Climbing, Beinn A'Bhuird last Sunday

Myself and Drew decided to go out and try Beinn A'Bhuird last weekend. We were a little concerned that our fingers might freeze and fall off. As it turned out, the buttresses were in very Alpine condition with the sun gently warning up the granite. We decided to go for Mitre ridge.


The cycle in

Mitre Ridge
Drew up the first pitch: feeling quite tricky for the first rock climb of the year!

Drew up the final tower - fantastic exposure

The hike in is not that bad if you are ready to bike: ~2hrs bike in + 1.5hrs walk and only ~2hrs to get back to the car from the summit!
In all, a great day with stunning situations - would really recommend it.

Romain

Roy Bridge 8-10 April

The first camping meet of the year yielded a fine weekend of weather in the west. Several members enjoyed a couple of nights under canvas in advance of the arrival of the midges.

Denis provided the following summary of events...

A convivial weekend of glorious weather, the clouds burning off the tops, on a gondola-assisted ascent of the Aonachs.

The hard men: Biffa went bashing, and Austin a Nepalese-inspired trek over several Corbetts and Grahams.

Up the Aonachs, with Ben Nenis and Carn Mor Dearg behind

A delayed report...

…from the club meet to Ullapool a few weeks ago on the 18-20 March. Breezy but largely dry weather was taken advantage of for a full weekend in the hills of the northwest.

Sgurr an Fhidhleir nestled amongst its more rounded neighbours

Several of us enjoyed a fair bit of sunshine and a whole lot of wind up Ben More Coigach on the Saturday. We ascended via the entertaining ridge which leads up from the west, giving fine views of the Summer Isles way below.

Steve, finding the extreme in every situation

Even when taking photos

Or just standing still!

Working our way along the ridge

We continued round to Sgurr an Fhidhleir before dropping back down out of the wind at last and on to catch some of the rugby in the Summer Isles Hotel.Other groups went up neighbouring Beinn an Eion or further inland to Bein Dearg. 

Steve Miles draws attention to the next objective

Keeping low avoids the wind

We all assembled for a meal that evening in the Ceilidh Place where many an ale and whisky were sampled. The following morning revealed cloudy skies and perhaps one or two cloudy heads. With no cooking facilities at the associated bunkhouse, we were once again grateful for the cups of tea provided by Denis, Stuart and Juliette in their campervans, while we assessed our options for the day. 

Some folk headed off on a geological walk (guess who!), a few to the sandy lochan behind Stac Pollaidh and Cul Beag, two up Cul Mor, and three of us up Cul Beag itself. The clag fortunately restricted itself to the upper hundred metres or so, and the wind, while still enthusiastic, was less abrasive than the previous day. 

Bracing

On the descent of Cul Beag

A surprisingly approachable pair of ptarmigan provided the penultimate interest to the day, before Yvonne and Steve Miles’ misplaced steps through a rather soft bog nicely capped off an enjoyable weekend (well, for me as a spectator at least!).

Friendly ptarmigan

Female

Photos by Yvonne, Gunnar and Alex.

Out and ASpout Again

After a month of not getting into the hills, John and Ann were out on Sunday for a quick trip up Lochnagar. We arrived to find the Glen Muick car park possibly the quietest we've ever seen it - obviously hill goers are a thoughtful breed who were all taking their mums breakfast in bed. A pleasant sunny wander up the track was finished with a fine view of the joys to come.

Lochnagar, with Black Spout just R of centre

Given the forecast of high winds and possibly a couple of hours of snow we decided on the easy option of keeping our heads down by staying in the corrie as long as possible. Given the rim of dodgy looking cornices and lots of meltwater around we decided on a scoot up Black Spout, which would put us on the plateau very close to the summit. A good plan, but getting to the base was a tedious plod through deep soft snow over the boulder fields.

