Beinn Mhanach in snow

[edmunro]

Seeing as all my reports so far have been in perfect summer conditions, I thought I'd share some snowy pics.

We were staying in Auch Lodge in January, with patchy snow above 400m. We went by the normal route, looping anti-clockwise round Beinn a' Chuirn. The river crossings were fun, we used a pair of bin liners each as the level was too high for boots alone. The climb up the south side of the Beinn was a lovely mixture of snow and clear. The summit had areas which were very icy and we struggled a bit in the wind, only one in the group had crampons.

and now the most stupid thing I've ever done on the hills:
On the way down we stopped for something to eat, and I thought we'd give my new Terra Nova Bothy 2 a go. It was pretty simple to use, rather snug for two guys, but nice to get out of the wind and much warmer. Although the unfortunate third member of our group did throw a lot of snowballs at it! As we got out we made the big error of not collapsing/holding the bothy right, and the wind got in it and it flew off. I chased it for about 200m without success, the guys we'd met on the summit were probably having a right laugh at us! We spread out and searched the gullies and dips on the north face of Beinn a' Chuirn, amazingly finding it after about half an hour!

Longish walk out, back to the lodge of a hot drink. Another great day in the hills.

Beinn a' Chuirn and Beinn Mhanach from Glen Auch (Gleann Ach-innis Chalein)

Climbing Beinn Mhanach south face, looking down Glen Auch

Summit of Beinn Mhanach

Walk out on track west of Beinn a' Chuirn