Shark Attack

Having played around in the ridiculous amounts of snow over Cairngorm way last weekend, this weekend we (Ian, Anna and Lil Pete) headed west, despite the forecast suggesting this might not be the best idea temperature wise. However, whilst Ian and Anna went skiing, Lil Pete and I went lazy man’s winter climbing.

Having caught the gondola (limited uphill walking today!) and being overtaken by the uberkeen student groups, efficient gearing up saw us abbing down Easy Gully ahead of the crowd and tromping tentatively across soft snow to White Shark. Good ice and a steady first pitch from Lil Pete saw us through a reasonable cornice – apparently some kind folk knocked it off last weekend!

After a quick butty in the cold by the ski tow, we decided that it was warmer on the routes, and a second decent of Easy Gully was followed by a somewhat less tentative tromp under the crag to Jet Stream. According to Lil Pete, SPLDHB (the climber formally known as Jon – don’t ask!) flowed gracefully up the first pitch to a reasonable belay. The reality was somewhat different, as steep ice with rapidly disappearing feet made for an engaging pitch, but all good fun of course!! EEK!!

Lil Pete took on the final section which, after a tricky step across the void led easily to the cornice. Now Lil Pete hasn’t been out on the white stuff for a while, so I was careful to ensure he didn’t get too much of an adventure. However, I may have underestimated the size of the cornice…

Following a challenging traverse under the ominous cornice, he managed to maintain some sort of balance and arrive on the top, knackered, but happy to have made it! Scotland in winter, never dull…

Off the hill, we met back up with Ian and Anna and headed back to Riasg for tea and cakes, which were provided by Lil Pete in the form of Bramley Apple pies – do they count?