An early start saw Postie and me walking into Stob Coire by head torch in cloudy and dank conditions one Sunday. A less than perfect night's sleep and slushy wet mush underfoot made dragging bodies along a real slog and psyche levels were really lacking. After a great forecast it looked like the met office had it wrong and cutting our losses was becoming very tempting.
Up into the Coire floor and things suddenly started looking up with wet slush turning to firm snow and hoared up buttresses looking to give excellent value. Central Grooves looks in and psyche levels recover fast. Still early and only one or two other teams in the Coire - there's no way anyone's beating to this - legs magically start working now. Everything's looking great, properly wintery - this will be excellent.
There's the line, it looks steep - awesome! Tea - Gear - Food - Now lead off. First pitch a steep corner on small but positive hooks and torquing in thin cracks, legs burning from bridging all the way. Those mono points were good investment, it's mega sustained with everything feeling technical and hard. You won't believe who that was - Spider MacKenzie - he put up the route in 83 - ace, good omen - is there anyone Postie doesn't know! Onto pitch two, more of the same with a few wider cracks now but still nothing is easy. You keep thinking you've passed the hard bit but it's still never ending.
Things are in excellent condition with hoared up rock and there's helpful ice but not too much to make difficulties and the odd bomber well frozen turf placement for gives an occasional moment thankful security in between teetering on precarious edges and insecure torques. Out of runners now so a half way belay then lead through into the groove with one really technical and tenuous move to start. Monos on an invisible edge and nonexistent hairline crack and a tiny iced up hook and some uninspiring snow for axes - let's hope everything holds. It does - just! More hooking on flat snowy edges and torquing everywhere - it keeps coming. Only fifteen metres to go on the rope now, stop for half way belay again then lead though up the groove. Spin drift and cold now, it's been awesome climbing and a brilliant route but let's just get up this now, the psyche is starting to falter. Still one pitch of easy climbing, could we abseil from that tat below? No - easier to keep going upwards but keep the gear. At last the top - wow that feels good. Awesome, that climb was great well done Postie. Still light but not for long now, just throw everything into the bags. The Coire's empty apart from us now. Head torches ready then fast back down to the car with elation running high.
A distinctly unoptimistic start turned into a great day out for Postie and me. Central Grooves had excellent varied climbing and was really sustained. Not too disappointed with that for a first season - despite the following weekend resulting in a helicopter ride and numerous injuries! Postie took the lead on the first half of the corner pitch two and second part of the groove pitch three, with me taking pitch one and the last part of the corner and first part of the groove.
Sam Burns & Stuart MacFarlane