DAYS OUT FROM YORK
Just as a change (mostly) from the long weekends away, here’s my log of ten days out in 2012 so far.
There have been 3 excellent days in the Lakes, some wind in the Yorkshire Dales, and an ice pitch in the North York Moors.
5th to 7th January 2012 SCOTLAND NW HIGHLANDS
With Frank & Matt Diggle I had 3 days in Glen Shiel. Sometimes the weather was quite poor. Mostly it was worse than that.
On the way home, the Corbett of Meall Tairneachan (790m) near Kinloch Rannoch, provided a short walk in fine and windy weather. Knee depth snow over 650 metres
13 January 2012 NORTH YORK MOORS Circuit of Spaunton Moor. Cold and clear, light wind
14 January 2012 LAKE DISTRICT
With Steve Green, Orrin the Dog, James L, Matt L, Helen, and Jen.
We made our way from Mungrisedale along the valley to Scales Tarn.
The Yoof section opted to cross Sharp Edge. Orrin and his handlers watched from across the Tarn as they inched their way along, avoiding the verglas. Reunited at Blencathra summit, we enjoyed great views en route to Blease Fell & then returned across the moorland north of Blencathra, as Helen was finding the odd sheepfold and ring contour for navigation practice. Cold sunny and clear
Orrin was reformed and did not display any of the cannine sexual extravagance which marked him at Franks 283rd Munro.
21 January 2012 YORKSHIRE DALES
With Frank, James P and Ruth. A day of very strong winds, mostly overcast, occasional showers & sunny intervals.
We puffed our way up Simons Seat and snuggled in the rocky outcrops to escape the wind. Dropping down north, we found Trollers Gill very full of water – just passable. A return along the riverside path completed a nice day out..
29 January 2012 LAKE DISTRICT With Maria, Mike, and Helen.
Glenridding, up Swirral edge, down Striding Edge. Clear and calm day, cloud cover mainly above summits.
Full winter conditions, snow above 300m
It was necessary to face in and downclimb first part of the snowslope off Helvellyn summit.
10 February 2012 NORTH YORK MOORS
With Richard & Sarah. Freezing rain had left the roads treacherous, and the weather was mostly pants. So we headed east to find the only bright spot going, and stuck to the main Whitby road. . From the Hole of Horcum to Levisham via the small gulley of Dundale Griff.
We found it necessary to investigate the pub at levisham, then Seavey Pond and the “his and hers” tumuli graves which gaze out across their ancient territory.
We had a bright sunny day with 6 inch snow cover
12 February 2012 NORTH YORK MOORS
With Richard G & Mike F. we headed in thick cold morning mist to the “Crag X” icefall. Improving roads were offset by deteriorating ice, but the pitch was climbable on a top rope.
A short circuit around the moorland in cloudy cold conditions justified a pleasant pint in the Lion Inn.
19 February 2010 LAKE DISTRICT
A YMC party. of Jon, Guy, John Mac, Mike, Maria, Paul Stannet et moi climbed Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag.
After a “snowfall” forecast for the previous day, we carried winter gear, but the ridge was dry rock, in its usual condition as a summer hard scramble/mod — except colder. A day of brilliant sunshine and excellent views.
From St Sunday summit it was down to Grisdale Tarn and back to Patterdale.
York Mountaineering Club
winter weekend February 2012
The trip was organised by Maria the new club secretary and all thanks go to her for a great weekend that was had by all.
Friday
The weather forecast was all about the cold front from Russia when the advance team set off from York early Friday morning hoping to get on the hill that afternoon.
Brian H, Brian T and John Mac arrived at Balquhidder along the side of the beautiful Loch Voil at 1.45 pm and after a walk along the private road to Inverlochlarig climbed the steep grassy slopes of Beinn Tulaichean passing through huge rocky boulders smothered in icicles.
The book said to chose your own route up around or over the crags and Brian H and John Mac, taking this literally, soon lost Brian T as they wound their way onwards and upwards chasing the glorious sunshine.
Realising Brian T was holding the beer money, John Mac down climbed to find him. Brian T was later heard to complain that he was lost due to “Due to John Mac’s lack of observation of the rest of his party”
2 ½ hours after setting off we arrived on the summit in superb conditions with no one else on the mountain. At the summit despite the late hour Brian T was keen to walk on and upwards into the dark top of Cruach Ardrain but being the unselfish mountain man that he is, he decided instead to assist the more elderly John Mac (who was struggling on the icy slopes and muttering to himself “bxxxard walking…what’s the point of it”) down safely to the glen below. It was a good weather start to the YMC weekend. Unfortunately for the rest of the party this was to be the only decent day of weather until the Monday.
Friday night the weekenders arrived at the Laggan bunkhouse. The old Firm of Frank A and Matt D accompanied by Dave C, Mike F and Maria D.
