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It was October half term, and having had an aborted attempt on Fiachaill Ridge before my wife was keen to try again. I was also keen to get a cracking day and head over to Macdui. However it was not to be.
The weather refused to play ball all week – forecasts were strong winds, so we went biking. It turned out fine. The forecast was OK, it turned out seriously windy.
Cairngorm Walk by
Matt Robinson, on Flickr
However we did pop into Corie an t-Schnechda to have a look, and decided that it was just too windy across the exposed short step of Fiachaill. It was a busy day in the corrie with multiple ML training groups in there, all looking for steep ground and shelter.
Ptarmigan by
Matt Robinson, on Flickr
We therefore took the goat track up to the shoulder of Corrie Domhain. Lunch near the top out the wind was a lovely view, with a group following us up.
Cairngorm Walk by
Matt Robinson, on Flickr
A quick jog upto Cairn Lochan revealed how windy it was – a good choice to avoid the scramble route on Fiacaill. The small top and wander across to Coire Raibiert was a real trip down memory lane for me – showing the boys where in university I had been ice climbing up Central Gully and Alladdins Couloir area, and snow holing in Raibiert.
Cairngorm Walk by
Matt Robinson, on Flickr
Cairngorm Walk by
Matt Robinson, on Flickr
Cairngorm Walk by
Matt Robinson, on Flickr
Cairngorm Summit by
Matt Robinson, on Flickr
On upto Cairngorm itself, and a celebratory cuppa and biscuit. We popped into the upper building – a weird experience of going from nature, cold and solace to commercialism and heat… However, it made for a great warm lunch before the walk down.
A decision was made to walk down the access track - the wind over the ridges was brutally cold. The long descent reminds you of how high Cairngorm actually is.
The icing on the cake was one of the boys and I taking the bikes off the car in the ski car-park and belting down the ski road – surprising some of the cars by our speed of descent. My GPS hit 84km/h…
Cycle down from ski centre by
Matt Robinson, on Flickr
