At long last ... SNOW!

08/02/06: Full report now online.

Before Christmas, I signed up for a short winter mountaineering course in the Cairngorms. The UEA Fell Club, bless 'em, organised the minutiae of the trip, but the course itself was run by the Student Activities Safety Association and an instructor (Howard) from the British Mountaineering Council.

We were based in Aviemore, at the foot of the Cairngorms range, which usually has fairly reliable snow cover over the winter. The previous weekend had been blessed with perfect weather, as Hanneke discovered when she attended the course. Unfortunately most of the snow had gone by the time we got there, leaving only the old snow pack further up the corrie.

Despite the less-than-perfect conditions, we learned many useful skills, had fun, and aquired impressive-looking bruises to our knuckles, shoulders and knees! Read about the fun and games on the pages linked below.

Saturday: Basic winter skills

Sunday: Belaying in snow and ropework techniques

A call to fellow Fell Club members: Send me your comments, photos and accounts to alex DOT roddie AT gmail DOT com (spamblocked), and I will host them in the guest album! Please provide captions in the body of the email for any photos you send.