Jacobs Ladder, Coire an t-Sneachda, 28th December 2008

Mark and myself went to Coire an t-Sneachda see map in the Cairngorms today and joined the crowds looking for something in condition to climb. The temperature in Aviemore was -9c, but as we headed up to the Ski Centre car park it rose to a tropical -3c/4c, which with generally clear skies gave us great weather. Luckily most of the easier gully lines were complete so we opted for Jacobs Ladder, a 110m grade I that seperates The Mess of Pottage from Aladdins Buttress. Jacobs Ladder is the gully sloping to the right (although it is actually vertical seen straight on) in the centre of the picture.

When we arrived at the foot of Jacobs Ladder, there were already three teams in it and one crossing over to a route just to the right of the rocks. Fortuneatly we were out of the wind by then so it turned out to be quite a cozy route!

Looking back down the gully towards Mark, with Coire an t-Sneachda below.

Setting up the final belay before the cornice. Me, just about to climb over the cornice. Mark just about to "top out" of Jacobs Ladder. One last look down Jacobs Ladder at more climbers on their way up, before we headed for Coire Cas, and then down to the Ski Centre. On the way down we spotted a pair Ptarmigan in their winter colours.

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