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Firstly, this report would not be possible without the assistance of Graham and Stewart, brothers and experienced climbers who guided the scaredy cats in the group across this beast of a ridge. Many thanks to you both!
In May 2009 I had read about the Aonach Eagach in a small guide book to Scotland's best walks. I had only climbed 3 hills in the Cairngorms up to that time and in my newbie mind I thought the AE sounded like fun. So I scheduled the last weekend of May to camp in Glencoe and do the route. Thankfully I mentioned this to a professor in my department at St Andrews who persuaded me, er, insisted that I was not going to do the AE. When I arrived in Glencoe I chose to go up Bidean and had a fabulous day, one that was much safer no doubt. I eyeballed the Aonach Eagach from Bidean and was glad someone warned me about trying to cross it . . . but since then I've had a bit of an urge to conquer it.
Willie (Gammy Leg Walker), Alan S, and a few of us from the site had planned to take our shot at the ridge on the 1st weekend in June. We would be joined by Graham and Stewart and two of their mates so we knew we would be in experienced company, and that was the only way I would attempt the ridge. Gammy and I even insisted that a 'confidence' rope be carried up just in case we get scared silly. On Friday night I camped down Glen Etive with Gable Gable End (Stuart) who I had invited along and we talked about the AE while sitting next to our very nice fire. It was decided that if it rained, or threatened rain, that we would take ourselves somewhere else. Having now done the ridge, there is no way in hell I would do it in wet conditions. Anyhoo, after some confusion on my part as to where to park for the start of the walk, we finally met up with the gang at the layby. Gammy and Alan were already heading up, having thought that I had bailed! But Graham led Stuart and I up the path to Am Bodach. It was one heck of a slog, I was overheating almost immediately. The Bells whisky we had the previous night didn't help matters.
Once we reached the top of Am Bodach we took a rest and prepared ourselves for 'the drop'. I felt weak, but was determined to give this a go as the conditions for walking across the ridge could not have been better and I knew this might be my only shot at doing the route. Slowly but surely we scooted down the drop and made it to safer ground. I'm not going to paint a pretty picture of the drop - to me, it was pretty hairy. But the rest of the route to the first munro, Meall Dearg, was rather enjoyable and easy.
From the summit of Meall Dearg all eyes were focused on the pinnacles and the more difficult sections of the ridge. No stopping us now though, and on we went. Up first was the Chimney. There is a bit of an awkward move required to get down to the base of it, but going up the Chimney was not too bad at all. From there we crossed some narrower sections of the ridge before reaching the pinnacles. At several points I wanted to cry for my mommy over this part, but I moved very methodically and with the help of Graham and Stewart we all managed to get up and over the three pinnacles. I think a few of us were actually starting to enjoy ourselves, although I was dying of fatigue and couldn't wait to get to Stob Coire Leith and safer ground.
After reaching Stob Coire Leith we all congratulated each other and took a much needed break. The remainder of the route to Sgorr nam Fiannaidh presented no problems and the banter picked up in the group. After soaking in the view back toward Am Bodach for a few minutes it was decided that we would descend down a scree path on the south face of Sgorr nam Fiannaidh. I was of the mind that heading toward the Pap of Glencoe and down would have been the better/easier way, but I wanted to stay with the group, so down I went. This was very steep, but there was a path, and I just had to take it slow. It was a long way down to the car and the scree seemed to last forever, but once we reached the grassy lower section it really started to hit me that I had achieved something pretty amazing on the day.
After we collected our vehicles it was off to the Clachaig for some well deserved pints and grub. Those of us who had not crossed the Aonach Eagach before were truly elated, although Willie and I decided that we'd never go up there again. Once is certainly enough for me. Having said that, conquering the Aonach Eagach will go down as the pinnacle of my hillwalking adventures. My time in Scotland is coming to an end, and I doubt I will attempt anything like the AE from now until I leave, especially not without the company of experienced climbers like Graham and Stewart. This will go down as one of the finest days I've had in my 4 years here, and it will remain a huge personal achievement for many years to come.
Stretch
