Lou picked me up again and I warned her about my tendon, though I was reasonably confident that it would loosen up as we set off.
The weather looked to be windier that yesterday, but otherwise pretty good. The avalanche forecast had decreased for the area so we were able to Buachaille Etive Mor as planned. This was another perfect suggestion of Lou's - I'd wanted to do Buachaille Etive Mor for ages but never got round to it and I particularly wanted to do Curved Ridge after I'd heard about it in the summer. This was going to be a more technical day though so I was really hoping that my leg wouldn't play up and that I wouldn't be too exhausted after my lack of sleep.
Once at the foot of the mountain it was a climb all the way pretty much to the summit. Probably around 600m.
The terrain was excellent again. It felt a bit more technical, but largely in a good way. But my tiredness was affecting my concentration, I could feel my risk assessment and level of control being slightly off and this in turn affected my confidence. Before long I was having to talk my self through sections and adopt a bit of "just keep moving" mentality. However, my stress levels returned to stable very quickly after they rose. And it was great to do some sections which were definitely the most technical that I'd done.
The top seemed to come pretty quickly, though by this time I'd settled on travelling home (to Debbie's), later that evening rather than walking and travelling the following day. Partly, but not completely because I wasn't sure if my leg would be up for another day's walking.
The sun was providing decent light, if not actually shining at the summit, but the wind was starting to pick up and as we descended via the gully it was blowing us off our feet. Fun, but hard work descending.
We got back to the car in reasonable time, I said goodby to Lou then chilled out at the hostel for a while before driving back to Debbie's.
Probably the best, if briefest winter mountaineering trip so far.
Sunday, 12 February 2017
Saturday, 11 February 2017
11/02/17 - Ben Nevis via Ledge Route (me, Lou)
Lou picked me from the Youth Hostel at just before 8am and we set off to do Ben Nevis via the Ledge Route. We discussed this as an option on the previous evening and I was pretty excited about it. It would be my first time up the Ben and it would be great to do it via such a great route - in winter! Particularly as the weather looked like it might provide some good visibility up at the top. However, it did make me feel a bit guilty about Steve - as I knew that he would have been particularly excited about this (and probably excited by our guide too...)
Lou had keys for a car park which would cut the first 200m of our ascent. We picked another couple up on the way.
The path to the CIC hut was reasonably well populated by climbers. The weather was holding. The views were good. Lou was pleasant company. My legs felt good after the previous day. Splendid!
We got to the hut pretty quickly and got a good first view of the route up the North Face. It looked challenging and exciting. We headed to the foot and got our gear on. I felt excited, but pretty relaxed.
We got to the first pitch and I managed to do a clove hitch with no struggle at all. And in fact everything came back to me without issue. Lou inspired confidence and as we proceeded from one pitch to the next I continued to feel pretty relaxed and confident. The stress I'd experienced in previous years was absent, which was great. The rock conditions were also great "snowy snow, icy ice and rocky rock". The route was challenging, but not intimidating. And in addition, it felt great to be on The Ben.
It was the longest set of pitched I'd done, but seemed to go pretty quickly and before long we were on reasonably level ground and walking toward the summit. The summit was cloud free, the sun was shining and the views were interspersed with clouds, but you got a good sense of your height, with the surrounding mountains appearing small in comparison to your current height.
Before long we were at the summit. We took a few snaps and headed down - unfortunately via the tourist route rather than the CMD Arete, due to increasing winds and what would have been very uneven and rocky ground to be covering in crampons.
It was a fairly lengthy descent, but we bumped into the couple that we'd given a lift to and so we chatted as descended and before long we were back at the car.
Pasta and steak, a couple of glasses of wine and I was in a soporific glory.
Unfortunately, the people in the room next to me chatted till 11 which stopped me from getting to sleep straight away and I started to get anxious about increasing discomfort in my Achilles tendon. My sleep was disjointed to say the least as I wondered if I would be fit to climb the following day....
Lou had keys for a car park which would cut the first 200m of our ascent. We picked another couple up on the way.
