Fiacaill Ridge, Coire an t-Sneachda, Cairngorms,
Scotland
Grade 1 Winter
The Northern Corries of the Cairngorms offer some fantastic, easily
accessible, short winter climbs and as such are well suited to those
finding their feet in winter. Easily accessible and up-to-date conditions
reports on the internet guarantee that when conditions are good you won't
be alone in the Northern Corries - particular Coire an t-Sneachda (the
gaelic name translates as Corrie closest to the car park). It doesn't
really, it means Corrie of the Snows and the natives do prefer it if you
pronounce the name correctly. As a lad I was taught this valuable lesson
by the gentlemen of the Fife Mountaineering Club. I was visiting a
Scottish friend and her club had kindly invited me to share their hut for
the weekend. Sitting around the roaring log fire the usual enquiries were
made about what I'd done during the day and I confidently replied that I'd
climbed The Haston Line in 'Corrie ant Sneckda'. All went quiet. They must
be impressed I thought but they looked like a gnarly old bunch and not
given to being impressed. Sometime later one of them mentioned a great
place called 'Corrie an-treck' which had some fine low grade gullies and
some harder buttress lines. The place sounded fantastic and I couldn't
imagine where it was or believe that I'd not heard of it. It wasn't until
they started to talk about Aladdin's this and Aladdin's that that I caught
on. I left at the end of that week far more knowledgeable about the gaelic.
You just don't get that kind of education in Sheffield.
Anyway, the route. Sneachda is a big corrie defined at both sides by
ridges. At the back is a steep crag with many fine gully lines. The ridge
bounding the left-hand side of the corrie (as you look into the corrie on
the approach) is the Fiacaill a Choire Chais. This is easy-angled
throughout and a popular descent route for walkers descending from the
Cairngorm plateau. The ridge bounding the right-hand side is similar in
it's lower part but higher up becomes craggy as it meets the back wall. At
this point (known as the Fiacaill Buttress) there are a variety of mixed
lines on the steep face that looks into the corrie. However, the crest of
the ridge itself can be followed all the way to the top at a much more
amenable grade and the route makes a great day out when you've had enough
of being in the shade of the gullies.
Three of us set off from the top ski car park at 9:00 am after a lazy
morning. The weather was forecast fine and there was no urgency. The first
part of the ridge is broad but it's a good workout for the legs and on
this day we got some brilliant views across the whole of the Cairngorm
massif. There was a
temperature inversion and as we got higher we could see brocken spectres
reflected on the cloud below. After an hour or so we reached the start of
the climbing proper and sat down for some lunch. Like I said, there was no
urgency. An amazingly tame snow bunting came over for some food and then
flitted away across the corrie. Crampons on and we set off. Two of the
party wanted some winter leading experience so we roped up straight away
and moved together for a bit. The leader placing gear whilst we on the
back of the rope removed it. This part of the ridge offers a number of
options. Purists will opt to stay on the ridge crest but in the interests
of speed (we spent rather too long eating lunch) we moved along the easier
right hand side. After a bit of more traditional pitched climbing we
reached a small corner. In the lean conditions on the day this felt like
I/II and slowed us slightly. From there it's more moving together until
the final slopes to the plateau. After establishing that two of the party had never summited Britain's second-highest we
trotted off around the edge of the plateau to the summit of Cairn Gorm. Arriving at 3:30 pm
and finding it deserted but bathed in later afternoon sunlight was a real
treat. We headed down the slopes of Coire Cas and back to the car park.
For anyone who is getting into winter climbing, fine-tuning their kit,
getting used to climbing rock in crampons, perhaps even preparing for a
first Alpine season, the Fiacaill Ridge offers a great introduction to
this type of climbing.
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