Today I drove over over to the Cairngorms to meet Al Halewood and do some volunteer work with the Mountain Leader Training Association which supports and represents climbing, walking and mountain leaders.
The first thing noted was that it was much colder and the ground much damper in the East with a winter's only just gone feel. The delegates came from a range of backgrounds all pretty experienced in their areas and it was a great opportunity to share ideas and meet some new people. A couple of guys were either on the MIA scheme or looking to register in the future so 5 of us made a group ascent of Fingers Ridge in Coire an t Sneachda looking at rope work and stance management whilst being super careful not to wipe each other out with all the loose rock around. After a good day and lots of shivering we zoomed off down Fiacaill a choire Chais and back to the cars.
It is worth mentioning that loose rock again. Typically after such a cold winter with lots of ice expansion jacking going on there is now an abundance of friable and loose rock in the mountains even on well travelled ridges and Buttresses. On Fingers, especially near the top, much of the rock which you are obliged to move over and pull on is wobbly. It's a case of put the hand holds back when you're finished with them!
Here's some more pictures from Duncan Paterson.
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