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Winter 1999 - 2000

Highlights of Winter Activity

As the saying goes “If you are out there doing it you haven’t got time to write about it”

Well for a change I find myself not doing it and realising that no one had picked up the cudgel, I decided to do a summary of the winter activity so far.

There were two main events in December !

First the mystery adventure. “It will be a great weekend, just pay your money and meet us in the Safeway carpark, Fort William no later than 8-30 Friday night. We promise it will be a great weekend”.

Unfortunately it was the weekend of the storms making it a major achievement to get to Fort Bill, roads were blocked with snow and gale force winds had flipped lorries on the A74 etc. etc. Despite this, John, Dave, Peter, Keith and myself made it on time and a phone call from Astrid informed us that Carl, Bob & she were running about one hour behind schedule. “OK meet us on the quay in Mallaig as soon as you can”.

On the jetty looking down at the 30 ft cabin cruiser we had hired, Dave was heard to mutter “I’ve never been on a boat before! well at least nothing smaller than a cross channel car ferry” A short discussion ensued with the skipper, Roger about the practicality of making the crossing that night. “We could give it a go, but it was rather rough when I came over this afternoon, or we can sleep in the Seaman’s Mission and try first thing tomorrow”. The decision was made to go, having loaded the rucksacks, we set of into the stormy night with snow falling from the black velvet sky. Once across the harbour bar the throttle was opened, the engine roared and we ploughed into the huge waves beyond the calm of the harbour. It was a following sea and at times, as we surfed down the front of the waves, it seemed that we were in danger of being pooped but the small boat kept her head and we made our way across loch Nevis with nothing but the instruments in the small cabin to navigate by.

Docking turned out to be less of a problem than expected, with a well timed jump onto the jetty steps. On dry land we were instructed to put our bags in the trailer and hitch it onto the Landrover at the end of the jetty then retire to the pub “Third house to the left !”. We set of to do this whilst John was volunteered to assist Roger with mooring the boat. It was gone midnight when we entered the pub with questions being still asked as to where we were. All was soon revealed when Astrid entered the bar and said Hi ! to the landlord who she recognised from a previous visit to Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula (Floozy ! she certainly gets around !) We were soon joined by Roger and then John with eyes as big as saucers “Hey you didn’t tell me I had to dangle over the bow of the boat to fish for a buoy and then row to shore in a rubber dingy”. After one or two pints we retired to the bunkhouse which was to be home for the next couple of days.

On Saturday an early start was made less painful by Roger’s offer to take us the 3 1/2 miles into Gleann na Guiserein in the Landrover. We said our good-byes as dawn broke giving us our first sight of the majestic Knoydart mountains in their winter garb. Our challenge for the day being to bag the three major peaks of the area; Ladhar Bheinn, Luinne Bheinn and Meall Buidhe. All Munroes giving us approximately 12 miles and 5,600 ft of ascent, a fair challenge one might think, but little did we know what was in store for us.

We were on snow right from the start and as we gained height it was clear that the wind was going to be a significant factor in the days activities. The steep slopes of An Diollaid soon started to stretch the party into single file and as we crested the ridge into a roaring gale the first casualty of the day capitulated and turned for home. Peter, nursing a cold had been rather too optimistic. We continued along the ridge but very soon had our second casualty, looking back to see how Bob was getting on I found him lying in the snow vomiting ! Various prescriptions were considered, which can’t be printed here, but it was decided that plain water and a forced march to the summit of Ladhar Bheinn was the cure. It was assumed that an easy descent from here into Glean an Dubh-Lochan would provide an easy escape route back to Inverie.

The initial descent from the summit was in poor visibility causing us to stray too far east onto steep terraced ground forcing us to get our ice axes out to effect a safe descent from terrace to terrace. Visibility improved once we were under the cloud revealing fantastic views over Loch Nevis and down into Barrisdale Bay. A quick lunch break was called for, during which we studied the topography, it was then we realised the ridge down to Mam Barrisdale was quite complex.. With the complexities of the ridge and the very deep snow, progress was slow and strenuous. Various methods were seen to be applied to cope with the thigh deep snow, from bum sliding down slopes to rolling over exceptionally deep snow bowls and crawling on all fours, none easily executed.

It was from along this ridge that Bob was escorted by Carl down into Gleann na Guiserein from where they would make their return to Inverie.

The five remaining stalwarts continued to plough their way through ever deepening snow to the Mam Barrisdale pass. A quick parlez and the decision to at least bag the second Munro was made. The summit of Luinne Bheinn was achieved with 20 minutes of daylight left after a grueling slog up the North West ridge. Fine views over Knoydart to Sgurr na Ciche at the head of Loch Arkaig and memories of an earlier days out in the Scottish mountains were enjoyed lying down behind the summit cairn as it was impossible to stand up in the gale force wind As soon as the party had re-grouped we made a rapid descent returning to the Mam Barrisdale pass as darkness fell. A long walk down the Gleann an Dubh-Lochain returned us to the bunkhouse a shower and well deserved meal after a memorable 12 hour day out in fantastic mountain scenery and good company.

Credit must also go to Bob for an extraordinary effort and to Carl for being such a good sport escorting him home - pity they took the long way home.

The Sunday was spent doing not a lot other than drinking in the peace, tranquillity and remoteness of Knoydart, the only remaining true wilderness area in the British Isles. It was with some reluctance that we boarded the boat to return across Loch Nevis and the civilized world, leaving Inverie where they don’t lock their doors, leave car keys in the ignition and have not seen a policemen since a year past October ! ! ! !

The second major event for me , was also the last of the 20th century.

Eight of us gathered at the Greenside Lead Mines on News Year Eve for a short but entertaining day out in and around the gullies of Helvellyn.

We set off on the tourist track toward Red Tarn but veered off to tackle the northern slopes of Catstye Cam and a long snow gully to the summit only 30 ft short of being a 3,000 footer. Once again wind drove us to move very quickly toward Swirral Edge where we found some shelter on it southern side. Visibility was less than good so we applied our sixth sense to find the correct line up the steep snow slopes that lead directly to the trig point on the top of Helvellyn. After some good sport on the snow slopes a cornice was encountered which was tackled at various locations by the group. It must have been a bit perplexing for the usual gambit of walkers present on the summit plateau as snow covered heads popped through the cornice edge at various locations adjacent to the trig point. A quick snack behind the summit shelter (thanks for sharing with me John - promise not to forget my packed lunch next time) before we jumped, slid and glissaded down the steep snow slopes that lead to the cool between Striding edge and Helvellyn proper, well those of us with a more carefree attitude to life did. At this point we continued the reckless descent down the south side of the edge until we guessed we had lost enough height to allow us to traverse into Nethermost Gully, which we did quite easily.

Once in the gully we started our ascent in single file on what was thin snow conditions requiring a somewhat delicate approach.. Again another cornice was defeated and a very icy teeter brought us back to the steep snow slopes down to Striding Edge which were tackled with the same vigor. A relaxing stroll across the Edge, down the slopes to Red Tarn and the tourist route back to the Greenside Lead Mines.

A nip of the ‘water of life’ a swift beer in the Travellers Rest, where preparations for the forthcoming festivities were well under way involving an enormous number of balloons, before heading homeward arriving back in Darlington at 4-00 PM.

Thanks very much Keith, Jim, Geo., John, Peter B, Carl and Peter T for a wonderful end to the 20th century.

Sorry I am unable to put any detail to the other activities enjoyed by members of the climbing section of which I know there have been several significant trips to Scotland.

More next month on the activities this year !

Dave Thompson

Last Modified: 7 May, 2003