14th - 15th January - Winter ML Practice

I have managed to get 2 weeks holiday from work, so Anna and I decided to head up to the Cairngorms and make the most of the glorious weather we were due. We stayed at Cairngorm Lodge, where Caroline and Dave made us feel very welcome. If your ever in the area I recommend it as a good base. We spent Saturday looking at timing and pacing on various terrains and slope angles, judging how much impact soft or hard snow would have on the number of steps required to cover 100 metres, and how difficult terrain impacted upon timings. Having travelled up to the 1083m point by Cairn Lochan, we found a good patch of snow above Feith Buidhe to practice building anchors. I taught Anna how to contruct Snow Bollards in different types of snow depending on hardness, how to build good bucket seats and methods of belaying climbers from below and above. We then looked at the Buried Axe anchor and went over construction, load considerations and reinforcement. The snow was not really ideal for doing either the boot-axe belay or stomper delay as the snow was too shallow.
We then navigated (hardly difficult considering the tremendous visibility) over to Coire Domhain, and then to the summit of Cairngorm before descending in the dark. All in all a very productive day, but the conditions were too good to make navigation practice testing enough.
On Sunday we planned a long trip up Braeriach via the Chalamain Gap. Another early start saw us beat everyone else from the car park, and until half way up Braeriach we never met another soul. I used the Gap as a good place to look at travelling over difficult terrain, highlighting methods to safeguard group members and give a bit of confidence. The rest of the journey was spent interpreting contours and trying to relocate at random places. The weather was again superb, but quite windy and very cold. My new boots were playing merry hell with my heels and shins - they need worn in fast!!! We made the summit and descended to the Gap before darkness over took us. Another great day in the bag, and I've got another few trips planned so if anyone is free and fancies getting some winter experience/helping me out then give me a shout and we can arrange something :) Big thanks to Anna for being such a patient Guinnea Pig...it was bitterly cold....