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Alpine Coe
I had to be back by mid-late morning so the alarm was set for 03.30 ! Ouch!
The Aurora was showing itself the night before and I had hoped to catch a glimpse of it, being up in the middle of the night!! However it was not to be, as a layer of cloud spoiled this (you wouldn’t think it seeing the pictures below!!).
Anyway, eventually arrived at Glencoe in the darkness, and started out at 05.45 with just enough light to walk without the head torch. As dawn approached, the cloud disappeared east leaving blue skies
The views were stunning and the snow was feeling good. Crampons were on relatively low down on the walk in and the snow was crunching under them – felt nice…..
Glence sunrise-04664 by
mountains MJVW, on Flickr
Into the Loachain by 0730 ish and it was empty. I think this is the first time I’ve been the first here. There was no wind, the sun was rising in the east and the blue skies complemented the white peaks beautifully. I was tempted by Boomerang and NC but opted to head straight up Broad Gully and I reached the summit not long after 0800. It was amazing. The views were magnificent, there was no wind and everything felt Alpine.
DISTANT BEN-04678 by
mountains MJVW, on Flickr
Coe-04707 by
mountains MJVW, on Flickr
I could have stayed here all day. I wanted to go and keep walking but other commitments meant I had to come back down.
SCNL-00633 by
mountains MJVW, on Flickr
A quick descent back down Broad Gully and back into the (still empty) Corrie!
I met a number of teams heading up, in the Valley, and I must admit to feeling jealous that they were away to have a stonking day when I was done and headed home. However it was a fantastic wee trip.
A good couple of trips to the Coe
A few days previously...
Crowberry Gully – March 2015
https://youtu.be/k5F7WNWATKQ?list=UUJyJKu3ysdceGqK_JaZFUNABlog reports, photos and magic films from The Ben had been flooding the world wide web for the week leading up to our trip away and this had initiated a trip to the Ben with a number of possible objectives.
The alarm was set earlier than usual (04.45!ZZZzzzzzz) and we met at Crianlarich for 0600hrs. We were all tired but the weather was looking superb and I was certainly looking forward to the day ahead. As we drove north, dawn approached and the stars gradually gave way to crystal clear blue skies.
the bridge-00540 by
mountains MJVW, on Flickr
Past Rannoch Moor and a quick stop at the Jacksonville car park was required. This is where the plans changed!:) On stepping out in to the sunshine we were greeted by an icy nip and an imposing Buachaille staring down on us. We stared back……… and noticed a fine white line weaving its way to the summit. Crowberry Gully looked in great nick. The binos were grabbed and a new plan hatched!!
Ten minutes later we were parked at Altnafeadh and getting our gear ready
The sun was splitting the sky and the air was sharp.
The car park wasn’t busy although we were early and only two other teams were on their way about the same time as us – seemed they had a similar plan
Round the Waterslab and the snow here was solid Neve which was in stark contrast to a week previously when we were wading through soggy wet mush!!! We were soon heading up the Crowberry basin and into Crowberry Gully. Things were looking good!! We soloed a fair distance up the Gully before waiting behind the two teams of two ahead of us. It was a tad chilly in shade of the gully and not moving – however once the teams moved on things moved fairly smoothly. We soloed Thin Crack Chimney as most of it was well banked out and a short pitch brought us to the Junction Pitch.
entering crowberry gully-00551 by
mountains MJVW, on Flickr
Mark led this and the ice and neve was good. I even found myself enjoying this as I followed up behind Gerry. Mostly first time placements and my nice new shiny crampons were biting nicely!! The first part was steep then some easier ground before reaching the Cave.
crowberry gully-00568 by
mountains MJVW, on Flickr
Gerry led the Cave pitch which was similar to the Junction with good placements all the way. A fantastic couple of pitches in one of the most atmospheric places I visited
Belayed just below the top I past Gerry and Mark to top out into glorious sunshine and still calm sharp air. The crystal clear views were astounding – smiles remained on our faces for about three days after!!!!
Lunch on the summit then a descent in to the Coire where there some impressive fissures, seracs and crevasses!!!!!!
Bidean leave-00613 by
mountains MJVW, on Flickr
A fine day on the mountains and one to remember!!
