Glas Maol with Snowshoes
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:48 pm
This is a commonplace round but maybe someone’s interested in snowshoes. Last year I bought a pair of MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes (made in Ireland!). This was really because of the tons of powder that fell in December and had at its most extreme resulted in a 10k traverse in the Pentlands with 200 metre ascent taking 6 hours. Anyway I thought I’d just leave a note on the results for anyone similarly inclined.
The low car park was blocked with snow so we parked at the lay-by a couple of hundred metres beyond. I got snash for the length of time it took me to hang the shoes on my rucksack. They’re definitely a bit bulky and inconvenient. Someone had broken the snow for the first kilometre or so, so I didn’t put them on. Then the trail petered out. Time for snowshoes.
On the positive side, they’re easy to mount, four rubber straps per shoe, just stretch and hook. They really work. They are good in deep snow but I particularly like them on the sort of crust that takes your weight then drops you through. We were getting all of this and Gordon was floundering and pointing out that I wasn’t breaking any tracks to help him. As Carn na Tuirc steepened we began to get hard packed snow. The shoes have a decent crampon, though you wouldn’t want to use it on anywhere you’d need the front points on a 12 point crampon. They were fine here and effortless compared with Gordon’s step kicking. I’ve no photos until the summit because I don’t carry a camera and he was too knackered to use his.
I took them off again to cross the boulderfield to the summit. Takes seconds and they’re easy to carry by hand. Carn na Tuirc was a great viewpoint but shouldn’t be a Munro. If the SMC had any integrity only Glas Maol and Lochnagar would retain their status in the Mounth. OK maybe Driesh as well because of distance and Creag Leacach because it actually looks like a hill but the other nine are just tops and undistinguished ones at that.
From here on, the snow had formed a crust on the wind-swept plateau. This cut the advantage of the snowshoes. They maybe afforded a 10% reduction on effort from here over Cairn of Claise to Glas Maol. Also they’re quite noisy. You’re certainly not going to surprise any wildlife.
We descended by Sron na Gaoithe. Going down a steepish slope, it’s hard to believe fully that these great clown’s shoes are not going to set you sliding to oblivion. Actually they’re fine and you’re more likely to get frustrated that you can’t indulge in giant steps down the slope as they brake a bit too effectively and you’re likely to summersault if you get over-enthusiastic. From the bottom of the Sron we were back into conditions where the shoes were gliding over the difficulties.
On the down side, snow conditions in Scotland won’t often justify them. So far this winter I’d carried them 30k before getting a superb day. If the snow’s firm or shallow, why bother with them? That said, one of the carrying trips I’d followed a set of footsteps showing the marks of 10 point crampons - that was a real misuse of equipment. The shoes weigh about 2 kilos, so I’d be hesitant about carrying them along with crampons. I think roughly that’s take snowshoes in the Cairngorms, crampons in Glencoe.
The trickiest bit is getting your mates to invest £200 in something that will take 10 years to justify. If you don’t get them to do it then you’re going to find yourself waiting for them to catch up. When they do they’ll be considerably hacked off that your efforts are not contributing to breaking the snow. After the walk my mate Gordon posted this blog on the subject. It’s got pretty pictures of snowshoes in action. Myself, I nicked the photos above from him.
http://www.ga-highland-walks.co.uk/wenceslas-no-more/