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Warning Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

The Cobbler in full winter garb.

The Cobbler in full winter garb.


Postby Betta868 » Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:55 am

Corbetts included on this walk: The Cobbler

Date walked: 06/01/2018

Time taken: 6 hours

Distance: 6 km

Ascent: 750m

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BA19.jpg


So this is my first time submitting a walk report so hope it is interesting enough!

Well my partner has just started getting into walking in the mountains and was especially keen to try out her new shiny ice axe and crampons so I thought we best head up to the Loch Lomond NP as it's our closest area with some decent mountains (we're based just south of Glasgow).

So it came to Friday evening with me deciding where we should walk on the Saturday. My main criteria was to try and get into some decent winter conditions but attempt an achievable summit that would allow for time spent learning how to walk in crampons, practising ice axe arrests, performing wind slab tests, navigating off the topography etc.

Because of this and the fact that it was also a new mountain for me I plumped for Ben Arthur as I saw from looking on the good old OS online that you could complete a very short and sweet route coming round the NW slope and up a natural (wide) drainage line at a fairly steep but not technical gradient.

Well Saturday morning came and it's fair to say we got off to a leisurely start! Normally we'd be up early and aiming to get out on the hills for the crack of dawn but taking faith in the forecast which called for winds to ease off from midday onwards we decided to leave around 09:00 and get walking not long after 10:30.

The little parking area I had seen on the map was chock full (firstly I thought we would have to about turn and do the slightly longer route from Succoth) however luckily there is a handy lay-by only a few hundred metres further up the road - great stuff!

So we got kitted up and set off making good initial progress on the right hand side of the river (following a faint path), in hindsight this proved to be trickier than the much more defined trail to be found on the other side of the river which we opted to use in descent.

BA1.jpg
Looking back down our route - the snow line started at around 450m.


The snowline started at around 450m and despite the forecast expecting it to be around -5 degrees Celsius it seemed milder and this would explain why the snow in the first few hundreds metres was so soft and slushy.

BA6.jpg
Upwards progress was impeded by deep soft snow.


Reaching around 600 - 700m in altitude the snow had accumulated into deep drifts of upwards of 3 - 4 feet, in places we were sinking up to our waists. It was that irritating blend of beautiful deep snow which if frozen would have allowed quick progress with crampons but it was in fact completely unconsolidated and so became a major schlep to make forwards progress in!

Anyway this was proving to be a good learning curve for my partner and a prime example of how winter walking can be so much harder and slower than in summer conditions.

Up until now the snow covering had been deep in places but thinner in others and overall a bit patchy with vegetation and boulders still poking through in places. Once reaching a nice patch of clear snow on a decent gradient we took the opportunity to stop and perform an avalanche test and practice ice axe arrests - always good fun and a worthy use of time to practice again and again.

From here we opted not to don crampons for the last couple of hundred metres of ascent and instead kick steps up to the col - the snow had now reached a happy medium of a hard crust but with a bit of pressure it was easy to kick in and gain a sure footing.

Once reaching the col it seemed like Piccadilly Circus - I now get why this mountain is so often written and spoken about!

We stopped here and surveyed the amazing view we had reaching out to the South.

It was here we decided to don crampons for the final short but relatively steep slope to the main summit.

BA8.jpg
Donning crampons before the final slope to the summit.


It always amazes me the variety of people you meet on winter peaks - amongst our fellow well kitted out winter walkers there were a couple of people in trainers and jeans and no backpacks! I'm being completely subjective here and not trying to pick any arguments but it irritates me slightly when I see this because of the obvious safety issues.

Anyway back to our walk and once on the summit we had incredible views all around - the visibility was the best it has been for the past 10 mountain walks I have been on and the wind had indeed dropped as forecast and so unlike the predicted possibility of a minus 20 degrees windchill I would be surprised if it was much below zero.

BA13.jpg
Obligatory summit snap - mild temperatures and amazing views meant it was hard to leave the summit!


We spent a good amount of time on the summit getting the obligatory snaps and chatting to other folk before heading down back to the col. Once here we checked on the time and realised we had spent quite a bit of time on the ascent and so decided to descend the way we came up.

Once again the unconsolidated snow proved a hassle with progress impeded by sinking up to our knees and once or twice we were both left hanging as we had broken through the snow and obviously reached a void on the other side of a boulder or something. This caused much hilarity but also meant that we reached the dam at around 15:00.

BA17.jpg
Headed down as the sun starts to fall in the sky.


From here we took off layers and stowed axes and crampons and had an easy walk out along the river reaching the car at around 16:00 (probably twice as long as it would take in summer conditions and minus the faffing with learning to use crampons and axes etc). Anyway it was an awesome day on the mountain and my partner is very happy to have got her first proper taste of winter hills.

BA10.jpg
A nice view South down the lochs.
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Betta868
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 1
Munros:6   Corbetts:3
Fionas:3   Donalds:2
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Wainwrights:3   
Joined: Sep 28, 2017

Re: The Cobbler in full winter garb.

Postby rockhopper » Sat Jan 20, 2018 12:58 am

Enjoyed that - good first report and a nice day for it too :thumbup:
An interesting route for this hill - a bit different to the normal route. While the hills around here aren't as big as some of their more northerly relatives, some can be harder going and trickier in some conditions - cheers :)
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rockhopper
 
Posts: 7446
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Joined: May 31, 2009
Location: Glasgow

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