The path to the CIC hut was reasonably well populated by climbers. The weather was holding. The views were good. Lou was pleasant company. My legs felt good after the previous day. Splendid!
We got to the hut pretty quickly and got a good first view of the route up the North Face. It looked challenging and exciting. We headed to the foot and got our gear on. I felt excited, but pretty relaxed.
We got to the first pitch and I managed to do a clove hitch with no struggle at all. And in fact everything came back to me without issue. Lou inspired confidence and as we proceeded from one pitch to the next I continued to feel pretty relaxed and confident. The stress I'd experienced in previous years was absent, which was great. The rock conditions were also great "snowy snow, icy ice and rocky rock". The route was challenging, but not intimidating. And in addition, it felt great to be on The Ben.
It was the longest set of pitched I'd done, but seemed to go pretty quickly and before long we were on reasonably level ground and walking toward the summit. The summit was cloud free, the sun was shining and the views were interspersed with clouds, but you got a good sense of your height, with the surrounding mountains appearing small in comparison to your current height.
Before long we were at the summit. We took a few snaps and headed down - unfortunately via the tourist route rather than the CMD Arete, due to increasing winds and what would have been very uneven and rocky ground to be covering in crampons.
It was a fairly lengthy descent, but we bumped into the couple that we'd given a lift to and so we chatted as descended and before long we were back at the car.
Pasta and steak, a couple of glasses of wine and I was in a soporific glory.
Unfortunately, the people in the room next to me chatted till 11 which stopped me from getting to sleep straight away and I started to get anxious about increasing discomfort in my Achilles tendon. My sleep was disjointed to say the least as I wondered if I would be fit to climb the following day....
Friday, 10 February 2017
10/02/17 - Ben Lui and Beinn a'Chleibh (me)
This was the first day of my winter, part guided weekend in Scotland. Unfortunately Steve had to cancel at the last minute this year, so I was on my own. I'd driven up on the Thursday night and slept at the Abotsford Hotel, just north of Glasgow - as usual.
I left the hotel a little later than planned and was unsure whether to do this slightly more Northerly route on the basis that I didn't know the area at all and I may run out of time - particularly if the initial river crossing took longer than expected. My concerns were made worse by the fact that it was snowing as I drove, which was counter to the clear weather which the forecast had predicted. But I stuck to it and felt a little more confident as I found the car park easily, the snow stopped and could quickly work out which direction to head in.
The river crossing was a bit of a wade, but another couple were slightly in front of me, so at least I knew I was going the right way. Annoyingly one of my poles was refusing to open and would remain in that state all through the weekend. The initial path through the forest was very boggy and included another river crossing - which was this time a bit more scrambly tricky to navigate. It was at this point that I scooted past the couple.
The route continued to be boggy and really not very pleasant as it continued through the forest. The bogs started to be covered in snow and ice. Luckily my boots were holding up. And a stream which ran to my right provided some light relief.
Eventually I broke free of the forest and the remainder of my day opened up before me. As per the recommended route a opted for the left most spine of Ben Lui as my ascent and set off. This route proved to be relentless. The couple (who were now quite far behind me), opted to go straight for the bealach and I wondered if by taking this route they'd catch up with me, The snow varied between and 1 and 3 feet deep as it covered uneven ground. Eventually I entered a complete whiteout and struggled to go more than 5 steps without pausing to get my breath and composure back. Rocks would appear and disappear as the cloud cover gave more and less visibility. Every now and then I'd get clarification of how steep I was climbing, which while not dangerous, made me realise why progress was so slow. I put my crampons on which served to make it harder as my feet slipped through the loose snow and onto the uneven and often loose rock. This was probably another one of those "this is the hardest thing I've ever done" occasions, but in hindsight the day was doing it's job of waking my muscles up so that I wouldn't suffer while I was with the guide.
