Cairngorm winter conditions 18th December 2008

High storm force winds and spindrift in the Cairngorms. A good and challenging winters day to look at winter mountaineering and climbing ropework for the Hindleap outdoor centre staff...! See http://www.londonyouth.org.uk/centres/index.html
After a stormy wet night and more early morning rain the storms continued with the rain turning to snow by late morning as the temperatures rapidly dropped. The refrozen snow was quite crusty at first but by late afternoon it was quite solid and good for climbing on and building snow belays. Lot's of atmospheric wind gusts, snow devils and spindrift! Despite all this and a recorded gust of 126 mph everyone seemed to enjoy the challenging conditions...!
The easy to mid-grade winter gully routes should be good over the next few days - a great start to the winter. For winter climbing courses and instruction see http://www.talisman-activities.co.uk/winter/winter_mountaineering_courses.htm
The day was also a good review test for the waterproof qualities of the Pentax Optio W60 camera which performed really well with the extreme cold, snow and 80 mph blasts of spindrift!

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[negri69]

Aye, a richt bonnie day in the hills