In the last 2 days our guide, Mike Elston, has been attempting Mulhacen with 4 clients. The heavy snowfall of the past week suggested that a certain amount of snowshoeing might be necessary. The first day on the approach to the Refugio Poqueira they found snow above Cortijo Tomas, which then became deep on approach to the hut. Snowshoes were required.
There were (unsurprisingly?) no other people at the hut apart from the guardian and his staff. They spent a pleasant evening there, having the hut to themselves. The standard of food at the hut is excellent, by the way!
The following morning snowshoes were required almost immediately. They traversed into the Rio Mulhacen where they encountered very deep (1.5m) and unconsolidated powder snow. No ice encountered. There were no tracks up the virgin snowfields. Breaking trail up the Mulhacen normal route was very difficult and the work had to be shared. It took almost 3.5hrs to reach the Caldera hut (normally 2 hrs max). At this point they decided that the summit was too arduous and difficult given the snow conditions so, in worsening weather they decided to return to the hut and thence back to the start point at the Cebedilla trailhead in the Poqueira Gorge.
Photos are to follow in the next few days.
“Sincerely grateful to the entire team for your warm hospitality, masterful guiding and for opening the door to a more adventurous world of winter trekking.” Arif Basheer
Fundraising by Tahir and Arif Basheer
Tahir and Arif, who were along on the Mulhacen climb, are raising funds for charity by walking to Everest Base Camp and Kala Pattar. If you wish to support their efforts you can by logging into their fundraising sites at:
http://www.justgiving.com/tahirbasheer
http://www.justgiving.com/arifbasheer
Please support their efforts!
