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A group of 10 of us set out to climb this for a charity event. We read many accounts of previous climbers and had spoken to a few people who had previously completed this walk. Based on this I thought it was just going to be a long pleasant comfortable walk.
The weather that day was awful especially from the half way point. Despite wearing protective clothing we were still completely drenched right through to the skin. The wind speed seemed to ramp up about half way up and it was so powerful I was struggling to progress. It was at this point I tried to put on another waterproof layer and I battled for at least 10 mins to get them on. The clothes were flapping vigorously behind me as I wrestled and struggled to pull them on. Foolishly I didnt bring any gloves and the falling temperature coupled with wind chill factor meant I just had to put socks over my hands. This team event was fast becoming every man for themselves and you couldnt hear a word anyone was shouting from inches away.The pathway was initially very easy but becoming increasingly more rocky and slippery the further we ascended. It was easily identifiable up to the 3/4 point where a couple of us went slightly off track as we went straight ahead when we should have veered round a slight left turn.
We were far in the clouds by this point and so checking out the scenery was crossed off our lists.
I was determined not to ask anyone descending how long it was to go as I knew the answer would further dishearten me.Unfortunately a few people felt compelled to pass on the dreaded progress report on their way past "you are only about an hour away now, its freezing and you cant see a thing". Yep thanks for that motivational boost guys
Anyway the final third was just about perseverence, determination and a whole lot of slipping. The cairns on the route were invaluable as we could barely see a thing and they kept us on course. We eventually arrived at the summit where I removed the socks from my hands and struggled with frozen fingers to tear the seal and open a bottle of Balvenie. This was the best tasting and most deserved dram Ive had to date Cheers !
