Northern Corries

Today myself, Gordon and Willy had a great day out in Coire an t-Sneachda, with none of the crowds of last week.

Having decent weather helped, as you can see form this shot of the Fiacaill Ridge in the centre and the Goat Track on the left. We climbed Jacobs Ladder ( Gordon and Willy's, first trip up it ) as practice with the rope, placing and removing protection and belaying. Even managed a "stomper" belay at the top this time!

A deserted Jacobs Ladder with Gordon and Willy waiting to come up from the last belay point. We only saw a handful of people climb it and two of those were descending! At the top we turned right (West) and walked back along the top of the corrie, checking out the exits of any complete routes and enjoying the views.

As we walked along we passed the top of Aladdin's Couloir which was tempting to descend but there were quite a few people coming up so we decided not to get in the way

We also checked out the area at the top of Central Left Hand, Central Gully and The Runnel, with teams topping out on most of them.

Willy near the top of Aladdin's Couloir with the Fiacaill Ridge in the distance. We dropped down into the corrie just short of the Goat Track where there is a well worn path through the snow below the buttresses, right down to the stretcher box. We stayed high and had lunch in the snow bay at the start of Central Left Hand, Central Gully, The Runnel and Crotched Gully (the Trident Gullies). A couple of teams passed on their way up the various routes, so after checking the Cicerone guide book, we chose Central Gully.

Gordon climbing Central Gully, a straightforward grade 1 so we didn't rope up. Central Left Hand to our left had a team in it and looked very icy for a grade 1 with quite a fat bulge of ice that required them to get the rope out.

Willy and Gordon at the top of Central Gully, just as the snow started. We chose a line to exit at the left of the gully which was quite thin in places with grass showing through. In hindsight the right hand side may have been better, but with more snow forecast this week everything should still be in place for the weekend.

Bumped into Adam of Hughes Mountaineering in the Ski centre car park. He told us he had been over at Hell's Lum with a couple of clients, but it didn't take him long to scran some food off us!