In reply to jez cawthorne:
Hi Jez,
Thanks for sharing your experience, and kudos for coming on here and starting this discussion. Sounds like you would do things differently if you had it again and thank goodness none of you were seriously hurt. If others can learn from your mishap then there may be lives saved down the line so its much appreciated.
I do have a question, would you have made the decisions you made if the coire had been empty and others hadn't been swarming up the snow slopes all around? I'm interested in how the presence of other climbers and walkers reinforces the perception of safety- generally- not in your case specifically.
I'm just back from a weekend in the Cairngorms and saw plenty of suspect decision making. Luckily as far as I'm aware everyone got away with the the days we were out.
Lucy