Coire an t'Scneachda: Patey's Route

Wednesday we headed back into Scneachda for another day of climbing. I was climbing with Naomi and Claire, who had both never worn crampons before so we had a crash course in winter mountaineering down by the rescue box before heading up to our route. As they are both quite good summer climber I decided to forgo the usual first winter climb experience of slogging up a grade I gully and we headed up to do Patey's Route IV 5 *** on Aladdin's Buttress.

Myself on the second pitch, shortly before moving out left.

We'd had some snow overnight so the rock hard neve of the previous day was now covered in a few inches of unconsolidated powder, most of the rock and cracks were all still iced though. We set off up following a team of two above us. The first pitch rambles up easy ice in the gully gradually steepening until you reach the first chockstone, which is usually taken straight on by going over the bulge. The team above us however traversed out left as they couldn't make the move over the bulge and I did the same, this however was certainly not easier and involved some fairly tenous climbing on thinly ice slabs out left, then a some steeper moved up a mixed groove to get back right into the gully all with dubious gear - good fun though.

Claire about to come back right over the crux slab.

The next pitch is what is written in the guidebook as being the tech 5 crux (although it certainly felt easier than the variation on the previous pitch, which the party above us also agreed with). It follows the gully first up snow until it steepens into ice which is for a short section vertical. You get a good runner under the overhang below the chockstone before moving out left onto a ledge, clip a peg, and then the reachy crux move back right into the gully above the overhang. An awesome pitch. Easy grade II ground then leads up to Aladdin's Seat where we finished up Aladdin's Couloir I.

Belay on Aladdin's Seat at sunset.

I really enjoyed the route, its probably one of the best mixed routes I've done and I'd recommend it to anybody. Naomi and Claire were fantastic seconds, especially considering it was their first winter route. Two definite converts to winter climbing there.