Day one saw an early rise for paddy and myself 05:30am, not a great start to the day! Bacon and mushrooms washed down with a big mug of tea soon sorted out our morning blues and after some usual morning procrastinating we got started on the walk in.
The weather was overcast with a low cloud cover and light snow, very wintery! The visibility was not great and at times was little better than a white out, however progress was good and after an hour of walking Coire an t’Snechda was in sight.
We walked in stopping for a hot drink and snack at the boulders in the basin of the Coire. We had decided the night before that we would try to climb a route called Red Gully a grade II winter route allegedly with good protection! This however did not turn out quite as planned.
The approach to the route ascends a steep snow field which made the calves burn, a good rock belay beneath a rock bluff provided a good spot to start from. Paddy led off full of enthusiasm and excitement this lasted for about 20 minutes until a lack of protection and the crux pitch defeated us!
Not to be outdone we regrouped and started up Goat Track Gully which turned out to be a 3* route. Pitch one led Paddy up through an imposing gully surrounded on one side by an imposing black headwall. After 40ft of great gully on good snow a lovely ice step of 15ft blocked the way. After arranging some reassuring protection Paddy led on and set the first belay.
Pitch 2 was climbed by myself (James), not known for winter exploits! A great pitch of consolidated snow and grey ice led on up the cliff face. Some great runners provided confidence and led me towards the top. This however was short-lived when I realised that I did not have enough rope to complete the pitch! A quick think led me to believe myself and Paddy would have to move together for the final 30ft, that was until i spotted a conspicuous peg in the rocks to my right! The prospect of a belay led me to traverse across the snow slope onto a precarious position above a 50ft drop off. belay constructed and Paddy led through the final feet of the route to the top.
Although the weather was not great throughout the day some great peaks through the cloud provided some rewarding views.
That evening provided a nuber of cmoncerns surrounding the weather, It started snowing heavily at around 16:00hrs and was still snowing at 21:00hrs. With the crags already loaded in powder gear and route finding was proving difficult and not ideal for paddy let alone myself for confidence! This coupled with loaded slopes and gullies caused significant concern of avalanches! Some desperate thoughts were considered and we even toyed with the idea of ending the trip………. in the end we opted to climb Fiacal Ridge.
