Morwind, East Face of Aonach Mor

After yesterday’s adventure, we decided to make use of the gondola at Nevis Range this morning, to whisk us up to 650m, and check out the East Face of Aonach Mor.  With the avalanche forecast suggesting localised areas of considerable hazard, we opted to make the abseils down the line of Morwind, the anchors of which are already in-situ, rather than descending Easy Gully.

The crag itself is currently plastered with soft snow and rime ice, and so very white in appearance. The climbing quite tricky at times, with very limited build up of useful ice and nothing in the way of firm névé.  Tim did well to climb the route, given current conditions, which definitely adds a grade to the climbing at the moment.  We topped out with plenty of time to wonder back down to the gondola station, envious of the skiers making the most of good powder up high.

It was very quiet on the East Face today, with one team on Stirling Bridge, and another team who backed of a couple of mid-grade routes, reporting less-than-ideal conditions.  Really, whilst it’s very wintry and picturesque up high, a thaw and refreeze will will do the mid-grade climbing wonders.