Made the decision to go somewhere a bit different today, and headed up Bidian to Church Door and Diamond Buttress area. Good snow cover still in the coire, with plenty hard snow to go at Grade I throughout the coire and up the slopes to the cols between the 2 Bidian tops and Stob Coire nam Beith. Went for a wee venture up to Hourglass Gully which is still complete, but only just...ran away when I saw how steep it is in the narrows and how boney the section is.
Central Gully (RH) was broken at the bottom but seemed complete above (couldn't see whole length) and Central LH had a fair bit in it too (couldn't see whole lower section, Collies Pinnacle kinda in the way...!)
Good solid snow all the way up to the col between Bidian (West Top) and SCNB, plenty scope for journeying about/basic winter skills etc. Dusting of new snow down to about 950m, some rime building above this height too. Exposed turf starting to freeze, but slowly.
No routes at all complete on Stob Coire nam Beith North Face, hardly any snow left on this at all.
Winter's on it's way back at last!!!
Kind of....
