free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
with our lomond mc club weekend meet in the cairngorms cancelled milesy phoned and asked did i fancy a little winter warm up with his brother in law craig. an attempt at beinn ime was proposed and with 80 mph winds and snow forcast it would get us into winter mode. we set of from the car park with clear skies and a bit of sunshine ! could mwis have got it wrong ? emerging from the forest track at the dam we headed up the alllt a bhalachain past the narnain boulders. the cobbler looked alpinesk with its dusting of snow, i never tire of looking at this beautiful mountain.
![033.JPG]()
- the cobbler
as we headed up into coire a bhalachain the sky darkened and the winds picked up, gloves and hardshells on we crossed the bealach a mhaim, we met a walker with his dog who said he had to abandon his attempt at beinn ime as the wind driven snow was blinding him and he didnt have any goggles or glasses. we continued up the boggy path the snow and wind was picking up pace with every metre gained. at about 850 metres the snow was about a foot in depth obliterating any path and the spindrift being blown about made visibility poor. there is a little rise about 900 metres and once over this the wind really picked up, we were having difficulty standing in some of the gusts and the spindrift made route finding difficult.
![PC030005.JPG]()
- milesy and craig on final rise to summit
we went up through a little craggy area thinking it was the summit but it was the little ring contour to the south east and at this point the snow shower passed over and gave us a view ahead to the summit. dont you just love those little windows that let you see what youve been missing ! we made our way up the last little rise to the summit, having a good laugh trying to get a summit pick in an absolute hoolie. no stopping we about turned and headed back down looking for somewere sheltered to stop for some food. our first real sheltered spot was the narnain boulders over 3 km away ! we sheltered there and had some grub before heading back down to the car and home. a testing day with the winds, the snow was thin until about 800 metres and even then hadnt froze enough that we needed ice axe or crampons on, but it was good to get into that winter zone and im hoping for some good winter walking and climbing this season.
