Amazing Day on Ben More in perfect winter weather :)
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:14 pmBen More and Stob Binnein
The Winter had arrived early with snow falling throughout the week, however the forecast for the weekend was to be bright and showery on Saturday then mild and windy on Sunday. Unfortunately I could only do Sunday due to other commitments and thus my thoughts of a trip into the snowy mountains seemed slim and perhaps a bit slushy and wet – However! -come Friday afternoon and another check on MWIS and a squint at the Met Office suggested hope – lots of hope. It seemed the Atlantic front was delayed due to a slight ridge of High pressure – happy days. As the weekend approached and Saturday went by, the forecast just got better and better!! Sunday was now the day to be in the hills –perfect.
My friend had back surgery a couple of months ago and this was to be his first outing, Ben More was chosen as his come back mountain, and with the weather looking tremendous, this could be a good day!
Anyway Sunday arrived and three of us met at Ben More Farm and we were off by 08.30. The weather was glorious - small patches of cloud amongst mainly blue skies. The snow line was relatively low down perhaps around 500m, and initially the snow was softish but it soon became a little more crisp and crampons were required. There was a considerable amount of snow and it felt like mid January but on a perfect day. As we gained height there were wisps of cloud towards the summit – perhaps we were not going to be so lucky and have a clagged in summit!! However the opposite was true – we were treated to a Fog Bow and the Glories then finally being above the cloud on the summit.
It was not a day to move away from the top too quickly and we loitered for some time. Our timing was perfect as the slight breeze died away as we hit the top and there was warmth in the sun. The air clarity was superb and the hills of Lothian and the Borders could easily be picked out beyond Glasgow and Grangemouth in the central belt.
Eventually we left the summit and our friend headed back down from the Bealach leaving two of us to head up Stob Binnein.
The views from the top were almost as good as from Ben More and more loitering was done. Eventually we decided we needed to head home sometime and we headed down towards the track in Ben More Glen. We hit the track at its head – beware the mud trap. My brother sunk up to his thy literally a metre from the start of the track when jumping down!!!!
Back to the car for 14.30 and a collection of great memories – hopefully the winter will bring many more similar days
The Winter had arrived early with snow falling throughout the week, however the forecast for the weekend was to be bright and showery on Saturday then mild and windy on Sunday. Unfortunately I could only do Sunday due to other commitments and thus my thoughts of a trip into the snowy mountains seemed slim and perhaps a bit slushy and wet – However! -come Friday afternoon and another check on MWIS and a squint at the Met Office suggested hope – lots of hope. It seemed the Atlantic front was delayed due to a slight ridge of High pressure – happy days. As the weekend approached and Saturday went by, the forecast just got better and better!! Sunday was now the day to be in the hills –perfect.
My friend had back surgery a couple of months ago and this was to be his first outing, Ben More was chosen as his come back mountain, and with the weather looking tremendous, this could be a good day!
Anyway Sunday arrived and three of us met at Ben More Farm and we were off by 08.30. The weather was glorious - small patches of cloud amongst mainly blue skies. The snow line was relatively low down perhaps around 500m, and initially the snow was softish but it soon became a little more crisp and crampons were required. There was a considerable amount of snow and it felt like mid January but on a perfect day. As we gained height there were wisps of cloud towards the summit – perhaps we were not going to be so lucky and have a clagged in summit!! However the opposite was true – we were treated to a Fog Bow and the Glories then finally being above the cloud on the summit.
It was not a day to move away from the top too quickly and we loitered for some time. Our timing was perfect as the slight breeze died away as we hit the top and there was warmth in the sun. The air clarity was superb and the hills of Lothian and the Borders could easily be picked out beyond Glasgow and Grangemouth in the central belt.
Eventually we left the summit and our friend headed back down from the Bealach leaving two of us to head up Stob Binnein.
The views from the top were almost as good as from Ben More and more loitering was done. Eventually we decided we needed to head home sometime and we headed down towards the track in Ben More Glen. We hit the track at its head – beware the mud trap. My brother sunk up to his thy literally a metre from the start of the track when jumping down!!!!
Back to the car for 14.30 and a collection of great memories – hopefully the winter will bring many more similar days
