First Munro; The Three Must Get Beers; and Dogtanian

[andrewdoggett]

The forecast has been promising all week; I've been at work down in Portsmouth for the week but been keeping a steady eye on the forecast for the weekend... And it's remained good all week. We've had some shocking weather recently, and so I'm excited as I get on the plane to come home on Friday. Hills I'm thinking... Now which one?

The forecast was awesome for the Cairngorms; a rare treat for < 10 mph winds; Scraggles wants to take his boy up his first Munro, after the success of the Beinn a' Chrulaiste Corbett with those Yeti Monsters... And so we settle on Carn a'Mhaim; I've nothing left to link this too sensibly, so it may as well be done on a shorter winters day...

There's something mysterious about the peaks looming out of the mist... We're at Derry Lodge in no time and the hills ahead are beginning to clear...

The Mountains Loom from the Mist...

And not long after they are clear...

The Target... Well apart from the last little bit you can't see...

Approaching the lower slopes of Carn a'Mhaim...

We made fairly leisurely ascent; didn't stop much but took the pace reasonably easy for Young Scraggles; and we had to take a touch more care as we hit the snowline which was still fairly 'hard'. Crampons would have been useful, but it wasn't too dangerous so long as we were careful and kicked some good steps on the steeper parts of the ascent.

Two Must Get Beers on the Ascent...

The final stretch; looking over towards the Devils Point...

This was Scraggles' Boy's first Munro; and a decent achievement in the snow with the end Stats being 22.5 km... So here he is arriving at the summit of his first Munro with Dad; one for the photo album... And well done Ben!

One Must Get Beer arrives at the Summit of his first Munro with Dad...

Scraggles and Ben at the summit of his first munro...

'Never a cold day in the Cairngorms' had become one of our mantras; I've always been freezing!! But today was an exception. Totally still, blue skies, it was gorgeous, and warm!! We stayed on the summit for an hour and a half just absorbing the views, and pointing out various conquered peaks...

Enjoy the views...

Me at the Summit...

Gazing across the 'Gorms...

Dogtanian, or Rocco...

Looking toward Carn Toul...

The descent was straightforward...

Some fun on the Descent...

The view down the river...

The only other item of note really was a spot of Dancing on Ice; I'm not sure this competitor will ever win, but we had a laugh (and he wasn't hurt), which is the main thing...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr7kybJWblY&list=UURDVy_y605wTRKTeFdM1WDw&index=1&feature=plcp[/youtube]

And that's it; just the long amble back to the Linn of Dee; a magic day in the Cairngorms...

And we're down...

The Stats... A full hour and a half at the summit!

2012 - 01 - 14 - Carn a'Mhaim.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

[iainwatson]

brilliant andrew!

looks like the perfect weather for the wee man's first munro,

well done to him!

[MarilynMunro]

Lovely set of photos, the first one partucularly.
And a hearty well done to the young man

[luckyguy68]

Makes me wonder if we should be having a video of the month prize . Guid to see the young uns getting into the hills. Im planning on taking my two boys out in the next wee while. Just reaching deep into the pockets right now to get them some basic kit. Good report

[mountain thyme]

lovely pictures ... laughing at the video.. one for jeremy beadle.. youve been framed .. win yourself £250 quid

[lomondwalkers]

Looks like it was a cracker of a day up that way!! Well done to Ben on his 1st Munro Still laughing at the video......

[monty]

Excellent Andrew. Well done the young lad. I still have this to do to complete the Gorms and almost popped up there today. Your lucky I didn't because you would have had to race me of the hill

[Fudgie]

Like MT above, I fully expect to see that on YBF in the near future! It looked like a sore one though.

Well done to the wee man.

[IreneM]

What a fabby day - we are so jealous!
We were climbing a cheeky wee Corbett, Meall na Leitreach, down at Dalnaspidal and we were in the clag for most of the way!
Obviously we're weren't high enough!
Glad you had a smashing time.

Munros rule ok!

[PeteR]

Loved the 'sympathetic' laughter as your pal took his tumble

A nice walk this one and looks even better with the snow too

Not a bad hill for anyone to open their Munro account

[Alastair S]

Andrew - a nice set of photos right enough but this report seriously disturbs me. The fact you went ill equipped is bad enough. The fact you also took a child beggars belief. Its not legalese that each walk on this site has the following safety warning: "Hillwalking when there is snow or ice lying requires ice-axe, crampons and the ability to use them".

