Thanks to the Presidents’ organising abilities we had found ourselves in
Scotland with too much snow (previous visits had more wet than white) and
some interesting conditions to deal with. Steve Culverhouse and I had been
in Scotland since midnight on March 8th.
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We had started our trip with a climb up Dorsal Arête in Coire nan
Lochain in Glencoe. Despite leaving the car at 8am we arrived at the climb
as the third or fourth group! Probably not helped by my lack of a good
breakfast we had been slow into the Coire. The route was my first in
Glencoe and also a first lead at grade II a good route to start on and very
enjoyable despite the sugary snow in places. We had so much fun we thought
another route would finish the day so we down-climbed Broad Gully! At 6pm
we got back to the car and thought we’d had a good long day (we would be
disabused of this later in the week).
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Day two had Steve grumbling at the 7am start. Coire an t-Sneachda was
the scene of a return to the Slant and memories of John Buchan being
“pulled-off” by El Pres. Jacobs ladder was banked out with snow and the
scene of the fun last year was a very amenable climb. The weather closed in
slightly as we climbed and the spindrift showered down on all the belay
ledges. (These appear to have been chosen with maximum discomfort for the
second in mind.) Steve led with great style for the length of the route and
we topped out into partial whiteout conditions. A quick snack after we had
packed up and I confidently set off for the cornice! Always ensure the ice
axe is away from the compass when navigating, the party alongside shouted
just as I saw the edge and disaster was averted. The walk across the
plateau was unusually pleasant as the normal terrain had a thick covering
of snow.
Day three Friday saw us keen to try something on Craeg Meagaidh and we
were at the car park by 8:30. Conditions were not looking good as it was
hissing down at the car park and loading the avalanche slopes above with
vast quantities of fresh snow. A faff was instituted in best IMC tradition
and we retreated in good order to Newtonmore for a Cairngorms guidebook. By
11:30 we were under some very snowy gullies in Sneachda and assessing our
chances of getting anything done in all that snow. The Glenmore guides were
walking parties up and then retreating and what was being climbed had
queues forming at their bases. A little snack and a drink was undertaken to
assess the situation and we then attempted Café Direct in Aviemore.
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Friday night in the pub and a plan was hatched to find some ice to
climb. Lurchers crag was looking good for it as the guidebook suggested
that there were several grade III climbs there that iced up. Saturday
morning we set off in high spirits. The avalanche forecast looked good, the
weather was due to get worse after we finished (ha!) but we felt the day
was going to be a success. Parking at the Sugar Bowl car park was a test of
skill in Steve’s car but it was all stowed safely inside 20 minutes on the
snowy space. A long walk through the Chalamain Gap followed to reach our
objective.
After lunch we were on the first pitch and the wind speed was rising as we climbed. Lovely plastic ice on the first two pitches which Steve led placing ice screws like a master (his first in Scotland I believe). I arrived at the top of the pitch with severely cold hands and unable to grip
the axes properly. Steve led again while my hands warmed up (new gloves on
the Christmas list then) and I got the snow pitch. A full rope length on 5
bits of gear through thigh deep snow, quite a bit of thrashing around and
swearing followed. A short ice pitch and we were finished and it was 5pm
what could possibly go wrong? (© Johnboy)The walk off involved crossing the top of Lurchers crag through a saddle and then down into the Corries area, followed by a walk down to the ski car park. A doddle in fair weather, but with 60-70mph gusts and driving snow in
the dark a much more exciting proposition. Navigating was easy to start
with as it was uphill on a bearing and there was the saddle. There was also
no shelter from the wind and the drifts were starting to cause problems.
The route was changed slightly as we discovered the stream at the base of
Lurchers had huge snow banks either side. (Steve and I both thought at
about this point it could be a snow holing night out as we had brought a
shovel and some bivvy gear along for the walk)By careful navigation and some luck we struck the Coire an-Lochain approach path and followed it down to the base of the ski-tows. Numerous pratfalls later we were in a corner of the ski centre building trying to
get some shelter and re-arrange gear for the walk to the car. At this point
Steve lost his hat in a particularly sharp gust and as luck would have it a
very nice man gave us a lift down the road to the Sugar Bowl. Some minor
fun with the car ensued as we extricated it from the car park and set off
into Aviemore. It was well past beer-o-clock and food was needed. Aviemore
has a chip shop that serves The Best Fish and Chips in the World… Ever™
under theses conditions. Then with extra beer supplies we set off to Newtonmore to yarn with Pete and Louise and drink said beer. Stamina levels were low and only a couple were drunk before exhaustion overwhelmed us.The following day was going home time and the infamous dry trip to the pub by the IMC.
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