York Mountaineering Club – Reports

Coire an t'Sneachda, 12th December 2009

Would you book a winter mountaineering course twelve days before Christmas ?
Nah !  Shortest days, weather probably naff,  often no snow anyway.

And so it was, that on one of the finest winter days in recent years, and after a cool minus 6 or so at the A9 bothy, we strolled into Coire an t’Sneachda, to find it largely empty.

Aladdins Buttress in view

Here’s to none-booked courses and Christmas shopping trips !  A few teams were out playing, but the trade route of Aladdins Couloir – so often a spiders web of ropes -was utterly deserted. Totally ours.

On this brilliant morning of windless blues skies, freezing and clear, hard frozen snow covered the coire floor and all the face was white.  No hurries, no worries, then.

We took a little time to try some self-arrest with the axes:- a brief reprise for Carlos and Helen, but an essential intro for Brian on his first technical winter day.
We put the rope on to move together up the snow apron below Aladdin Buttress, the snow being so hard you could hardly kick a step.
I set off up the Couloir with Adam and Brian on a pair of 9mils:- followed by Paul who led Helen and Carlos. The six of us made leisurely progress up hard frozen snow, but completely uninterrupted by any other climbers at all !!

Beginning the climb at the buttress foot

Brian starts to climb

Paul, Helen & Carlos at the deadman and bucket seat

At the top of the Couloir proper, the usual finish is the rising traverse across the top of Aladdins Mirror, with a bit of gear half way. This looked exposed given the hardness of the snow, so I was tempted by small steps made a day or two earlier, going more steeply left to the plateau.
Hmm ! After a nut and a peg, this option reared up for a final 3 or 4 metres of high angle, too hard today to sink the shafts in, yet not strong enough to bear the picks. Oh dear. After a wee teeter, I made sure of a bomber sling on a big boulder for a top anchor !!

Brian exits, Paul & Co down below

Carlos and Helen pull onto the plateau

Shortly, we were all on the plateau, gazing awestruck at the views as the sky turned orange over Ben McDhui.

Hats off to Brian, upon completing his first winter climb at age 63. !! It was also first climb day for Helen too.

Headtorches got us finally down to the cars, the bar at the Monadliath Hotel, and a long road,  white with heavy frost,  to General Wade’s bothy, where bags of firewood and coal fought back the minus 7 temperatures outside.

Sunday was a baggin’ day for Paul. Geal Charn, on the doorstep of the bothy.   Another wonderful cold sunny morning.
A track up Glen Markie led into the eastern corrie (after an interesting bit of river crossing) and upwards onto easy snow slopes.

Helen walks on water ??

Walking up Geal Charn

Finally, over the last rim to the summit ………. and WOW !!

"Hore Zdar"...... shouts Adam

Its not a big hill at 926 metres, but on this superb day, what marvellous views. Westwards, the Big Ben lurked behind Craig Megaidh’s plateau, Ben Alder to the south, the Gorms all grouped to the east, and northwest, Fannaichs, Torridon, Fisherfield in row upon row of snow covered peaks.

This amazing sight kept us gazing for about 40 minutes.

Another Munro notched up for Paul……. and a First munro for Carlos. Hurrah !

Carlos the Triumphant

Finally, tearing ourselves away, we had just time to walk down again before darkness gathered.
And so, to some Ballinluig Cafe nosh and tea, and away home again.

“hore zdar !” we all said……..meaning “mountain success” (says Adam).

Walking home down the glen

Andrew

“A well-engineered stalkers path leads upwards to the bealach………”

I used to ask Angela Ryan whether she had met the “well-engineered stoker”  and if she approved…….  ANYWAY, putting that to one side, Ralph Storer’s stock phrase is particularly true at the bottom of Glen Shiel, where a pony trail keeps an even gradient for 1500 feet from the valley floor almost at sea level.

Brian Harrington and Baljit Kumar had been pre-occupied with the Skye Ridge this summer (there are even rumours of a Report) so for a mainland trip I’d suggested this old friend, the Forcan Ridge of The Saddle.

From the place where the well-engineered stalker finished his path, the ridge sweeps up almost another 2000 feet altogether, across the top of Sgurr nan Forcan and on to the summit. 

The ridge from the south side

Sometimes its a couple of metres wide, and presents a short wall to scramble up, or a wee gendarme to turn.

Brian on a wall section

Adam clambers over the pinnacle

Often it narrows to a blade of rock. (There’s also an escape path down on the north side however).  

only a few centimetres wide here, Adam !!

The scrambling is just excellent, with some sensational positions, though never too hard.

Balj and Brian downclimb the hardest bit

And its a decent length, taking about 2 hours in total from the bealach to the summit.

“Na zdravi” said Adam, who had only arrived in York from the Czech Republic on Sunday, got himself down to the Fox on Thursday, and did his first Munro on Saturday.  Pleasantly surprised by Scotland’s mountains (on a day of glorious sunshine and no wind !!!!) he was happy enough to get across to a second Munro at Sgurr na Sgine, and of course we finished in the traditional way down the steep nose of Faochag.

A few pints later, Brian cooked us all a meal and then competently directed further operations from the sofa at Corpach.

zzzzzzzz.........lovely day.....zzz

Well the weather forecast turned right round ! It was obviously only right and proper for Adam to know that Scottish weather isn’t always so relaxing.

We motored east on Sunday morning to Aviemore, and began to think we had outrun the front as we began the stony lower reaches of the Fiacaill Ridge (Fiacaill Coire an t’Sneachda) in fair sunshine. 

However cloud soon brushed the hills. We just got to the blocky scramble at the top and “wham” the fog rolled in and it began to rain. Clambering out onto the plateau, visibility was about 25 metres. 

The top of Fiacaill Ridge as the mist begins to strike

I worked round the edge of Coire Sneachda along familiar landmarks in the mist. We stopped for a sandwich, but the rain persisted, so no trip down to Hell’s Lum then.

Ach, well, its good to have variety. We settled for a variety of coffees at the ski centre once we got down, followed by a variety of scotch pies at Ballinluig. A good Sunday tea, and a great scramble in Glen Shiel. Cheers ! …. or from Adam, Na Zdravi !!

ANDREW