2 days at Glenmore Lodge in the Cairngorms

[clivew]

This report is an amalgam of photos and information from a recent visit to the National Outdoor Centre at Glenmore Lodge near Aviemore. Myself and my brother took part in a 2 day "introduction to winter skills" course over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of February. If ever you get the chance to visit Glenmore Lodge then do so; its a great base for walking in the area and the course itself was excellent. We booked into the Lodge on the Friday afternoon after spending the day travelling up from Edinburgh and having a warm up walk into the start of the Lairig Ghru; we were pleased with the room we had at the lodge, plenty of space and comfy beds what more can you ask for. We ate in the bar in the evening, the food was great, as it was all weekend, and there was a great selection of local ales to sample.
The course itself started first thing on the Saturday morning with a safety briefing and kit check; the lodge have a great selection of kit that you can borrow free of charge if you are on a course. This is useful as part of the course entails sliding down snow covered slopes on your arse perfecting your braking skills with an ice axe; the lodge have a selection of old waterproofs you can borrow just so as you don't wreck any expensive personal kit. The two days went really quickly with day 1 spent getting used to crampons and using an ice axe during a walk from the ski centre to the summit of Cairn Gorm, during the evening there were lectures on avalanche awareness and winter navigation. Followed of course by a few beers with the rest of the guys in our group. All in all there were about 30 people on the course split into groups of 6 with an instructor with each group. Day 2 was even better than day 1, the weather was perfect all weekend, cold with clear blue skies and plenty of snow on the ground. We started out early on the Sunday morning heading for the Coire an t Sneachda; most of the other teams were in the same area and the hills and ice faces all around were incredibly busy places. We spent the second day honing our skills with the crampons and ice axes and digging snow holes in the deep snow banks. Thanks to our Instructor, Ian Murray, we had a great time and everyone came away at the end of the course having learnt some new skills and made new friends.
Before we move on to the photos just spare a thought for the group, including a young guy on a course at Glenmore Lodge, who were caught in an avalanche in the Chalamain Gap a couple of days before we arrived. For that matter also spare a thought for all of the other climbers and walkers who have lost their lives doing what we all enjoy doing most, which is spending time in the Scottish Hills and Mountains. When you see some of the pics below it's not difficult to understand why the mountains are such a magnet for everyone who enjoys the great outdoors.

The team trudging up to the summit of Cairn Gorm

Coffee break at 1141

On our way to the summit of Cairn Gorm

The view from the top

Me and my bro on the summit of Cairn Gorm

looking SW from Cairn Gorm

Day 2 on the walk to the Coire an t Sneachda

Below Cairn Lochan

The rest of the boys

Cairn Lochan

Count the climbers

A bit of sliding (or was it braking) practice

A couple of adventurous ice climbers

A happy smiling team after a great weekend in the Cairngorms

[Dwiea]

Did this course with my wife in January. I would highly recommend it, except don't agree with some of the advice the instructor was giving us or how the instructor would race away with the three other members of our group and leave me and my wife behind.

She is still recovering from two broken ankles (more or less sorted now but still sore) and during the course twisted her ankle when her leg plunged through the snow and hit a rock. Still he seemed to make no allowances for this and continued forging ahead.

Other than that the accommodation was great and an awesome experience. It was good to get into the hills again.