Salamander -Beinn an Dothaidh - Grade III
Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:29 pm
once again I have added a video of the day from a few weeks ago. Clag was in to start with but as you can see the blue skies appeared at just the right time
Was icy and snow level was around 300m. On driving up the road we stopped at the Bridge of Orchy hotel and had a look a the route with the binoculars. It looked good and was in. As we set off up the tourist path the clag filled the gully and the fine view of the route dissappeared unfortunately. There had been some fresh snow and this proved a little tricky as we headed off the track and onto rocks towards the start of the route. When we got there , two climbers were ahead of us on the first pitch. The ice was good but the views at this point were not!!! Some point through the first pitch it started snowing - the second pitch was probably the highlight of the day with a nice steep bit of ice at the top to get to thebelay for the third pitch. Good fun but cold hands here by this point!! The snow was still falling when we reached the final pitch which was fantastic with great ice. As we headed up this final pitch something strange happened - the clouds parted and the sun came out - a fantastic way to finish the route.
Was icy and snow level was around 300m. On driving up the road we stopped at the Bridge of Orchy hotel and had a look a the route with the binoculars. It looked good and was in. As we set off up the tourist path the clag filled the gully and the fine view of the route dissappeared unfortunately. There had been some fresh snow and this proved a little tricky as we headed off the track and onto rocks towards the start of the route. When we got there , two climbers were ahead of us on the first pitch. The ice was good but the views at this point were not!!! Some point through the first pitch it started snowing - the second pitch was probably the highlight of the day with a nice steep bit of ice at the top to get to thebelay for the third pitch. Good fun but cold hands here by this point!! The snow was still falling when we reached the final pitch which was fantastic with great ice. As we headed up this final pitch something strange happened - the clouds parted and the sun came out - a fantastic way to finish the route.