Mild winds and a temperature inversion have brought a thaw to the West Coast of Scotland that is quickly stripping lower routes and turning higher routes to mush. After trying to second guess the conditions we admitted defeat and picked a route that will go in any weather.
Schoolhouse Ridge is a fun line of rocky steps above the school house in Ballachulish. Today it had a snowy side and a bare side. We climbed the crest with our right feet in the snow and our left on bare rock and turf. The crampons stayed in the bag and at times it was more of a snowed up scramble than a winter route.
Even so, it was fun, and the views towards Glencoe were magnificent.
With more mild weather in the forecast. Will anything of winter survive?