Chris came up for his annual steep ice day and we went to have a look at Poachers Fall on Liathach as much of Ben Nevis seems to be buried at the moment. The route was in ok condition but the temperature (-12 in the morning) had made the ice very very brittle and i made the decision to bail off the 4th pitch when one axe dinner plated nearly taking the other off even though it was two feet away. If it warms up a bit it should be fine.
There was some slab on the way up to the base and an impressive build up of surface hore which will cause serious trouble if it doesn't get destroyed by wind or warm temperatures before the next dump of snow.
I've heard of not one but three (!) impressive hard routes being done on the Dubh Loch near Lochnagar in the last few days. Apparently the weather will change in the next few days. Watch chi this space.
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