Mess of Pottage on Sunday
This weekend, with the large amount of fresh snow on the West coast, we decided to head East to the Cairngorms. On Saturday we made an ascent of Pygmy ridge. We started very early as the freezing level was due to rise to 1200m during the day, sure enough it did and by the time we topped out the snow was softening. However, the route looked wintery and was really excellent.
The initial forecast for Sunday was somewhat better, colder but drier too. We considered going to Hells Lum, however, upon arrival at the car park there were many dark, threatening clouds and a strong wind was blowing. We changed plans and headed into Coire an-t Schnecda again. This turned out to be a good idea as the weather rapidly worsened and walking out proved a big enough challenge without having to cross the plateau. After some debate about route choice we settled on the Haston Line, which, whilst not a major classic looked like it would be a relatively quick and easy mixed route. Pitch 1 was fine, standard grade 3. The second steep bit in the corner was largely soft snow with some thin, new ice. This made for a hard challenge for a few moves with not that great gear as I'd left the size of cam which would have protected it perfectly. Under the conditions it was harder than Pygmy Ridge, so possibly tech 5.
The initial forecast for Sunday was somewhat better, colder but drier too. We considered going to Hells Lum, however, upon arrival at the car park there were many dark, threatening clouds and a strong wind was blowing. We changed plans and headed into Coire an-t Schnecda again. This turned out to be a good idea as the weather rapidly worsened and walking out proved a big enough challenge without having to cross the plateau. After some debate about route choice we settled on the Haston Line, which, whilst not a major classic looked like it would be a relatively quick and easy mixed route. Pitch 1 was fine, standard grade 3. The second steep bit in the corner was largely soft snow with some thin, new ice. This made for a hard challenge for a few moves with not that great gear as I'd left the size of cam which would have protected it perfectly. Under the conditions it was harder than Pygmy Ridge, so possibly tech 5.
Jon trying the crux of the Haston Line in nice weather. I led this bit and found it quite tricky.
Jon following the crux pitch on the Haston Line.
In terms of conditions, sunday had some thin ice and a lot of soft snow on the buttresses. Open slopes were scoured and lee areas had some deep drifts. Mirror direct was iced but the quality of the ice was variable when we poked it on Saturday.
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