Saturday
After the usual bunkhouse evening a bleary eyed team was early on the hill in various states. The night had been disturbed by some minor snoring until one of the main culprits , no stranger to sacrifice, removed himself to the living room whereupon a slightly better second half of the night was had by all despite the fact that the main culprit remained asleep and oblivious. The morning saw 3 intrepid teams depart for separate destinations. Team Tucker headed off up Binnein Shuas having planned ahead with John Mac that the car keys would be left under a wheel for him if he was the first back to the car park.
The old Firm (Matt and Frank) planned to start from Newtonmore and climb Carn Dearg with the intention of crossing the Monadhliath plateau to bag 2 more Munros. Luckily for the old firm common sense prevailed and when they were met by a complete white-out on the summit of Carn Dearg they reversed their route back to Newtonmore and into the nearest pub – some have claimed that the old firm never in fact left this particular pub in Newtonmore and never ventured onto the hill at all that day – although if this was true the photo that Frank A was a little too keen for everyone to see of him at the top of Carn Dearg has yet to be explained!
The rest of the gang had planned to go into Creag Meagaidh to do Staghorn Gully but the considerable avalanche risk and the unfavourable wind direction and speed caused a rethink. Mike F came up with a cunning plan. He happened to have a scrap of old paper, on which there were a few notes he had jotted down in a pub about a climb his uncle had done up the east ridge of Beinn a’Chaorainn. There was nothing in the guide book but armed with the few faded lines and an enthusiastic Mike F we set off up the east ridge into grim whiteout conditions and varying bursts of 60-70 mile winds that picked up even the heaviest of us from time to time and pushed us towards the ridge edge.
Different lines of varying difficulty provided continuous enjoyment and challenge all the way to the summit where all topped out safely. Due to whiteout conditions it was decided to descend the less steep southern slope of the mountain rather than attempt the second Munro on the route.
Back at the car team Tucker was nowhere to be seen. Instead an abusive note was found on John Mac’s car windscreen saying that after yet another successful summit for Team Tucker he couldn’t find the keys despite crawling around on all fours and digging trenches behind each wheel in a blizzard and so had set of walking/hitching the 12 miles back to the bunkhouse. John Mac recovered the keys from within the wheel where he had cunningly placed them. We set off after Brian T and caught up with him several miles down the road looking wet and frosty but in good spirits despite the little trick played on him by that joker Johnny Mac.
Saturday night saw us in the Monadhliath hotel for refreshments and to watch one half of the old Firm, the Glaswegian Frank A cheering on his second favourite country as England beat Scotland 13-6 in the six nations rugby.
Sunday
Brian H, John Mac and Maria D headed up to Coire an Lochain to attempt the 100m climb Ventilator. Dave C and Mike F joined them in the Coire. Initially Dave C was keen to climb “The Hurting”, but conditions not being quite in he was persuaded instead to attempt Y Gully Left Branch They found conditions poor with vertical powder snow on top of the ice and ended up retreating using an ablakov thread and then climbing the Couloir as a consolation prize.
Brian H, John Mac and Maria queued for an hour at the bottom of the route in freezing conditions behind a couple of Edinburgh University students and part of the Oban Mountain rescue team. Eventually they moved up allowing John Mac up the first part of the pitch only to find himself stuck again behind the log jam of climbers. Fingers froze, nerves frayed and toes numbed whilst we discussed the options. Eventually realising that the other teams were likely to be still on the climb into the small wee hours Johnny Mac down climbed, belaying himself from a sling and we retreated down the slope and back to the café.
We found the old Firm in an even worse state than we were. Matt was crying into his beer and Frank A had had to go back to the bunkhouse to lie down. They had suffered ignominy and defeat. After many Munros together over many years the old Firm had suffered their first ever mountain retreat. They were gutted. They had attempted Ben Macdui but were forced to back down due to severe white-out conditions on the plateau.
Brian T and Team Tucker was the only YMC team to have any luck on the hill on Sunday. He topped out on Cairngorm at 11.15am being the first and maybe the only man on the hill that day before heading north to add another “top” to his collection. Some one scoffed at the collection of a top and Brian T was heard to mutter, “It’s better than a Corbett!”
After a swift collection of gear at the lagan bunkhouse Brian H, John Mac and Brian T headed off back to York after an excellent few days in the hill.
So Sunday evening found the remnants of the YMC Winter Weekend (Mike, Maria, Matt D and Dave C) back at Laggan and pondering their collective failures. The decision was made to eat an impossibly large quantity of pasta, drink some whisky, get an early night, (blissfully silent and snore-free) and then get up at 5am, drive to Glencoe and attempt the Aonach Eagach.
Monday
Monday’s weather forecast looked promising, and as the intrepid quartet weaved up the road to Spean Bridge in the wee small hours, the anticipation was mounting. Arrival at Glencoe was greeted by a cloudless sky, and still, clear, crisp frosty air.
