After our 0530 start on the first day we figured we could have a little more time in bed. We set the alarm for 0600 but Andy didn't actually change it. We lay in bed for half an hour instead. Breakfast today was also a cooked on gas as I found the gas button (apparently they turn it off so no-one can come back drunk and try and cook something). So bacon, egg and toast, yes toast, we'd remembered to purchase some bread. As we'd packed up the car the night before and got everything ready (boots in the drying room so they'd be nice and warm this time) we arrived at Coire Cas carpark later. There where quite a few teams gearing up when we got there.
I think we actually walked in quicker this time and I know myself I felt a lot fitter on the walkin. What a difference a good meal and a good nights sleep made. There was many more people of this walkin and around at the MRT box gearing up point. I was worried all the routes we either wanted or could do would be taken, but everyone seemed to be heading for grade I/II gullies. There was however a party on our proposed route, but this only served to show it was in condition. Leaving everything a little later defiantly made for a more sociable atmosphere in t-Sneachda.
We’d chosen to do Docter’s Choice grade IV,4 a climb Andy had picked. It followed a doglegged line up the left hand side of the main buttress. As we’d already seen a team on it, we geared up slowly enjoying some hot tea and some more food. We’d decided to make a conscious effort to drink more today. We both felt a little dehydrated on day 1. With hindsight we could have done so much more prep for the coming climb. We knew it would be a mixed route, but could see some ice for the first pitch so I racked up with everything we had. I should have organized the ropes so they just fed out of Andy’s bag. That would have saved some time. Also putting on my crampons at the gearing up point rather than the base of the route might have been easier.
Either way Andy belayed at the base of the route (out of the line of fire), and I set off up the ice. The first section was awesome solid water ice, taking easy pick placements and with just enough difficulty to keep me happy. There was little gear as this soon went into hard neve. Great for climbing on, not so great for protection! I probably could have got something in, but I was easy climbing and I ran it out a little. By the top I was kicking through a foot of powder to get decent placements and then I pulled up into the cave.
I arrived at the belay stance just as the other guy was leaving to second. We exchange hello’s and talked about the route. The cave was also big enough for me to walk round in, hell I could have spent the night there with Andy and had some room to spare. It was defiantly a 5 star bivi spot. I belayed off a study looking icicle/pillar and a bomber peg. Being covered above and from the sides was great as a bivi spot, but it meant that I couldn’t see Andy much. He joined me, took the gear and headed off out of sight for a crazy little mixed section. I’m not going to lie but I was getting frustrated with him seeming to take forever. In actual fact he wasn’t, he was moving fine. I’m just impatient and my feet where starting to get cold.
As I seconded this pitch I got to the difficult step Andy had had some trouble on. Christ it was hard. I had so much trouble trying not to over balance and knock myself off. It was a damn good lead from Andy, with some difficult protection. I found him tucked away under an overhang and I took the gear and headed off up a grade I gully section. It was hardly a worthy pitch so I asked Andy if I could take the final groove too. He said I could.
This groove looked quite long (30metres) till it petered out. The ice in it wasn’t too deep and it looked a mix of ice, hard neve, and rock. The lacking ice protection was made up for by the clean system of cracks on the right hand wall! Perfect nut pro! I headed up trying to place as much gear as possible. This was my steepest bit of mixed climbing yet. About half way I spotted a short section of clean unclimbed ice out to the left. I placed some pro and stepped out onto it. I wasn’t great ice but it was better than the powder snow groove I’d just avoided so I carried on. Here my inexperience nearly did me over.
I placed a pick, moved my feet up and thought everything was fine, then without warning my left pick and both my feet blew out. Suddenly this good ice didn’t seem so great, I should have known when the pick went in so easy. I yelled to Andy I was coming off, but I held on with my right hand and managed to get my feet back on and get a decent left hand in. That was a bit close. Whacking my picks in a little harder and sticking to turfy sections. As it turned out the ice got better as I went up and I moved back right to get more gear in. At the top there was no obvious belay so I carried on up the easy gully. Here having 60metre ropes paid off and I only just made it to the only boulder I could see. 
Here I managed to get a sling around and broke my 1 anchor rule. Instead I braced as hard as I could, in the snow digging down deep to hard snow and ice for my feet. The boulder must have weighed in at over 5tonne anyway. Up Andy came and we then moved together to the summit. This time we just moved together up the last section of ice in Aladdin’s Couloir.
All day the weather had been different from day 1. Our alpine clear skies and little wind had gone only to be replaced with cloud and wind. As we topped out we were in near whiteout conditions, but without falling snow. We took the same walk off as the day before, knowing there was massive path to follow. We the end of the coire in sight at all times though as we could handrail it round till the final cairn. We must have moved pretty quick because the cairn came up on us really quickly. Here we dropped out of the cloud and I pulled away again. Instead of walking down the empty sky runs as we’d done the day before though (it was late enough that the ski centre had closed) we had to wade through some more powder before we were back at the car park. Another good day out.
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