This weekend I have been out working for Martin Moran with a couple of clients who were keen to improve their winter skills and climbing knowledge.

Weather wise we had one good day and one bad, tho with such a keen and enthusiastic pair the bad day didn’t seem to matter much at all!

We began yesterday with a snowy walk up from the firmly shut snow gates at Glenmore headed for Coire na Ciste. Practical topics covered were axe, crampon and general snowcraft skills, along with snow and ice belays.

The cold and windy weather meant regular movement was key as well as a couple of breaks to warm up in the Aonach shelter up there.

The day was finished off at the Ciste crag looking at gear placements and belay building around the base of the crag before an even snowier descent back to the van.

Day two and with a much calmer forecast we headed to the Twin Ribs area in Coire an t’Sneachda to look at some more technical climbing and practice some of the skills they had learnt the previous day. We climbed a few pitches on the right most rib before practicing an abseil descent from the crag followed by an abseil from a snow bollard on the approach slopes.

All in all a great couple of days and well done to Carlos and Paula for all their hard work!

Dave.