By 7.30 am the team was on their way. The route up to Am Bodach, whilst steep, was via a well engineered track, made a little edgy with the occasional smear of verglas just to keep the eyes on the ground in front. The developing view however was becoming increasingly stunning, with the view to the south dominated by Bidean Nam Bian, the Buachailles and Beinn a’ Bheithir to the Southwest. The crest of Am Bodach then brought the vista of what looked pretty much like the entire Highlands; the Torridon Peaks visible off in the distance, the Nevis range, the Mamores, Schiehallion standing proud at the far end of Rannoch Moor, and the Ben Lawers range coming into view, shrugging off their last threads of mist.
On went crampons and harnesses for the first challenge of the day – traversing the “Chancellor” (Am Bodach’s intimidating western rampart) with a short abseil and then a solo pull across to Meall Dearg – the first Munro of the day. Then without too much ceremony it was on to the traverse of the Aonach Eagach proper: a series of sharp narrow pinnacles, steep narrow descents and clambering up a series of slabs, chimneys and beautiful snow covered aretes.
The snow was powdery and loose in what was becoming a remarkably Alpine day (sunblock and water were in short supply!). But the rope stayed untouched for most of the traverse, save for a couple of difficult steps.
The YMC team was one of only four groups to traverse the ridge all day; in what were almost perfect conditions. Stob Coire Leith was finally reached and the team shared out the last of their water and basked for a while munching jelly babies, before the last pull to Sgurr Nam Fiannaidh. (the second Munro of the day) An easy descent on tired legs to the col below the Pap of Glencoe followed, and then a sketchy path led all the way down to a point conveniently close to Glencoe Youth Hostel.
All were a bit tired by then. A quick enquiry at the Hostel sorted out some very comfortable accommodation, Mike ventured off to retrieve his car (and all the team’s stuff), Maria elected to chill out; whilst Matt D and Dave C did the right thing, borrowed some money off Mike and carried on walking to the pub to rehydrate in style. They then went all the way back to the hostel, cleaned off a substantial layer of dirt, and then back to the pub again. A huge quantity of food and drink was consumed, and the team – joined by a couple who had also traversed the ridge – entered the pub quiz. It would be fair to say that their mountaineering prowess overshadowed their pub quiz prowess…
Tuesday
The evening’s revels over, it was decided to do a nice simple hill walk for the final day, just to stretch the legs, and to provide an early finish for the journey home.
Beinn a’Chleibh was selected as a likely candidate (only 3.5 km from the road and just so happened to be on Matt D’s tick list) It did however require a river crossing to start – or rather a diversion for 1.5 km down the rather deep river to a footbridge that led to the railway (the day was already beginning to resemble an assault course). Then the ascent required climbing up across very rough ground that had recently been clear felled, and finally the North West Ridge of the mountain was reached and a long slow slog to the summit (Dave C was heard to mutter “God this is a dull lump” – as they toiled up past a series of false summits).
The wind was now blowing in from the South East chilling the air and carrying in banks of mist that obscured the summit and appeared to push it further and further away. But finally they made it. Reward was a stunning view of Ben Lui, and all around a fine vista of peaks. A quick descent onto the col between the two mountains and down out of the wind and lunch was taken. Matt D’s map case decided to suddenly slither down the mountain, slowly at first, and then just disappeared over the edge… This event did raise a considerable degree of hilarity. Discussion then arose as to the climbing potential of the North East Face of Beinn a’ Chleibh which looked to have a couple of fine gully routes, artfully decorated with spectacular ice falls (another time perhaps).
A short walk down the mountain, through the forest – vand straight across the river this time (which did appear a little less deep than it had earlier) and it was back to the car, back to York. A great end to a great weekend.
YORK MC February 2012
Brian H. and Matt D.
The Big Ben and the Wee Buachaille
14-15 January 2012
After the recent thaw, we didn’t have very high hopes for winter climbing, but a forecast for a cold clear weekend, and reports that there was still plenty of ice and snow on Ben Nevis persuaded us that the drive north might be worthwhile.
We arrived at the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel very late on Friday evening, and collapsed straight into bed. Less than five hours later we were up again, making an early start to make the most of the short daylight hours. We walked up the Allt a’Mhuilinn path in darkness, with the first glimmers of daylight appearing just as we reached the north face. Although the lower buttresses were black, the rock was rimed higher up and a number of easy gullies and higher routes had retained enough snow and ice to be worthwhile. We took a look at the Ledge Route and found, to our surprise, that the ledges and gullies in the lower sections had retained plenty of ice due to their sheltered position. Low cloud hung over the hill, but we hoped this would clear as forecasted.
Although the Ledge Route is reputed to be the best grade II on Ben Nevis, I’d never been up it before (in summer or winter). This omission clearly needed to b
e rectified.