I'm not sure if I actually stood on the summit, or just walked around it. I was using GPS, but in the whiteout, even it wasn't making much sense and as I headed toward Beinn a'Chleibh I ended up about a quarter of a mile off track and about to descend into the wrong valley. However, the cloud cleared and I got some glorious views as the sunlight caught a stream descending into the valley. It also enabled me to see the bealach that I needed to head for.
I'd been thinking that I would run out of time and energy before being able to complete Beinn a'Chleibh, but as I reached the bealach it looked like a very achievable climb, particularly as the wind had cleared and frozen the snow on this edge and so it was a much easier hike. I left my rucsac at the bealach and set off.
The couple were ascending Ben Lui and judging by their pace, they hadn't yet done Beinn a'Chleibh, so I stopped feeling quite so stupid for taking that route.
The sun stayed with me for most of the remaining climb and provided decent views across the valleys. The terrain was reasonably walkable, snow being reduced to a fairly even foot or so. I was back at the bealach within an hour.
I took my crampons off and slid down as far as I could before continuing with the wade through snow and then snow and bog and then bog and then a chance to rinse the boots off crossing the river again.
I ate at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel and set off for the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel.
I left the hotel a little later than planned and was unsure whether to do this slightly more Northerly route on the basis that I didn't know the area at all and I may run out of time - particularly if the initial river crossing took longer than expected. My concerns were made worse by the fact that it was snowing as I drove, which was counter to the clear weather which the forecast had predicted. But I stuck to it and felt a little more confident as I found the car park easily, the snow stopped and could quickly work out which direction to head in.
The river crossing was a bit of a wade, but another couple were slightly in front of me, so at least I knew I was going the right way. Annoyingly one of my poles was refusing to open and would remain in that state all through the weekend. The initial path through the forest was very boggy and included another river crossing - which was this time a bit more scrambly tricky to navigate. It was at this point that I scooted past the couple.
The route continued to be boggy and really not very pleasant as it continued through the forest. The bogs started to be covered in snow and ice. Luckily my boots were holding up. And a stream which ran to my right provided some light relief.
Eventually I broke free of the forest and the remainder of my day opened up before me. As per the recommended route a opted for the left most spine of Ben Lui as my ascent and set off. This route proved to be relentless. The couple (who were now quite far behind me), opted to go straight for the bealach and I wondered if by taking this route they'd catch up with me, The snow varied between and 1 and 3 feet deep as it covered uneven ground. Eventually I entered a complete whiteout and struggled to go more than 5 steps without pausing to get my breath and composure back. Rocks would appear and disappear as the cloud cover gave more and less visibility. Every now and then I'd get clarification of how steep I was climbing, which while not dangerous, made me realise why progress was so slow. I put my crampons on which served to make it harder as my feet slipped through the loose snow and onto the uneven and often loose rock. This was probably another one of those "this is the hardest thing I've ever done" occasions, but in hindsight the day was doing it's job of waking my muscles up so that I wouldn't suffer while I was with the guide.
I'm not sure if I actually stood on the summit, or just walked around it. I was using GPS, but in the whiteout, even it wasn't making much sense and as I headed toward Beinn a'Chleibh I ended up about a quarter of a mile off track and about to descend into the wrong valley. However, the cloud cleared and I got some glorious views as the sunlight caught a stream descending into the valley. It also enabled me to see the bealach that I needed to head for.
I'd been thinking that I would run out of time and energy before being able to complete Beinn a'Chleibh, but as I reached the bealach it looked like a very achievable climb, particularly as the wind had cleared and frozen the snow on this edge and so it was a much easier hike. I left my rucsac at the bealach and set off.
The couple were ascending Ben Lui and judging by their pace, they hadn't yet done Beinn a'Chleibh, so I stopped feeling quite so stupid for taking that route.
The sun stayed with me for most of the remaining climb and provided decent views across the valleys. The terrain was reasonably walkable, snow being reduced to a fairly even foot or so. I was back at the bealach within an hour.
I took my crampons off and slid down as far as I could before continuing with the wade through snow and then snow and bog and then bog and then a chance to rinse the boots off crossing the river again.
I ate at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel and set off for the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel.
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