Unicorn

Finally today there was some mixed climbing to be had as the snow came and was blow nicely on to the crags in Corie nan Lochain. I had Unicorn VIII,8*** in mind, but would go with the consensus of John and Guy as well. They were happy to give it a go, as I was keen for the crux pitch.  

I led quite quickly, for me to the crux. This involved some awkward and physical chimneying up the steep and very thin flared groove. I was gutted to have an axe blow whilst placing a runner after the crux, which ended the onsight. The fall took me back to the base of the route. After battling back up, I was soon at the belay. John cruised up the short second pitch which had lots of positive climbing and good gear. Guy then led us to the top up the outstanding third pitch. Thin feet and positive hook made this a dream to climb.

There was a lot of graupel blown in today on the strong wind and it was pooling up in any hollows. It will be interesting to see what happens if more snow falls on top.

There are a couple of pics on my blog.