We stopped for a bite to eat while we put crampons and harnesses on, and then set off up number five gully before branching right onto the Ledge Route. We romped up the easy snows on the lower section, with the rope staying in the pack. The snow was beautiful firm neve, which was fantastic to climb. The excellent snow conditions continued when we reached the main ridge, which was high enough to have retained a reasonable amount of snow despite its exposed position.
We continued quickly up the ridge, enjoying the exposed position, and were lucky enough to get a glimpse of the Great Tower, at the top of Tower Ridge, when the clag parted briefly for the only time that day. When we reached the summit of Carn Dearg, we were in a whiteout, so followed bearings to the summit. From the summit, we decided to descend via the Carn Mor Dearg arête, which we had only done in summer conditions before.
The promised sunshine still hadn’t appeared and with the whiteout persisting it was more compass bearings to get us to the arête, down a steep, hard, icy slope which felt hairier than anything on Ledge Route!
Once established on the arête, the going became simpler again, and we scrambled easily along the narrow crest until we reached the summit of Carn Mor Dearg. The arête is given a grade I, but is at the lower end of the grade, albeit long.
From Carn Mor Dearg we opted to walk all the way along the ridge to the north, over Carn Dearg Meadhonach and Carn Beag Dearg before dropping back down beneath the cloud and joining the Allt a’Mhuilinn path. We were back at the car before it got dark, knackered but satisfied.
The next day dawned bright and clear and we decided that a shorter day was needed to give our tired legs a rest. Neither of us had walked up Buachaille Etive Beag before, and the translation of its Gaelic name means “the small (wee) herdsman of Etive”, so it would be a nice contrast to the big hill the day before!
A good path from Glencoe eased the ascent, although dodging the black ice proved entertaining! After a swift ascent to the col, we headed up towards the first Munro – Stob Coire Raineach, where we were treated to spectacular views of the remainder of our route, the Aonach Eagach and Ben Nevis to the north and the Bidean nam Bian massif to our west.
We retraced our steps to the col and started up the steep snow slope towards the second Munro – Stob Dubh. The ridge that extended to this peak was a lovely narrow snowy walk, with the views more than compensating for the previous day’s murk. Once the second peak had been visited, we swiftly returned to the col for the second time before heading down to Glencoe and driving south.
Gales and Gullies in Glen Clova
Thursday night was perfect preparation for a weekend’s climbing – several pints in the Fox, followed by whisky, mince pies and door frame climbing competitions in the early hours at John’s flat… By Friday afternoon the hangovers were just starting to loosen their grip as Matt, Frank, Maria and I headed north to Glen Clova.
Arriving at the bunkhouse at 10:30ish we sampled the local ale in the Glen Clova hotel bar while making plans for Saturday. The beer wasn’t great (unfortunately the end of a barrel that had been sat around for too long) but a decision was made – a grade I gully in Corrie Fee followed by Mayar and Driesh, which would be the first & second Munros on Frank’s second round, and take Matt to within 113 of compleation.
Saturday morning dawned clear and cold, and we plodded up the icy forest track to find some amazing views into Corrie Fee as we left the woods.
We selected D Gully, donned crampons and set off uphill. Snow conditions were good and we shared the route with a couple of mountain hares who made it all look easy as they ran up and down the gully.
On reaching the top we were hit by ferocious winds that made it hard to stand up, but fuelled by jelly babies and hot drinks from our flasks we found our way onto Mayar without being blown away.
We didn’t linger long on the summit before heading East towards Driesh. The constant spindrift being blown into our faces gave us the authentic Scottish winter experience, and I longed for my ski goggles which I’d helpfully left back at home in York.
The summit of Driesh was another very brief stop before we retraced our steps to the col and took the path down the Shank of Drumfollow.
It was nice to get out of the wind as we reached Glendoll forest, and we entertained each other by slipping and sliding our way down the icy forest track back to the car. That evening we retired to the Glen Clova hotel for a few fine ales (fresh barrel this time!) and some generous portions of very tasty dinner. I recommend the venison casserole…
The plan for Sunday was for a slightly shorter day, climbing something a bit harder in Corrie Fee and then heading down so we could get back to York at a decent time. Unfortunately Matt’s snoring left Frank less than keen on the idea, so he volunteered to stay down in the Glen and catch up on sleep while the 3 of us went off to climb B Gully.
We roped up and moved together up the first 100m or so, before reaching a steeper bit of climbing above which I was able to get a good belay set up and bring the others up.
