Invernookie and ......Appendicitis!

Dave and I had another good day on the hill climbing Invernookie on Wednesday. Conditions were not great walking into the corrie but within an hour things had changed after a couple of heavy snow showers. With the turf and old snow already rock hard we had good but thin conditions.

Having finished the climb and making our way back into the corrie i had a few pains in my stomach which i thought were just the usual winter climbing rumbles of needing the toilet. The pain continued down to the car but after dropping Dave off in Aviemore i had to stop in a lay by and lie down with stomach cramps. At 7pm i was rushed into Dr Grays hospital in Elgin where i was diagnosed with an Appendicitis. A drug dazed day followed and after key hole surgery i finally woke around 6.30pm in the recovery room thinking i was back up at 7000m, freezing cold and struggling to breath, gladly not feeling sick! I got home last night a bit sore but looking forward to a quick recovery. A big thanks to Aileen for looking after me when i was looking green, cold sweaty and in excruciating pain and all the ward 10 staff at Dr Grays Hospital who were fantastic. Also a big thanks to Dave for wanting a short day on Wednesday instead of going over to Hells Lum, it could have been a bit of an epic.

Getting cooler

Had a 2 glove day in Coire Sneachda yesterday with Dave who,s over from Ireland for 5 days climbing and a 1 glove day today on Aonach Mor.

We climbed Fiacaill Couloir yesterday which was still holding onto some wet but good ice. It felt like everybody from the BMC International meet was following us up the climb. Lots of rock fall heard from the Red Gully area, stay clear!

We had a good dry day today on Aonach Mor climbing Left Twin with a direct central finish on plastic ice and Tunnel Vision which had OK ice but a bit kicked out. The buttresses are very thin, the turf was frozen so a dusting of snow could bring things back into condition. The temperature had dropped in the afternoon.

Centurion.....

Sorry not Centurion the climb but Centurion the movie, currently being filmed in Glen Feshie. I worked on Sunday looking after the film crew and cast. Looks potentially like a good movie about the Picts and Romans doing battle back in 117AD.
Bit of an up and coming cast with Michael Fassbender of Inglorious Basterds and the Bafta film Hunger, the Quantum of Solace Bond girl Olga Korylenko and Noel Clarke a recent bafta winner and lead cast Dominic West to name a few. The director is Neil Marshall who,s previous films have been Dog Soldiers and The Decent.
I'm working with the safety team again at the weekend and will hopefully get a couple of sneaky pictures!

Mixed Bag...

Varied conditions this week on Cairngorm. The week started damp and mild but turned back to winter yesterday with fresh snow, wind and cold conditions. The truf has refrozen, there is a little bit of riming/hoar high up and alot of verglass on the buttresses. The buttresses have been stripped back leaving early season conditions. Gullies are still in good condition.

I was working for Glenmore Lodge on a Learn to Lead course.

Further Winter Skills

Another week working at Glenmore Lodge, this time Further Winter Skills. A real mix of wintry weather and blue skies. 2.5ft of snow at Glenmore made moving around on and off the hill a challenge along with a high avalanche risk, a memorable week. Gullies are full and buttresses plastered with the odd bits of ice showing.

Bit of a thaw this week with colder conditions returning at the end of the week.

WML Training

Giles and i worked a WML training course 2 weeks ago. The week culminated with a nights snow holing on Cairngorm. It was a hard week both on and off the hill with heavy snow, snow shoes a must.

www.glenmorelodge.org.uk