Gutted-but sometimes you have to give up
Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 8:03 pmI can be quite spontaneous when it comes to decisions, but while being glued on a rock, in snowy conditions, without an iceaxe and crampons, with deep drops to either side of me, I decided it was a crap idea to think I could do the 10 Mamores in the snow...in one day.
The idea was in my had since the previous year, when I gave them a try and had to return home after having done 8 of them. At the time darkness was approaching and I did not had a headtorch…so the decision was wise, but annoyed me ever since.
I had packed my bags to wild camp in Glen Etive. A moth prior , Marco the lucky bugger found a stags antler and when I was told by my dad about it (he is a hunter) he told me that stags loose them once a year and always loose them in pairs close to each other (something to do with being unbalanced with only one) and them shaking their heads until they loose the other one. Since he told me I was keen to get back and search for the matching pair. It was worth a try anyway!
Following the deer tracks in Glen Etive, I did indeed managed to find the second one. But looking at it it looked bigger, which made me think it must be another one (with another matching one to be found) So after 1h I had indeed found 3 pair and was more than please with myself.
I settled for the night and my alarm woke me at 4am.
Getting up at 4 am at any time is horrible enough, but with with subzero temperatures outside it is even worse.
Cuddled up in my nice and warm sleeping bag it took me ages until I finally convinced myself to step into the night. Opening the tent I realized that the outside tent was frozen and the facecloth I left outside to dry, was frozen solid. I took it to have a quick wash in the burn
…as females like to be clean smelling! On second thoughts I wish I would have stayed smelly and unwashed as within 5 seconds my fingers were numb and I was cursing like a trooper 
But at least I was fully awake by that time.. Running back to the tent, blowing on my fingers to defrost them, I got dressed and walked up to the car to have breakfast. Putting on the heating to defrost the windows I was questioning my sanity. 
Packing my things together, I was ready to leave 45min later and drove to Glen Nevis the starting point. I arrived there an hour later and by the time I had packed my bag and got organized it was 6am…a good time to start the day
- On the way to the Mamores...at around 5:30am
- The start of the path half way up the forest
The first Munro is Mullach nan Coirean and taking my time, I was up there 2h after setting off. Looking ahead the Mamores looked magnificent, but I also realized that during the previous evening heavy snow, the hills were covered in a lot of snow.
- me with Glen Coe in the background
- The Aonach Eagach from the back
I left the top and continued the ridge which would lead me up Stob Ban.The ridge which was frozen solid was easy to walk along, but the absent up Stob Ban was a lot harder as the new soft snow slowed down my progress, as I had to watch my footing in the snow. Even though I was making sure I wasn’t rushing the start, I became aware that I was too slow, as it took me already 4h to cover 2 Munros.
- The Mamores
Being a bit annoyed with myself I continued to Sgurr a'Mhaim, the walk to the wee loch was pretty easy and I made good progress.
- Looking ahead
- wee loch
Even though I realized that I had done the Devils Ridge before, I somehow managed to forget how steep it is. Saying that in summer it is really not a problem, but as I was the first one to walk it since the new snow had fallen, I had to be really careful, as a slip would have been pretty dangerous. The first part of the devils ridge is pretty easy if you don’t think about the steep drops on either side, but the second part involves some scrambling.
As I love a scramble I did not opted to walk around it, but decided to walk over it. After all what can possible go wrong?! Pulling myself up snow and ice covered rocks, was fun until I came to a point when I got stuck. I had been holding onto my poles in one hand (putting them away was too obvious) and while I held them in one hand, holding on to the rock with the other, I just managed, until I was on top of a big rock and the stupid things became an obstacle. Having concentrated too much at what was straight in front of me, the poles and not the route the problem suddenly was, that ahead of me was nothing but a gap and a steep drop.
Crawling forward I saw that in summer it would have been possible to jump the distance (if you have a head for heights) but with the ice and snow-no chance. Looking around me I suddenly became aware of the drops to either side. Clinging to the rock like a glued on spider, I looked around for a way forward , but there was none. Cursing I looked back and not letting go of the rock, I slid myself back the rockface, which must have looked more than ridiculous. Why is climbing up rock always so more easy??? Down wet rock is just horrible and gets me the shakes. It took ages and by the time I had proper ground under my feed I felt happy, but realized that I had to take extra great care to reach the top of Sgurr a'Mhaim.- Devils ridge looking straight on...does not look that bad
- After passing over the ridge looking back at it
After some more hairy moments and deep snow I reached the top, but realized that time wise the snow slowed me down far too much. I sat down, had a grab to eat and studied the map and my GPS. Looking over the ridge I knew I had to return the same way, adding even more time. Looking at the other Munros all set in deep snow, I came to the decision that my plan to complete the Mamores in 16-17h would be impossible with the snowy conditions.
The pure walking time is supposed to be 14.5h…with breaks and taking pictures you would add another 2h or so….all of that in snowy conditions I guessed would probably take at least 20…I love hillwalking but 20h in one go – no chance!I neither wanted to give it a try, as I already done 8 and did not wanted to repeat what happened last time. It was either all 10 or leave it.
I was suddenly joined by a group of 2 women and a man and after a quick chat found out that they also planned to do the 10, but came to the same decision that the conditions weren’t good enough. It felt better that I was not the only one thinking that and after saying good bye to them I felt better with my decision and decided to walk down back to my car.
- The way back down
- Ben Nevis
After taking some lengthy breaks on the way down to enjoy the sunshine and the views I was back at the car by 3pm. Looking back I know it was a wise decision as in that way I actually really enjoyed the day out and managed to get some good photos.
Slideshow of the photos and panorama video
- One of the pair of antlers I found...from hillside to livingroom