I was nominated to lead the ice pitch above, which looked a fair bit steeper than your average grade II, but good fun. I was glad when I got a good ice screw in 5 or 6 metres into the pitch, but above that the quality of the ice deteriorated and I heard the unnerving sound of running water underneath the ice. Bits of the icefall fell apart as I climbed it, leaving mossy rock exposed underneath, but there was nothing for it but to keep climbing upwards, and the angle was bound to ease off soon…
Sure enough it got easier above and I ran the rope out to a good spike belay at the side of the gully. Matt gave himself a good talking to while seconding the steep bit (‘Pull yourself together Diggle!’) but made it nonetheless. It seems he did knock some more of the crumbling ice down though, leaving even more tricky conditions for Maria as the third person on the rope! Once she’d made it up the mossy remnants of the icefall, we then just had an easy snow slope to climb before we were on the plateau. It was then time to wander back down to the car and head south to York.
All in all, a great weekend and hopefully the first of many Scottish trips this winter! Glen Clova is also definitely worth a return visit – a well appointed bunkhouse next door to a good pub, with plenty of winter climbs in Corrie Fee and Winter Corrie, as well as nice hill walking all around.
Geal Charn 3, Geal Charn 4
…….(kickstarting the Project ?)
SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS, 10-11 December 2011
The deer were everywhere. Several herds of them sprinkled across the lower moors, driven down from the Munros by snowstorms and midweek winds up to 100mph [with even a gust of 165 recorded on Cairn Gorm]. Great hares in their winter white, darted across our path. And ahead, a large fox slinked along, looked back, and sauntered into the snowdrifted heather.
After the week’s weather, it was obvious we’d need to avoid the lee slopes where all the snow would be blown. And so it was, that Paul selected a Munro with a north and westerly approach, from the Laggan road down to Geal Charn at 1046 metres. Even this involved 3 hours of breaking trail through the fresh snow up to knee deep.
Fortunately we had a calm weather window between bouts of storms, so sunshine and blue skies egged us on. It’s very apt that Geal Charn means “White Hill’, because it certainly was. At the trig point (my third time of visiting this summit) I thought I’d better add a Santa hat in deference to the YMC Santa night which we were missing. (But in a good cause !).
Back at the bar at Grandtully, (recommended) we swapped the craic with Robbie, a fisherman and passionate about the countryside as we all ought to be. The scandal of Scottish farmed salmon, mismanagement of the rivers. Also as Robbie put it, how many partridge and pheasant do you see ? Plenty of roadkill even. But why are there hardly any raptors, despite such a good food supply? Robbie says poisoning by gamekeepers is widespread slaughter.
For Sunday, the forecast was somewhat mixed. Paul said he hadn’t done the northernmost of the Drumochter Munros, which is easy of access in poor conditions. Coincidentally, upon checking the map, its name was also once again ……..Geal Charn !! …. just 917 metres this one.
Off we set, with the summits visible but the sky threatening. From 700 metres the mist closed in and it began to snow a bit on a freshening wind. Beyond the cairn around 800 metres, visiblity was greatly reduced, and definiton faded away as the white ground met the white sky. We located the summit cairn, (the fourth time for me at this one……. small wonder I’ve got a Corbetts book !!!) and set the bearing back to Balsporran in the valley..
The world was reduced to a white balloon, inside which we kept our eyes steadily on the compass and marched east.
Eventually, the ground began to go downwards, and after almost half an hour on the bearing, (about 1.4 km) a grey land appeared like a telly on the blink, and hey, there’s Balsporran below, dead on line !!.
As we were still up at about 670 metres, luncheon in a grouse butt was followed by a traversing line across a deep-cut stream and up onto the spur of Creagan Mor at 772 metres.
This lower spur has impressive views over Loch Ericht, north across Badenoch, and south into the jaws of Drumochter, well worth a look. Second Lunch in a rocky outcrop to take it all in.
Two white hills, both of which are called “White Hill” [Geal Charn], so 2 more Munros for Paul, and my 3rd and 4th ascents of them. So maybe the time has come for the “Project”. Beginning as a joke 10 years ago in Meall Garbh bothy, its an idea to catalogue every hill called Geal Charn in the Scottish Highlands, about which nothing has been done 10 years after. But there are 4 Munros called Geal Charn, and a quick shuftie across OS 42 revealed Geal Charn 772 metres south of Kinloch Rannoch, which must have interesting views as it’s 3km west of Shiehallion and 4km north of Carn Mairg. So watch this space…….. [but not too intently]……
ANDREW
Sron na Lairig
Another snowy weekend and Maria and I were heading north again on Friday afternoon. We hadn’t really decided what to do yet – we were staying in Arrochar, but with slightly erratic weather patterns and fresh snowfall we were concerned that the hills in that area might just have fresh, wet snow on unfrozen ground. With lots of fresh snow the gullies further north were not a good alternative, so we went for the safe option – a ridge.
Sron na Lairig is a slightly scrappy and vegetated grade 2 scramble in summer, but in winter it gets 2 stars and looked like it could be fun so we headed off into the cloudy morning confident the forecast of clearing skies would come true soon. After a pleasant wander through the Lairig Eilde, we headed up towards the route, and following the description in the guidebook we started out on the left-hand side of the buttress. This was easy, but a bit scrappy on (at best) partially frozen turf covered in quite wet snow.
