Snow returns! Golden Oldie, Aonach Mor

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, our Introduction to Winter Climbing Course team of John, Jim and myself made an autumnal ascent of Curved Ridge on Buachaille Etive Mor. Whilst enjoyable, there wasn't much to suggest it was winter.

Today was completely different, with plenty of fresh snow falling and being blown about. We made our way round to the Summit Ribs of Aonach Mor, where we climbed Golden Oldie, one of the best grade IIs in Scotland. The snow continued to fall whilst we were climbing and coupled with the wind, it all felt very wintry. There were some fairly substantial accumulations either side of the ridge, and we went over to have a look into the East Face, where the cornices were forming nicely.

Many north and east facing gullies will be hard work with all this fresh snow, and with quite cold and settled conditions over the next few days, it looks like very little will change.

We've still got one space on both our Introduction to Winter Climbing Course and Winter Mountaineering Course, both running 28 Jan – 1 Feb, so please get in touch if you would like to learn how to tackle graded Scottish winter climbs safely.