Following a wild couple of days around Glen Shiel we headed up to stay with Tom and Emily in Torridon. The fire was going and the whiskey was out so an early start the following morning was off the cards. After spending a few days around Torridon last season, we headed round the back of Beinn Eighe into Coire Mhic Fhearchair and the imposing Triple Buttresses. I had been around into the coire in the summer before and they are amazing, huge pieces of rock. I broke trail through the fresh powder round to the back of the coire and up onto the ridge behind. We couldn’t have asked fro better weather, gifted with sunny spells and light winds we worked our way along the ridge towards the trig summit of Beinn Eighe.
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| Walking round the back of Coire Mhic Fhearchair |
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| Out the Coire and up onto the Beinn Eighe ridge |
We headed down the Southen slopes off the summit and moved into the coire descending off the mountain. Digging a hasty pit revealed a pretty stable snowpack we only 2 defined layers with a good bond between them, although there were sizable amounts of avalanche debris within the coire. Happy with the slope we were on, we made a glissade down the slope to save the pressure on creaky knees, before meeting the path down to the road upon reaching the snow line.
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| Walking into a windy Coire an t'Sneachda |
A full day of rain came down on Torridon following our day on Beinn Eighe as we weighed up our options, pouring over maps and forecasts for the following few days to make a plan. An early start the following day taking us East and down to the Cairngorms, but with a strong wind forecast we decided on an explore into Coire an t’Sneachda to refresh some of our Winter ML skills. The ski centre was closed and the wind made it a struggle just to open the car to get out of the car, balaclavas and goggles on, we ventured into the coire. The strong South-Westerly gusts whipping off the plateau created a snow cloud of fine powder blowing straight into our path. Teams of climbers and walkers were going in all directions, into and back out of the coire, trying to make the most of the day. We found a slope on our approach that was suitable for our needs, and rather scoured so we slid faster than we thought, making for some realistic arrests. After getting covered in the white stuff for a few hours we part retreated, part blown back to the car before making our way back south of the border.
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| Wild day in the Northern Corries |
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| Practising ice axe arrests in Sneachda |
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