I know you have children yourself (and they often join you on your trips to the hills) and you are very experienced on the hills so I'm surprised you though venturing out above 1,000m with a child was a good idea. I was in the area the day before on the much gentler slopes of Beinn a' Chaorainn and I - a 14 stone, size 11, B2 shod man - had difficultly getting an edge into the ice hardened snow. Now conditions may have been more benign for you but the point is I was prepared - I had crampons & ice axe. The fact that I didn't use them in the end (because the slopes were so gentle) is neither here nor there.

I think you should seriously consider the safety of yourself and much more importantly any minors before you venture out in winter again.

[SMRussell]

Really enjoyed this and well done to the wean

However, I think Alastair S had a point! You can never be too careful in the snow and ice. As amusing as the video is a pair of spikes would have been very handy in dealing with an ice sheet on low level.

But anyway, some nice photos there and looks like you had a good day.

[quoman]

Good report Andrew
looked like Ben enjoyed himself did he get any bum slides done on the way down the video will be on the telly YBF its a must

[tomyboy73]

ouch, that fall looks sore, looks like you had a great day apart from that. in relation to the slip, does anyone know if those yaktrak things are any good ? my wife got some for walking on pavement ice and i was thinking of blagging them

[andrewdoggett]

Andrew - a nice set of photos right enough but this report seriously disturbs me. The fact you went ill equipped is bad enough. The fact you also took a child beggars belief. Its not legalese that each walk on this site has the following safety warning: "Hillwalking when there is snow or ice lying requires ice-axe, crampons and the ability to use them".

I know you have children yourself (and they often join you on your trips to the hills) and you are very experienced on the hills so I'm surprised you though venturing out above 1,000m with a child was a good idea. I was in the area the day before on the much gentler slopes of Beinn a' Chaorainn and I - a 14 stone, size 11, B2 shod man - had difficultly getting an edge into the ice hardened snow. Now conditions may have been more benign for you but the point is I was prepared - I had crampons & ice axe. The fact that I didn't use them in the end (because the slopes were so gentle) is neither here nor there.

I think you should seriously consider the safety of yourself and much more importantly any minors before you venture out in winter again.

We do all of course have a responsibility to look after ourselves, and those we take on the hills with us ensuring we make adequate provision to not endanger ourselves, or anyone that may be put in a position to help us in the event of an injury.

I don't intend to have a huge public debate on your points, though I'm sure I'm risking a wrath of strong opinions and views with this response. I agree with the essence of your thoughts (i.e. safety and the ability to look after yourself and those with you without putting others at risk) - but as you choose to phrase them here they do infer that this trip was a touch wreckless, and without due consideration - and that I disagree with you completely on.

1. We were fully 'prepared' to turn back - indeed we discussed that we might have to - this was absolutely not a 'summit at all costs' trip for us - your comments on your walk infer you were 'prepared' to ascend / descend in all but the very worst of conditions. At the very least we would have enjoyed a nice walk up / down a particularly beautiful Glen with my favoured Caledonia Pines, and that would have been enough of an outing for all of us had it turned out that way. We could have lengthened it by walking to Corrour had the ascent been dangerous.

2. The actual ascent was very short (c. 1.5km ignoring the walk in) so should there be any appreciable change / deterioration in the weather we could quickly change and execute revised plans AND add to that conditions were extremely benign, and predicted to stay so for two full days on MWIS

3. There were NO sustained periods of steep ascent / descent were covered in ice that would / could have resulted in a serious fall (i.e. there were routes around them where they existed).

4. I've been to the area (Devils Point, Carn Toul etc from the Linn of Dee), if not the exact route before, so was fully aware of both the route, and the terrain

5. We carried food and shelter for two days and were equipped to spend the night in the wilderness should we have needed to.

6. We were equipped with torches, satellite navigation, and a backup map and compass

I'm sorry you were disturbed. We weren't, and at no point on this walk / climb did we feel uncomfortable. And had we, as I said earlier I assure you, we would have turned back.

And the wee fella had a day he'll probably remember for the rest of his life, for the right reasons. A proper adventure; and a safe one.