As we gained height, we soon found better conditions and some nice mixed ground where we roped up. It was still pretty cloudy and there was a bit of snowfall, but the climbing was good fun and we moved together up a gradually narrowing ridge. Although the climbing was fairly straightforward there were some pretty big drops off to the side to keep things interesting.
The final section of the climb involved a dodgy-looking snow slope that raised a few concerns over avalanche risk, so we took a fixed belay and pitched it. There were a couple of guys climbing in front of us, and as I approached the top they called down to me saying there were some good block belays.
They had started the pitch from the same point as us, so I was a bit confused when my rope ran out before I got to the blocks. “Is that a 50m rope?” I asked. “No, 60m” came the response. “Oh, bugger.”
They very kindly saved me the effort of burying my ice axes in the snow, and gave me a length of rope attached to their belay so I could bring Maria up the final pitch.
Having seen quite a few small natural avalanches during the day, we decided heading to the col to the southeast seemed the safest descent as we could lose quite a lot of height on the ridge before heading back down into the Lairig Eilde via a not-too-dodgy little snow slope. The promised clearing skies came during the descent, and we had some great views into Glen Etive and the Lairig Eilde as we had lunch at the col.
We had hoped to at least get a short walk in on Sunday, but the morning brought torrential rain, so we settled for a cooked breakfast in the B&B followed by a drive south.
A Schoolyard, a Boomerang and a Corbett
29-30 January 2011, Western Highlands
Friday night, and five YMC members rendezvoused at the Crianlarich Youth Hostel after the long drive north. It was the first time I had stayed in Crianlarich itself, and my comment that I had been informed (reliably, or so I thought) that there were “good pubs” in the village prompted much hilarity from those who had stayed there before. A visit to the nearest drinking house for a swift pint followed – suffice to say that I had clearly been misinformed!
On Saturday, two groups headed off with different objectives in mind.
Frank, Matthew, and Andrew chose Ben Sguliard. No-one knows what it means, but as it sounds like “schoolyard” perhaps it’s Gaelic for ‘learning experience”. Anyway being one of the few Munros on the western seaboard which had not been “Franked”, now was the time to put his stamp upon it.
The main lesson was sums. If you have a 937-metre summit which is approached along a ridge with substantial ups and downs, you get to climb 1200 metres by the time you’re done. The gnarly ridge is actually three tops over 850 metres, irregular and bouldery. The final part sweeps up to the summit in a graceful curve, flanked by steep rocky drops.
In completely windless conditions, lovely views opened up along Loch Creran and towards Ardgour, Lismore, and Mull. Just south of Beinn a’ Bheithir, at the bottom of Glencoe, Ben Sguliard shares the beautiful combination of mountainside and sea loch, and long views into the West. We tried to eyeball Beinn Fionndlaidh, where Frank has an appointment in November.
A gentle mist weaved around the upper parts of the mountain, but after some friendly waves from the local Brocken Spectres, the mist conveniently broke up just where the going becomes a bit complicated. The cold grey blanket returned near the summit, however. “Thirty-one” said Frank.
In the belief that this was a target for Units of Alcohol, the team made its way back over the humps and happily along to the Ballachulish Hotel, pausing only to replace a huge boulder which had fallen over. The evening sun turned the slopes above Onich and Loch Linnhe into a golden glow, as we set to work on our internal glows from satisfaction and uisge beatha.
Mike and I had originally had our eyes on a winter traverse of the Aonach Eagach, but a lack of snow on the ridge had forced a reappraisal of our options. Snow conditions were relatively thin lower down, and on the ridges, so we decided to head up Stob Coire nan Lochan. The corrie is high, and the gullies often hold snow and ice when other areas are bare.
We set off in the dark, sure that lots of people would also be heading to one of the few crags in winter nick, and were first into the corrie. Unfortunately, the mist prevented us from starting climbing straight away as we struggled to identify which buttress was which. After spending some time enjoying a ‘second breakfast’, our wait was rewarded when the murk cleared slightly. Boomerang Gully looked in good condition, so we started up it. It was still very quiet by this stage and hardly any climbers had arrived in the corrie. Maybe everyone had headed to the Ben or the Norries instead?
Boomerang Gully is a straightforward snow climb, with just one steep icy pitch to liven things up and make you feel the want of a rope. Halfway up this pitch I looked down to see a small yellow bit of plastic fall from my crampon and disappear southwards – my anti-balling plate!
The rest of the climb was an easy romp to the top, made slightly more interesting by the need to bang my right crampon with my axe to knock the snow from it every few steps. Luckily, another party came up the gully after us, found it and brought it up for me. I couldn’t re-fit it on the hill as the metal clasp was bent (and no amount of prying with an axe would budge it), but it was much appreciated all the same.
