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my original plan was for some winter climbing in stob coie nan lochan with some members of the lomond mountaineering club. we met at the car park at 9 30, burly and ben were climbing the day before and said most of the routes were banked out ! climbing talk for too much snow. so harry suggested the aonach eagach ? too right i said this has been on my to do list for a number of years. me being the least experienced of the group became rope boy, that means i get to lug the rope up
.
- half moon above stob coire nan lochan
there seemed to be some people in front of us as there was fresh footprints, a joy that someone else has broke the trail.
- view west down glencoe
the sun was out views all around were spectacular as we continued up steeply towards am bodach.
- sun out on the ascent
this is a really steep start to any walk and i was glad to see the final approach to am bodach
- final approach
we stopped at the top to don crampons, helmets and harnesses, a single technical axe was the weapons of choice. we start walking westward towards the start of the ridge, sun still out and excitement building.
- 1st look along the ridge
the going was good, soft snow and the way ahead marked out by the people who were ahead of us, but we hadnt seen them yet. it wasnt long before we came to our first akward bit, a difficult down climb, but a sling had been left in situe, so we abseiled down, i felt we were now getting into it.
- 1st abseil
- im really enjoying this
we continued along toward meall dearg we could see a front heading our way
- grey skies
harry was leading the way, he is very experieced and no slouch speed wise either, he seems to glide up rock and ice with ease
- harry leading the way
it wasnt long before we reached the summit of the first munro of the day meall dearg
- final approach to meall dearg
after meall dearg, things start to really hot up, lots of ascents and descents and of coarse the pinnicles, to make matters worse the clag came down and we had a few snow showers to contend with.
- hotting up
- clagging up
the ridge now becomes well definned, in some places no more then a few feet wide, and maybe the clag hid some of the exposure on either side.
- dont look ( or fall ) down
it was around here we met the couple who were in front, a man and wife couple from kinlochleven, we overtook them and broke the trail for them, wasnt long before the next tricky section, the pinnicles .ben is a rock climber and asked we get the rope out again, so out came the rope as we tackle a few tricky steps.
- tricky section
it seemed now to be quite challenging, the soft snow giving way and ice axe placements few and far between. downclimbing was especially difficult and another abseil was set up.
- another abseil
it was now full on, narrowing ridges, soft snow, steep climbs and harry like a mountain goat, makes it look so easy. the next bit was pure squeeky bum material, a difficult downclimb to a snow ledge a foot wide with a 10 metre steep ascent up soft snow and rock. i solo,ed it behind harry, ben and the lady ( who ha caught us up ) wanted the safety of the rope back up.
- squeeky bum bit
but it just kept coming, another pinniclem another ascent
- how do we get up that ?
harry kept taking about a little arete he remembered, ah here it is he says as he dances over it, the rest of us taking care of feet placements and more slowly.
- harry on the aret
- ben and burly on the arete
that was the hard stuff over and we soon reached stob coire leith, the snow was extremly deep here but we new the end was in sight, although we couldnt see it. we stopped at the coll before the final rise to sgorr nam fiannaidh for a drink. 200 odd metres of ascent later and we were on the summit.
- one contented chappie at the end
- ben and burly aproaching the summit
- the four summiteers
we descended straight of the summit in a southerly direction, taking care in the steep snow, there were enough rocks visable through the snow but care was needed as the slopes were very steep. in no time we were back at the car, just a tad over 7 hours, really good considering the conditions. it was one of my best days in the hills, the aonach eagach holds a special place for me, it reminds me of a friend i once walked and climbed with in glencoe, who sadly died in glencoe. i thought about him lots today, he probably brought the clag and snow showers in for me, he wouldnt have wanted it to be too easy!!
for jed