Over the last couple of days I’ve been running a Winter Skills course on behalf of Summitreks.
A group of 6 joined me in some super wild and tough conditions yesterday on Raise: 70mph gusts, whiteouts & horizontal rain/sleet/hail/snow! Despite the challenges, we looked at footwork, crampon use, kicking steps, cutting steps and ice axe braking.
Day 2 was spent on Brown Cove Crags in better weather but still daft windy. Mobility certainly was ‘arduous’ as we put yesterday’s skills into practice and looked also at the skills needed for snow pack analysis and avalanche avoidance.
Climbing conditions at Brown Cove Crags are still not there – the turf is not frozen and the snow is wet & unhelpful. There is also a very unstable layer in the snow pack on N/NE aspects 1 ft down. This is great for teaching, but not so great for wandering around on!
Si
Wintery on Brown Cove Crags