Boomerang Gully culminated in a short ridge which delivered us straight on to the summit with smiles on our faces. ‘First lunch’ was enjoyed, although the views were lost behind the mist. We debated heading back down in to the corrie to do another route, but eventually decided to extend the day by walking over Bidean nam Bian, the slightly higher summit to our south. All the routes on Bidean make for relatively long days, but I think the circuit of those hills via the Lost Valley is one of the nicest days out in the area, particularly in winter.
Throughout the ascent, the mist had been alternately clearing slightly and closing back in – this continued as we walked from Stob Coire nan Lochan over to the summit of Bidean nam Bian where we had ‘second lunch’.
As we descended the east ridge of Bidean nam Bian, however, the skies suddenly cleared, and we were treated to some very special views of the surrounding hills. A steep descent down the snowy headwall of Coire Gabhail and a long walk out through the Lost Valley, past the spectacular erratics which mark the entrance to the valley, completed the day.
Sunday brought clag, drizzle, wind and a dusting of snow higher up. After much impassioned debate on the subject the previous evening (particularly on the part of the two aspirant munroists present) it was eventually decided that Beinn a’ Chuallaich, a Corbett, would be the best choice, on the basis that lower hills would be relatively clag-free. (This may have indicated a certain degree of optimism.) The idea of a short day also appealed to the aching legs which followed the previous day’s exertions.
After a steep ascent up heathery slopes, the ground levelled off as we made our way towards the col between the main summit of Beinn a’ Chuallaich and its subsidiary top, Meall nan Eun. Three or four imposters were passed before we eventually reached the real col, from where it was a short, but blustery, walk up to the main summit.
The views that we had been hoping for weren’t there, and the wind was biting, so we headed onwards quickly. The cloud lifted as we descended, however, eventually opening up enough to allow us to see down to Loch Rannoch and Schiehallion to our south as we ambled back to the cars ready for the drive home.
Finding Winter Treasure
Western Highlands 7th to 9th January 2011
The road in Glen Etive was blocked by groups of deer, come down from the bitter hillsides to find the treasure of food.
It’s just as well a stag looks magnificent from the front, because when you’re gently following one along the tarmac, the impression is much more of a big barrel rolling on pin legs.
A Christmas landscape followed as we got clear of the herds, and made our way through the snowy pines towards Sgurr na h-Ulaidh, which means “Peak of the Treasure”. For me, the 995-metre summit would be a reprise of a treasured memory, as I was last there in 1994; for Matt and Paul it had been selected as a bit of Scotland new to both of them. Sunlight and cloud jostled each other as we marched steadily up the frozen moor towards a bealach at 600 metres.
After some early promise, the cloud seemed to be winning and when we had a snack at the bealach, there was little to be seen in a grey-white world.
Axes and crampons came out for the south-east ridge, which was steep enough in places to need both — and during the hour that it took us to clamber this steep 1200 feet, the mist havered and wavered, with finally some welcome blue as we saw the summit across the yawning gap of Vixen Gulley.
Still enough cloud fleeing by, to receive our shadows, and so those friendly brocken spectres waved back to us, blessed with their haloes like Orthodox saints.
Superb views now of Beinn a’Bheither, Bidein, and around to Ben Starav and Ben Cruachan.
The sun shone all afternoon, as we made our way back to Glen Etive across the 748 – metre outlier of Meall a’ Bhuiridh.
At the Kingshouse, the usual suspects were hanging about, and to celebrate the treasure of our day, I fed them on a little surplus malt loaf, which was treasure to them.
Matt had ample supplies of sausage and vegetables, and a comfy night at Crianlarich YH followed, with the occasional snowflake noticed through the glass. Ahem !. Next morning was – put simply – mingin’ ; with a dump of over 6 inches and cold wet sleet falling. Dawn was spent digging out the car and using ice axes to chop away at the steep lane which leads upwards from the car park. All pretty ‘orrible. However, improvement was forecast and after a cup of tea it started.
The Munro Committee of Matt and Paul had settled on 933-metre Beinn Chabhair (“Hill of the Hawk”……NOT Hill of the Chavs) and after the steep start from the valley beside Benglas Burn, it became clear just how much snow had fallen. At 300 metres, we were wading through a minimum 12 inches of fluffy white, deepening to thighs and even waist deep in the occasional drift.
Fortunately Paul The Plough was turned up to “Full” and battered a trench for the next 2 miles. A Scots trio came up behind, but smartly declined the lead when they found what was involved. So, forming an orderly queue behind Paul, up we went onto the shoulder of the mountain.
Again it was hard going for an hour, ever upwards on the deep snow, over and around its wind-carved shapes and flutings. The bumpy summit gave excellent views over a landscape shining white with an astonishing blue to the sky.
