The recent settled weather has transformed the mountains into a wonderful playground for outdoor sports - Rado and Dimitri's course finished with a first winter lead for them, smiles and handshakes all round, and they were rewarded with a spectacular view across the Cairngorm plateau looking very 'arctic' - I've got a feeling they'll be back !
Even with tired legs, I wasn't going to miss out on the conditions and managed to squeeze in a climb in Coire an Sneachda, a trip to Hell's Lum and an afternoon's Skiing on the plateau on my day off - including an 8 hour drive home ! It didn't stop there either, Tuesday's springlike weather led to a bike ride in the Brecon Beacons and some rock climbing on the way home in the evening sunshine - a fantastic few days, what a difference a bit of sun makes !
Rock climbing courses in the Wye Valley this week have benefited from gorgeous spring weather, with dry rock and clear skies encouraging lots of teams out, especially now the clocks have gone forward allowing longer days. We have been concentrating on some of the more technical aspects of rope work and gear placement etc. as well as polishing up some lead climbing skills. I'll have to repack my rucsac, though for the end of the week, as I'm back up to Scotland for some more winter mountaineering courses - or should that be 'spring' mountaineering courses ! Hopefully the recent high temps. won't have melted all the snow away !
