The weather was a real mixed bag last week with storm force winds mid week and freezing levels at around 500 metres. Finding safe venues is always a challenging job when the wind threatens to blow you over, while at the same time creating avalanche conditions, as the snow moves from one part of the mountain to another.

The key thing is to pay attention to the holy trinity of wind speed , direction and freezing level so as to ascertain where you shouldn't be ! The best day of our week was , fortunately, the first day. This allowed  a great start to the trip allowing an easy ascent into the Coire below Spidean Coire nan Clach  (Bein Eighe) and comfortable training as we went through the essentials of ice axe arrest and movement.

A deep, steep snow plod saw us pop out onto Spidean's south ridge and into a strong westerly wind. The spindrift movement was impressive as, at times, our feet disappeared beneath the flow. The sun was out one minute followed by blizzard and poor visibility the next. Luckily we summited in a calm period and had a fine descent down the big couloir to the south east of the summit. A 300 metre bum slide to finish allowed us to lose some height with no effort.  Day one completed and it was time to figure out what to do with an increasingly difficult forecast for the days to come.

Day two was given over to micro navigation training and steep ground rope skills. All achieved at lower altitudes on the Applecross pass. Some days the decision making is easy and the storm force winds today dictated that good training in a safe location was the best option. So we ran through the essentials of map, compass and pacing in the morning. It is important to be fluent in these skills if you are going into the mountains on your own time and there's no substitute for good practical training outdoors. With the storm building we progressed onto steep ground rope work and the understanding that everyone on the mountains needs to able to deploy a rope to manage things where there's a risk of a fall or tumble. Many hillwalkers don't train with these skills  which is a shame as falls can be completely prevented with the use of steep ground security techniques particularly on hard, frozen snow.

Day three arrived with strong winds so we headed up into Fuar Tholl for some shelter in the small coire below the summit. After post holing up through some thawed snow, and a brief lunch in the group shelter, we spent some time working with avalanche transceivers. Transecting the hillside, to find a buried transceiver, emphasised the need for the correct search pattern and the time involved in finding a burial victim when time is against you. As the avalanche risk was very high on Easterly aspects we then went on to climb a small south facing gully quite low on the flanks of Fuar Tholl's NE ridge. A good location today and an example of what's possible in difficult conditions.

The final day was spent back up in Torridon and the storm was relentless. A long walk in to the east end of Bein Eighe saw us heading up the river gorge towards Sgurr nan Fir Dubh and the am Bodach pinnacles. Not expecting to get too high today we weren't disappointed. As we approached the snowline violent snow devils appeared apparently out of nowhere. In fact these are mini tornados of snow caused by the voretexing action of a strong wind over or around a ridge. Loud wind cracking noises and twisters of snow are typical and the best thing to do if you're caught in one is to  lie down! Another lunch spent in the group shelter served, yet again, to demonstrate how important a bit of kit this is. Within the warmth of the shelter the wind noise was immense but we were comfy as we had some lunch and a warm drink. We were above the freezing level now and quickly approaching the snow build up on the edge of a ridge. An opportunity to demonstrate snow pit examination presented itself followed by the decision not to climb any higher due to the increasing avalanche risk.

After a good stomp out over the boglands of Torridon we made it back to the vehicle in good time with the wind behind us. A tough week but a great example of how much can be done even when the weather gods are in a bad mood.