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EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 9:48 pm
by davedanson28
Awesome...fantastic...what a day! Every outing is always an adventure for the three of us (Marley, Me and Kyle "Wee Guy") but this time we had a guest called Lee. :D We had decided that because the weather looked so good and also because we had two cars at our disposal the mighty Aonach Eagach Ridge was on the cards. I and Lee had discussed this over a few beers and so it was decided for Thursday the 9th August 2012! This will go down in my memory as a truly Epic day of walking and climbing! :wink:
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And we are off!
We had parked a car at the Clachaig Inn (strategically placed for a post walk beverage given the somewhat warm weather which had been forecasted)! :D We left the other car and headed off on our adventure where the Alt-na-reigh crossed the A82. From here we climbed very steeply to the Am Bodach summit. :shock:
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Kyle chose the route to Am Bodach! Not the easiest but great fun!
Once at the ridge we turned west and well, it got exciting! :o
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The big drop from the Chancellor!
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Kyle and Lee!
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Kyle watching how its done!
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A natural born climber, I think!
:D The ridge, saddles and traverse just seemed to go on and on and well on! :D Every time we stopped to admire the scenery and looked back, we could not really pick out our route! This was turning out to be a truly amazing adventure! :shock: We had to climb down and then climbed up followed by some more of the same! This is certainly not a route for the faint hearted! :crazy:
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Me and ma boy on his 11th Munro! Meall Dearg Summit!
Then it happed, we hit the summit of "wee guys" 11th Munro! Very proud as ever! :D However we didn’t get chance to appreciate it too much as Kyle wanted to push on, he was hoping for more climbing! 8)
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Does this epic ridge ever end!
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Amazing!
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The cheek continues!
Unfortunately we had completed most of the EPIC ridge by this point, much to Kyle’s disappointment (much to Marley’s relief)LOL! :crazy:
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Looking back at part of the ridge!
We pushed onto the second Munro of the ridge / day Sgorr nam Fiannaidh.
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Kyles 12th Munro, Sgorr nam Fiannaidh!
After completing the summit, we all chose the "MAD" descent! :D
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The descent, we could have gone the easy route but what the hell! I can see the pub from here!
We were pretty much looking straight down on top of the Clachaig Inn, what a way to finish an amazing day!
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A nice cold 1! The descent route in the background!
:D I hope you enjoyed our short report of another adventure in the mountains. Just totted up that the wee guy has completed 12 Munros since April, 80Km of walking / climbing totalling just over 8,200m of ascent! Not bad for a 6 year old (god help me and poor Marley)! :D :D

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 2:38 am
by webbie88
Hats off to you and the wee man :clap:

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 5:46 am
by MarilynMunro
Great phots and story of a day with your lad, nothing better, thankfully mine's old to enough to buy me a beer. :lol:
Well done to the little fella, kudos. :clap: :clap: :clap:
Reading all these tales of kids doing the AE, I feel like a big girls blouse, maybe one day(in my dreams)

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 8:10 am
by jester
Pretty much every guide book says to avoid the straight descent to the Clachaig at all costs. How did you find it?

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 8:19 am
by Fudgie
Wonderful stuff from both of you. I'm very jealous :D

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:54 am
by SMRussell
Another great report from this ridge! Well done to the wean! :clap:

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 3:31 pm
by davedanson28
Thanks for all the comments people! Definitely one to remember.

Jester: The direct descent was on the whole fine. A little steep and skiddy in places with a little down climbing required, breath taking views though. When we do this ridge again, we are going to head up this way and do the whole thing in reverse! :shock:

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:41 pm
by BobMcBob
Kudos to the Wee Guy for tackling that. Get 'em into scrambling at an early age, it's highly recommended :) Nice one.

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 8:05 pm
by foggieclimber
jester wrote:Pretty much every guide book says to avoid the straight descent to the Clachaig at all costs. How did you find it?


I agree with the guidebooks. Having descended it previously, it is beyond sh*t. Dangerous if descending it for both yourself and for any climbers who might be climbing in the gully, should you knock stones onto them. Not a descent that should be recommended.

Well done to the wee guy.

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 9:04 pm
by soapy27
Fantastic and a big well done to the Wee Guy :clap: :clap: :clap:

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:15 pm
by davedanson28
BobMcBob wrote:Kudos to the Wee Guy for tackling that. Get 'em into scrambling at an early age, it's highly recommended :) Nice one.

Cheers, he defo seems into it! Think he will be climbing for a while! :D

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:18 pm
by davedanson28
foggieclimber wrote:
jester wrote:Pretty much every guide book says to avoid the straight descent to the Clachaig at all costs. How did you find it?


I agree with the guidebooks. Having descended it previously, it is beyond sh*t. Dangerous if descending it for both yourself and for any climbers who might be climbing in the gully, should you knock stones onto them. Not a descent that should be recommended.

Well done to the wee guy.

Thanks foggieclimber for the comments! Glad you enjoyed the ridge!

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:19 pm
by davedanson28
soapy27 wrote:Fantastic and a big well done to the Wee Guy :clap: :clap: :clap:

Cheers Soapy27, much appreciated. :) :)

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:42 am
by weescotsman
Jings what can I say that hasn't already been said.................. another awesome outing for the wee mountain goat. No fear at all for him..... :clap:

Seen so many trip reports and a few videos of the AE ridge and it still terrifies me but I really do want to do this one at some point. Will make sure my more experienced buddies are with me though..... :crazy:

Onwards and upwards for you all. And well done Marley for getting over the ridges as well. Superkid and Superdog.................

Re: EPIC! Aonach Eagach Ridge! Marley, Me & "Wee Guy"

PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:11 pm
by davedanson28
weescotsman wrote:Jings what can I say that hasn't already been said.................. another awesome outing for the wee mountain goat. No fear at all for him..... :clap:

Seen so many trip reports and a few videos of the AE ridge and it still terrifies me but I really do want to do this one at some point. Will make sure my more experienced buddies are with me though..... :crazy:

Onwards and upwards for you all. And well done Marley for getting over the ridges as well. Superkid and Superdog.................

Cheers Brian. You will defo have to do this ridge, it is a must do! :wink:
Super kid & Super dog....lol. :lol:
Catch you soon. :D