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Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in winter

Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in winter


Postby Yorjick » Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:29 am

Route description: Ben Wyvis, near Garve

Munros included on this walk: Ben Wyvis

Date walked: 20/11/2016

Time taken: 7 hours

Distance: 13.2 km

Ascent: 947m

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Mountainlove had posted an enquiry on the Talk Highlands group page on Facebook, asking for information on open campsites in the Inverness area with a view to climbing Ben Wyvis.

I replied "my garden", while at the same time offering her the use of our spare room. My wife thought I was a bit mad offering accommodation to someone I had briefly met a couple of times - one of the cultural differences between us! I feel that there is a fraternity among mountaineers, whether climbers or walkers. We share a love of the mountains and adventure that brings us together in mutual respect and friendship.

On the Saturday, Mountainlove popped up Ben Bhraggie and explored east Sutherland. She enjoyed fine weather, but the forecast for Sunday was better with MWIS giving a 70% chance of clear Munros.

When I asked Thomas if he wanted to join us, he answered in the affirmative. This was to be his first Munro in winter conditions. So, giving Thomas my ice axe and and me using an ice hammer, I gave Thomas some indoor instruction on ice axe breaking (with the rubber protector on his axe to prevent holes being made in the carpet!). Peter joined in the training session too, showing good technique with his feet raised!

I only have the one pair of crampons and Thomas has bendy boots, so I also experimented with making a diaper harness from slings. A small sling was too small while a large sling was too big on Thomas, so I put a small sling over his head and tied a knot to tighten it while using the large sling to form a diaper harness on myself. Then I attached a rope via a screwgate and added mountaineer coils, which were tied off and clipped into the screwgate, holding the sling up.

I considered it best to practice all this in the warmth before heading out onto a cold, icy mountain!

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Thomas and I set off in our car and Mountainlove set off separately, as Mountainlove was continuing her adventures and heading west. I stopped at Tarvie services and bought some cheese and Branston rolls, Dairy Milk Snowmen and a cup of tea. I placed the cup of tea on the roof before handing the food to Thomas, asking him to put it in his pack before setting off up the hill. I then completely forgot about the tea and began to drive off! I heard the tea fall sideways on the roof before sliding off and hitting the ground. As I could not see a bin, I took the empty cup over to the lady in the takeaway, and explained what had happened. She gave me another tea without charging me! Things like this makes one want to return!


our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



Mountainlove was already there when we pulled up onto the car park. We soon donned our boots and gaiters and were heading off up the hill. The path was a little slippy, but it made a pleasant change to be walking up a well constructed path. Bagging Corbetts, Grahams and lesser hills, I spend a lot of time heading up through deep heather or bog. Thomas seemed to be enjoying himself. He commented on the fact that the snow would not stick to make a ball and that the one he tried to throw broke up after leaving his hand. No guesses as to whom it was aimed!

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Higher up, the route steepens with steep drops to the south. Thomas wanted to push on ahead - he was not carrying a rope, a large flask of coffee and a food flask containing soup! - I shouted at him to wait as I wanted to keep him close in case there were any ice patches up ahead.

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After a lot of heavy breathing (from me) and the production of large amounts of sweat (again me), we reached the cairn at An Cabar and turned around to see the fantastically clear views. Mountainlove spotted Ben Nevis - I queried it at first but on closer inspection realised that she was right! I'm wondering if is the Easains sticking up above the clouds to the left?

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Looking across the Chromarty Firth to Cairn Gorm and Ben Macdui:

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An Teallach left and the Beinn Dearg group to the right:

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The Fannichs:

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Walking along the 2.5km ridge towards Glas Leathad Mor:

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A senior gentleman had caught us up at the large boulder on the way up and he was still at the summit when we arrived. He kindly obliged when asked to take a summit photo. This saved me having to get my Gorillapod out of rucksack. Other walkers make great tripods! Easy to position and height adjustable! :lol:

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Thomas downed the soup in a manner that makes Scooby Doo seem like a slow eater! :shock: After we had finished eating and washed things down with some lovely warm coffee, we posed for a father and son summit celebration. What a day for Thomas' first winter Munro and his fourth overall.

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According to the times on the photographs, we spent a good 40 mins on the summit, the longest I've spent at the top of a hill for a long time! I rarely stop for more than 20 mins before continuing. It certainly did not seem that long but many arrived after us and they were all gone by the time we set off back down the hill.

Left to right, not naming every hill for obvious reasons - The Fannichs - An Teallach - Beinn Dearg:

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Beinn Dearg on full zoom:

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An Teallach:

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Heading back towards An Cabar with Ben Nevis visible in the far distance.

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We warmed up quickly, once we were moving again. On reaching An Cabar, I decided that I would be happier if Thomas was roped for the descent. This may seem overcautious but I could never live with myself if something happened to him, besides which it added to the interest and was good training for the day when I really need to put him on a rope!

I used a large 100cm (2m diameter) sling to make a daiper harness for myself - see right. This is clearly the American name and I'm not sure if we would call it a nappy harness. Probably a sling harness?

diapersling.jpg
Diaper sling


I placed a short 50cm (1m diameter) sling over Thomas' head and tied an overhand knot into it to make it a tighter fit. Figure of 8 knots were tied into each end of the rope and clipped into twistlock/screwgate karabiners. Then the rope was coiled several times around our shoulders before tying off and clipping the loop into the karabiners. ​About 4 metres of rope remained between us.

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Thomas had been re-energised by the generous portion of sausage and vegetable soup and was looking strong. It was difficult persuading him to move at a reasonably constant speed. He tended to slow down every time he spoke and then jump down the steps, pulling me forward. He did slip a few times but just fell where he had stood and not towards the steeper slopes to his left. I think it was a sound decision to keep him on the rope to stop him heading down too fast and with too little care.

