Jacobs Ladder (again), 31st December, 2008

New year's eve and another fantastic day in the Cairngorms today, this time taking the Gunner up Jacobs Ladder in Coire an t'Sneachda, see map, which is still in great condition. About halfway up we switched to the right hand side of the gully to give a slightly different feel and exit at the top. Also with another temperature inversion, I had to scrape ice off the inside of Stevie's car, to see anything as we drove into Aviemore with temperatures of -10c at least! Even with the heaters on full! However, higher up we had clear skies and great visibilty, and it was a little warmer, especially in the gully. The drive home was still chilly though, with the windscreen washers still freezzing up. Luckily there was some some Red Bull left to wash the screen with!

Looking down over Coire an t'Sneachda, with Aviemore covered by cloud.

Stevie and Mark on their way up Jacobs Ladder. Stevie doing his last pitch with another team moving together on his right.

A couple of well prepared mountaineers passing by, blissfully unaware of the drops to their left. Wellies and shopping bags are of course essential when taking any trip into the mountains. Watching the skaters on Loch Morlich with Coire an t'Sneachda, the Fiacaill Ridge and Coire an Lochan in the distance. What a great way to spend Hogmany!

We used the Cairngorm map from the Harvey, Superwalker series and the Cicerone guide to winter climbs in the Cairngorms - both available from Amazon.