A short and sweet memoir of the April Dinner Meet!

4 club members (a mixture of past, present and new in this instance) ventured north to enjoy the comfort of the LSCC Ronnan Cottage, situated in Aultbea in Wester Ross. A warm welcome awaited the Friday night late arrivals, who enjoyed a stunning sunset on the drive up, with the wood burning stove roaring away.

With a stunning forecast on the Saturday, dinner was pushed out until 7.30pm to make the most of the day. Roddie enjoyed a day up Slioch with fine views whilst Emma, Raz and Craig sampled some of the Gruinard Bay Crags. Even with dinner being pushed out, the squad were still latchy.

A fine meal was provided at the Jam Jar Restaurant within the Aultbea Hotel, a great place to spend the evening with a pint in hand to tell tales of the day’s antics.

A very successful weekend for all, with Craig doing his first trad lead up a nice slabby Diff at Gruinard Bay and by Sunday afternoon had progressed to leading a Severe at the final location of the weekend, Ashie Fort near Inverness.

The Raeburn Hut Rendezvous: Whiteouts, Bogs, and Apple Crumble

Another year, another spring-condition March meet! This time, the club gathered at the excellently placed Raeburn Hut. With proper winter climbing off the menu, the AMC crew embraced our usual versatility and branched out into a fantastic mix of alternative adventures across the weekend.

Saturday:

Whiteouts, unexpected Roadblocks and the ‘mother of all bogs’

Creag Meagaidh:

Emma easily roped Jillian and Andrew into supporting her Munro-Top missions. The trio tackled the Creag Meagaidh circuit, descending off the top of Carn Liath in full whiteout conditions toward Stob Coire Dubh—a diversion that proved slightly longer than anticipated!

The route still clung to a few very snowy embankments that required some careful negotiation. Crampons and ice axes were eventually donned for a safe descent via 'The Window' back down into Coire Ardair. By the time they reached the car, anticipation was sky-high for the crisps and cold beer waiting at the hut.

Alas, the hill had one last test. An unexpected road closure at Plodda Falls forced the trio to abandon the car, lace the hiking boots right back up, and endure an additional two-mile detour on foot just to get to the other side of the closure. Thankfully, Neil swooped in to the rescue to whisk everyone back to base. It was a massive relief, especially considering the alternative was a massive driving detour via Inverness which would have resulted in the ultimate tragedy: missing supper.

Kingussie Crag:

While the mountaineers were navigating the snow, Neil and Charlie sought out the rock. They enjoyed a solid day at a rather bustling Kingussie Craig before heading off to explore the local bouldering around Laggan, an adventure they eagerly continued straight through Sunday.

Dirc Mhor:

Meanwhile, Duncan and Juliette spent a highly successful Saturday ticking off local Corbetts. Sunday saw them venturing into the Ben Alder estate towards the Dirc Mhor. The approach to the latter was incredibly memorable, officially earning the title of "the mother of all bogs" in Duncan's own words!

Supper:

In classic AMC fashion, Saturday evening brought everyone around the large table to share a communal three-course meal. We are pleased to report this one was much more in line with the budget compared to last month's famously pricey affair!

The absolute star of the show was Jillian’s apple crumble, which went down an absolute storm for pudding. In fact, rumor has it that a certain unnamed club member managed to polish off three helpings that night... and was spotted having a fourth for breakfast the next morning.

A massive well done to everyone for making the most of the mixed conditions. Until the next meet!