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On reaching the large boulder, we unroped and drank more coffee. Thomas had a go at a bit of bouldering. A Walkhighlands aquaintance that we had passed heading off from the summit, caught us up and we chatted for a while.

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While safe, the path still required a little care, though Thomas was like a dog let off his lead and was soon way ahead. It was not until we were some way down through the forest that we looked back at Ben Wyvis, bathed in the late afternoon sunshine.

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Last edited by Yorjick on Sun Jun 23, 2019 12:35 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Yorjick
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby Borderhugh » Thu Nov 24, 2016 8:18 am

Great stuff and some great shots there Steve! Love that shot of Am T. Well done Thomas! :clap:
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby rockhopper » Thu Nov 24, 2016 2:48 pm

Cracking day to be out - that looked most enjoyable. Good to see the younger generation on the hills too - cheers :)

Yorjick wrote:Mountainlove spotted Ben Nevis - I queried it at first but on closer inspection realised that she was right! I'm wondering if is the Easains sticking up above the clouds to the left?

ImageDSCF1811 by stevemannmoscow, on Flickr

pano1.jpg


Link here to pano

from http://www.udeuschle.selfhost.pro/panoramas/makepanoramas_en.htm
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby Mountainlove » Thu Nov 24, 2016 6:51 pm

Brilliant report from a memorable day! Many thanks again for your hospitality and the opportunity to see the lovely far north east. I had a great day out with you and your fearless son :)

@Rockhopper...thank you for the link its very useful!
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby jmarkb » Thu Nov 24, 2016 7:57 pm

That's excellent: lovely pics and great to see you introducing your son to the winter hills.

Also great to see some sensible ropework skills being deployed. If you find your short-roping partner has a tendency to pull you over, try tying an overhand on the bight in the rope in front of you and using the loop as a handle (hold it with your downhill hand, and your axe in the uphill one): that way the load comes on your arm first instead of your waist/chest and there is a bit of play in the system that makes it easier to control. You could also try having an even shorter length (say 2 metres) of rope between to you to minimise the amount of slack that can build up.
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby Andymac75 » Thu Nov 24, 2016 8:34 pm

Nice report. :thumbup:

And brilliant photos.

The images,and the super clear sky make Scotland an even smaller country.

Ben Nevis looks so close :shock: .Clear days like that are few and far between.

I'm up there for a van service in the next fortnight,so I might make a visit to this hill.

Depends what the weather says.
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby malky_c » Fri Nov 25, 2016 11:24 am

Good to bump into you and Maja, and well done to Thomas :D . Always hard to judge how dangerous the terrain is going to be. I never used to understand why my dad got so nervous on awkward ground when me and my sister were younger, but it was brought home to me when I took my nephew (15 at the time) up the Fiacaill ridge in the Cairngorms. He was fine but I was petrified watching him try the most difficult moves!
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby Yorjick » Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:14 pm

rockhopper wrote:Cracking day to be out - that looked most enjoyable. Good to see the younger generation on the hills too - cheers :)


Thanks for the link to the German site. This seemed a little fiddly capturing panoramas covering the required angle, but fun exploring its capabilities. It enabled me to pick out Slioch which I had not previously located. Always great to pick out Slioch, not just because it is one of my favourite mountains but because it happens to be the name of my home - already named as such when I bought the property.

ImageDSCF1845 by stevemannmoscow, on Flickr
Ben Wyvis - Glas Leathad Mor, 1039 m.png
Panorama within 265° and 310° from Ben Wyvis - Glas Leathad Mor
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby Yorjick » Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:24 pm

jmarkb wrote:Also great to see some sensible ropework skills being deployed. If you find your short-roping partner has a tendency to pull you over, try tying an overhand on the bight in the rope in front of you and using the loop as a handle (hold it with your downhill hand, and your axe in the uphill one): that way the load comes on your arm first instead of your waist/chest and there is a bit of play in the system that makes it easier to control. You could also try having an even shorter length (say 2 metres) of rope between to you to minimise the amount of slack that can build up.


Good sound advice thanks markb - I did find myself holding the rope at times. I think your advice about a shorter length between us would be particularly relevant if I am wearing crampons as it would reduce the risk putting a crampon spike through the rope.
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby JEfoundmybootsagain » Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:08 am

Love the photos, stunning in winter raiment. I had a really sunny day on my day on Ben W. Hope Thomas continues enjoying hills. :clap: My oldest boy had done 10 munros by age 10, then decided he had done enough. never ventured out again since. He is now 29.
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Re: Ben Wyvis - My son's first venture onto the hills in win

Postby gaffr » Mon Nov 28, 2016 9:55 am

Hello,
Before the days of harnesses etc. we had to improvise with bits and pieces to improve upon just tying on the rope around the waist....really dodgy. :) If my memory hasn't completely faded we used your 'diaper seat' and a chest harness combined. The seat sling came out of German origins from Hans Dulfer an early pioneer in the Eastern Alps and the chest harness, again a tape sling, finished off with a sheet bend had the name of Parisian Baudrier....must have had French origins. :) :wink:
But then tapes didn't appear until around the mId sixties a great deal more comfortable than the old rope slings that the early users must have had. :)
GT used to make a very usable chest harness out of some 8mm rope and some tape but then full body harnesses became available....mainly used by folks in the Alps when on the glaciers where plunges through into crevasses were a strong possibility. Don't see full harnesses much today? although very useful for young folks on the rocks and for greater safety when abseiling.....narrower waists etc if e.g. an inversion occurred....not often?
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