{"id":2207,"date":"2012-02-01T15:22:32","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T15:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/?p=2207"},"modified":"2022-04-11T21:33:44","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T20:33:44","slug":"finally-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/finally-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Finally – winter!"},"content":{"rendered":"

So far, the 2011\/12 season hasn’t delivered the best winter climbing conditions. Nevertheless, I’ve just returned from Aviemore with MPS<\/a>, where a brilliant weekend was had by all. I was at a meeting in London on Thursday, so took the sleeper train from Euston to Aviemore; I had a seat rather than a berth, but it wasn’t too unbearable and I managed to get a bit of sleep.<\/p>\n

\"My

My office, dining room and bedroom. \u00a9 Haydn Williams 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

I walked from the station to the accommodation, where I met up with the rest of the group and we set off for our respective days out. Lots of people were on courses covering everything from beginner’s<\/a> skills<\/a> through to winter<\/a> \u00a0climbing<\/a>, while others were off on more difficult terrain<\/a>. A lack of snow meant that lots of usually-easy gully routes were actually quite difficult, so Matt and I decided to tackle Fiacaill Ridge (II)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Savage

Savage atop the first pitch of Fiacaill Ridge. \u00a9 Haydn Williams 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

We had reasonable conditions, and Matt led the two pitches with aplomb. The powdery snowy meant we didn’t need axes or crampons, but I’ll confess that I still found the clambering hard work! A very enjoyable route, and after descending the Goat Track we found ourselves back at the ski centre in plenty of time for cake.<\/p>\n

\"A

A pair of supposedly 'rare' Ptarmigan. We saw more of the buggers than you could shake a stick at. \u00a9 Haydn Williams 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

After some brief excitement with a flat minibus battery, food and warmth finally got to me and I retired early for some much-needed proper sleep. Saturday was bright and sunny, with a great forecast, so Matt and I recruited Ben for a walk over Cairn Gorm and on to Ben Macdui. Conditions were excellent, with good going on the snow and easy navigation in great visibility.<\/p>\n

\"Cairns

Cairns on Cairn Gorm. \u00a9 Haydn Williams 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite numerous stops for photographs and a generally laid-back approach to the day, we despatched the route in good time and once more retired to the cafe for cakes. An early return to the hut even saw us with time to sort out gear and snatch a quick nap before the others returned from their respective days out.<\/p>\n

\"Ben,

Ben, Savage and myself on the summit of Cairn Gorm. \u00a9 Haydn Williams 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Ben

Ben and Matt crossing the plateau towards Ben Macdui. \u00a9 Haydn Williams 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Sunday’s forecast was excellent too, albeit with a little wind. As soon as we arrived at the ski centre, it was clear that the forecast was wrong. Matt and I tagged along into Coire an-t’Sneachda with a group headed for Ben Macdui, and went up the Goat Track. We found a slightly steeper approach to the right of the main path, and it was nice to finally get my axes into some proper snow for the first time in two years. Alas, it was over all too quickly and we left the Ben Macdui group to battle headwinds while we looped around the lip of Coire an Lochain and down into the cwm.<\/p>\n

\"Looking

Looking south from the summit of Ben Macdui. \u00a9 Haydn Williams 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Once there we played around on a snow slope to test how far out calves could go before finally exploding. We soon tired of self-flagellation and returned to the ski centre. There, we were greeted by a cafe staff member calling our dedication to cake “ridiculous<\/em>“, and questioning whether we had actually been out anywhere all weekend. How rude (although probably entirely fair)!<\/p>\n

\"Rosie

Rosie waiting for the rest of the group at the top of the Goat Track. \u00a9 Haydn Williams 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

A late departure meant I didn’t arrive home until 2:20 on Monday morning, knackered but pleased with three really good days. There’s even been snow in North Wales now, so fingers crossed this is the start of winter proper!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So far, the 2011\/12 season hasn’t delivered the best winter...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-outdoors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}