Shelf Route, Buachaille Etive Mor

A high avalanche warning last night made think hard about possible venues for today. It was forecast to snow most of the evening with strong Southerly winds creating windslab. On waking up though I noticed the temperatures had been warm with freezing levels above the summits, so most of precipitation had been rain or wet snow higher up.

We opted for Shelf route which proved to be a fun mixed route with some nice positions, especially topping out on Crowberry Tower. There was also a 35m ice pitch on the way up to Crowberry basin to start things off, at around grade III.

The snow felt stable, and beginning to re-freeze on the upper slopes. We were also able to descend into the corrie providing a quick descent.

The turf is still frozen and with the lower temperatures over the next couple of days the snow will readily freeze. There is a good cover above 700/800m with the gullys well filled.