Later, the Inverarnan Inn provided re-acquaintance with the stuffed bear in the entrance (still !!) plus a steak sandwich (of more recent origin). And then hey, ho, away for England. Stuffed full of Treasures…….. our friends the Deer, those rarely-seen Brocken Spectres, the sausages, the chess, [of which details remain classified !] the Hill of the Hawk, and Sgurr na h-Ulaidh itself.
Yorkshire 3 Peaks
Winter is starting to look promising – in early December Maria and I enjoyed great conditions on Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag, and the weather looks like staying cold for some time. On the last weekend before xmas we had our sights set on Stepped Ridge (on Brown Cove Crags) as our second route of the season. But with Maria not feeling well on Sunday morning, I needed to come up with an alternative, as soloing grade III routes is not really my thing…
The Yorkshire 3 peaks came to mind, so I headed off into the freezing morning and drove to Horton-in-Ribblesdale. Driving through Gargrave the temperature readout on the dashboard showed -17 ⁰C, and I began to wonder whether fell running shoes really were a better choice than nice warm boots… Still, I set out towards Pen-y-Ghent and the sight of snowy hills in the crisp morning light soon made me forget any lingering desire to still be in the warm bed at home.
- Heading towards the first hill of the day
By the time I reached the summit of Pen-y-Ghent 45 minutes or so later I had only met one other person, which made a change from the only other time I’d been up there (on a sunny May bank holiday weekend). The way down gave me a chance to test out my Kahtoola micro-spikes, which successfully stopped me making an ultra-quick descent sliding down on my backside!
It seemed a long way from Pen-y-Ghent to Whernside, but I had a pork pie to fuel me and when I finally got to the top the view was a good reward. I broke into a nice jog on the way down the ridge from the summit, but turning left and heading back into the valley was definitely not running territory – with iced up rocks on the steep hillside it was a case of picking my way gingerly down and making sure I stayed on my feet.
The Hill Inn looked tempting (especially with Black Sheep on tap) but I persevered with the ascent of Inglebrough for some more beautiful views before jogging down into Ribblesdale in the last of the daylight.
All in all a good day out on the hill, and it should help my fitness for the real winter hills in Scotland in the coming weeks. The curry and beer when I got home wasn’t bad either!
A KEENLY COLD MOUNTAIN
With the rest of the UK being hit with some rather heavy snow showers, Matt and I decided to head up to Glen Clova, as there appeared to be a potential weather window and we might get the chance to bag a few hills.
Thursday night found us in the Bunkhouse next to the Glen Clova hotel discussing, over some liquid refreshment, where we should should try first, Glen Esk or Glen Doll. We settled on attempting to get up Glen Esk and wander up Mt Keen.
Up early on Friday morning and away, the drive into the Glen being interesting with both of us thinking, if it snows will we get out again!!
We parked the car at Invermark with the outside temp being -5*C and headed up a very icy track to the Queens Well.
After about an hour of slipping and sliding we reached the Queens Well, which surprisingly wasn’t frozen. Boots were tightened and up the hill we headed, following an obvious snow covered path. We spotted a herd of deer on the hillside but they soon disappeared in the snowy landscape
The Queens Well
The next obstacle was a rather frozen iced up stream with a metal grid which looked like it was going to be fun to cross but we decided that it was on with crampons time and away we went. . . nae bother
Mt Keen soon came into view as we hit the ridge and by this time we were walking straight into a rather cold wind (that’s putting it mildly) The last couple of hundred meters of climbing seemed to take forever, we were glad we had our crampons on as the ground was frozen, a snow layer that had melted and refrozen, with a layer of powder snow on top that was being blown into drifts.
Summit of Mount Keen
Once we hit the summit it was a quick couple of pics and away, definitely wasn’t the weather to hang around it. We estimated that it was around -25*C on top with the wind chill. Heading down I lost Matt a couple of times as the powder snow being blown everywhere made visibility rather difficult.
Matt Diggle lurks beneath all this clothing
Frank is wearing shorts (?)
The rest of the trip back to the car was uneventful apart from recrossing the iced up stream, just as I stepped onto the ice I took cramp in my calf and at the same time caught my crampons, luckily enough I fell backwards onto dry land otherwise it would have been a rather icy early bath.
We were soon thawed out and back in the hotel re-hydrating and checking out the weather for Saturday as we were intending to wander onto Glen Doll and attempt Mayar and Driesh.
However when we looked outside on Sat morning the car was covered by an inch of snow and it was snowing quite heavily, so we decided to pack up and head west to see if the weather got any better as we didn’t fancy getting stuck in Glen Doll.
Snow showers were following us, so after a quick trip around the Trossachs and wandering along the side of a frozen Loch Venacher, trying to break the ice with stones, we decided to head south back to Englandshire.
Loch Venacher
Only the one Munro “bagged” but a fun time had in the snow!!
