dynamic belaying and tested our anchors. Finally we looked at Snow Bollards before heading back down.
Area :
Glencoe South (Loch Linnhe To Loch Etive)
The southern side of Glen Coe includes some very well-known mountains and can be split into two groups; the ones you can see from the A82 and the ones you can’t. Included in the former group is Buachaille Etive Mor, Buachaille Etive Beag, the Three Sisters and the Ballachulish Horseshoe, and in the latter, three Munros between Glen Creran and Glen Etive (Sgor na h-Ulaidh, Beinn Fhionnlaidh and Beinn Sgulaird). With huge amounts of climbing and walking in summer and winter, this area is also home to a large cairn built for Queen Victoria, or so the story goes. Includes all major peaks above 600m.