On the Approach

Entering the Spout. Note the avalanche tip that had come down Parallel A (which now has a stream down it)

The Spout itself was as entertaining as ever although the soft snow made it quite hard going. Things improved a bit higher up but too late as we were now getting into the wind, and it was snowing on and off. The transition from sheltered gully to exposed plateau was as brutal as ever and we scooted up to the summit for shelter and first lunch.

Negotiating the Cornice

After that it was a rapid descent by the Glas Allt waterfall and a return to spring with a pleasant walk back along the loch in a mix of warm sun and the odd sleet shower (and second lunch).

The Sunday naturalist

Q - What do you get if you cross a botanist with a geologist and a lepidopterist?

A - A very educational Sunday nature stroll AND some amateur poetry!

On Sunday morning at 9am, myself, Steve and Denis all met.

Pressendye was the hill of choice, not blighted with wind turbines quite yet.

Pressendye from the farm track

At Tarland we started our walk, and set off along winding farm track,

The boys in charge of finding the route, and deciding our plan of attack!

Denis and Steve debate the best route to take

Through fields, bog and wood, our nature hunt began,

Denis' plants, my moths and Steve is a huge ROCK fan!

Yvonne: 'Steve, you're talking schist.'
Steve: 'Thats not very gneiss.'

Denis examines a rare woodland moss

Hairy moth caterpillar (I've forgotten the species...)

But the going was slow and time was pressing, ‘Lads, can we move on now?’

‘We still need to get to the top of the hill, let’s not get into a row!’

I was becoming quite impatient...

So gallantly on to the summit we trekked, enjoying the sights and the view,

To the south Lochnagar, Bennachie to the east, as we finished our biscuits and brew!

Steve and Denis gallantly trekking to the summit

The blazing sun we’d enjoyed all day was making way for the rain,

So we packed our bags, turned our compass to home and headed back down again.

The final stop, atop Pressendye

What a lovely day and a gorgeous hill, with a plethora of nature to be seen,

Where will we go next and what will we see, next time we leave Aberdeen?!

Carn Mairg

On Saturday John & Ann were in the central Highlands to meet up with some old Uni friends and did a fine traverse of the Carn Mairg group. We did the full circuit anti-clockwise from Invervar, heading up the quality stalker's track for the first bit of the route. The going was fairly easy and not too wet considering how much snow melt there has been in the last couple of weeks.

Approaching Carn Mairg

Higher up the low cloud started to break and the drizzle eased off. We though that this was the start of the clearance that had been forecast, but it wasn't to be. We got as far as the top of Carn Mairg in reasoanbly clear conditions, then the clouds rolled back in for the rest of the day.

Summit of Carn Mairg

Our original plan had been to head up Ben Lawers from the north and get in a bit of skiing but there wasn't quite enough snow to make it worthwhile. Luckily we saw enough in the morning to put us off and views on the descent confirmed it. There was maybe enough to ski the top 1000ft sticking to the burns but it would be a long carry for not much action.

Club meet: Glen Clova, 25-27 Feb

Some folk headed down the road to the relatively local and luxury destination of the Glen Clova Hotel Bunkhouse last weekend.

Fine weather tempted Tegwen into bagging a few peaks on the north east of glen clova in contribution to the Cosmic Hillbashers Aberdeenshire 101 Challenge. This included the peaks of Ferrowie, Dog Hillock, Broom Hill and Sandy Hillock. Rivers were high as the snow was disappearing and tough going with feet frequent falling through the thick snow as it gave way underfoot.

 

 

The rest of the gang went into the newly named Spring Corrie (ex Winter Corrie) to do Backdoor Gully (II).

Entering the corrie

The snow was pretty deep and soft and it was hard going. 

Trudging up the soft snow

There was a small icefall to pass and then more snow. We then went off route a little and up climbing a nearly vertical 20ft garden with loose rock, water and very little gear - tested the nerves a little! 

Then a short plod to the top, and back to the hotel in time for the second half of the rugby and a few beers.

Half headed home Sunday morning, while the other half wandered in to Corrie Fee just to make sure it was mild and windy before making their return.

Photos and text by Derek and Tegwen.