Treacherous

Some unexpected snow last night meant that the hills were alive with the screams of sledgers.  And the sound of the mountain rescue helicopter.  The inch of snow was on top of packed snow that had partly melted and refrozen overnight, making conditions underfoot absolutely treacherous.  Generally speaking people are fine walking uphill, but descending on sheet ice is no fun at all, as many people were finding out.  We saw the helicopter lifting somebody off the top of Braids Hill, and a friend who lives nearby has reported a steady steam of ambulances and rescue teams.  

We had walking crampons/spikes on and even with those it was tough going on the steep sections.  Even the dog was sliding all over the place.  Got home and got the real crampons out.  You never know.