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My kid brother (the legend that is Beef) was keen for his second big day in the hills after successful completion of the Glen Lyon round of 4 last Summer, and the plan was originally to do Stuchd an Lochain and, depending on how that went, Meall Buidhe too. My walk taking in a corbett at Glen Orchy the previous day had been cold but not overly-taxing, so I was up for another day out. However, a couple of things got in the way of said plan:
1. The road from Loch Tay to Glen Lyon was iced over at the Lochan na Lairige. My near death experience on the way to Beinn a' Ghlo had taught me my car was not, contrary to my belief at times, a snow mobile. We went no further.
2. Beef was busy on the Saturday and had insisted on walking on the Sunday, which offered worse conditions. In particular, the wind was going to be an issue - 60-70mph gusts forecast
Added to this, Beef did not have crampons or an ice axe. In my defence of the report you are about to read, I had warned him several times!
A quick think and we settled on Meall nan Tarmachan - this was the only of the Lawers group I had yet to climb, but I had wanted to wait until the Summer to do the full ridge. Without wanting to drive anywhere further away, and not knowing when/if the weather might close in, this seemed like a decent Plan B. We would see how things were on the summit before making the decision on the ridge - as it proved, however, getting to the summit was more than a mission in itself...
The main Ben Lawers car park was also a sheet of ice, so we parked as safely as possible at the side of the road. Even here, the soft and dry air had a bite to it - uncovered hands turning blue at a moment's notice. We set off along the winding icy path and began to climb, looking up at the subsidiary top of Meall nan Tarmachan, which looked a long way away - in distance but more obviously in effort. Before long, the wind had picked up significantly, but the cloud mercifully remained high and so visibility back to Loch Tay and ahead over the reservoir was decent (there aren't many photos on this report as my gloves made operating the camera a bit of a hassle!).
Back to Loch Tay by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
Reservoir by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
P1030987 by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
Happily, some kind soul had built a snowman to lift our spirits, and we continued gleefully on to the gate at about 650m to begin the hill climb proper. The snow at this point was maybe just over ankle deep.
Snowman by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
We climbed slowly through the snow, following some blown-over deep footsteps at times. Progress was slow and methodical. It was seriously cold - the crosswinds from the east hammering sprindrift off of our cheeks. I went ahead and made footsteps to follow, Beef using his poles to heave himself up.
P1030992 by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
P1030994 by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
We passed a group of a couple of guys coming down who said they had gone 'half way' but turned back as the wind was too bad. This was concerning. The skies cleared briefly and we continued up towards the 923m top, wanting to wait until we could get behind something and out of the wind before stopping. We could see another group of 2 ahead in the distance.
P1030995 by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
P1030996 by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
P1030997 by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
Another group came down and past us, from Northern England I think by their accents. We caught up to the 2 lads ahead of us and sheltered from the wind with them for a bit, getting some food and water in. We had a decision to make, the 4 of us deciding, as the conditions beside the wind and drifting snow were good, to head up to the 923m top and re-assess. This was a real slog - fully exposed to the wind and spindrift, falling in snow pockets every couple of steps. I donned my goggles, but Beef had no such luxury. When we arrived at the top, we looked over the bealach to the gully, which looked impregnable. The other 2 lads weren't hopeful, but headed across to the bottom anyway, and we followed a distance behind.
P1030999 by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
Below the steep gully, the guys took a break and said they would probably go back down. I knew there was about another 100-150m ascent which we could do pretty quickly so long as the cloud didn't come in, but it would be tough. Beef initially wanted to go down, then changed his mind (without any prompt from me, I should add), citing the old 'we've got this far' line which has been the demise of many. And so we went, starting up the gully. A folly I will not be in a hurry to repeat, for if I were on my own, I would have turned back.
The gully itself needed some careful foot placement and route finding, but mercifully was at least partially out of the wind. My main concern by this point was trying to avoid Beef's face becoming frostbitten (he rejected my offers of goggles and face protectors - I assume this was some sort of assertion of his masculinity - 'wee brother sydrome'? To be fair he is a lot bigger than me!)
Climbing the gully by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
The gully now negotiated, it was over flattish ground and seriously deep snow (this was potential avalanche territory so every step was measured) to the steep but short pull-up to the north of the summit, before almost turning back on ourselves to reach the cairn, where the conditions were perversely calm. Didn't tell him at the time (I have my own masculinity to assert mind), but was pretty proud to be standing there with my brother. As I write this, I realise how grateful I am to have found hillwalking as a pastime - not only does it allow you to appreciate the world around you, but also the people. Well done Beef
Summit! by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
Bros by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
P1040004 by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
After a couple of minutes of hedomism, it was time to concentrate again for the descent - the ridge was an absolute no-go. We made decent progress, but took our time again at the gully, which was even more treacherous on descent that ascent - i tried to give Beef a few pointers on the safest technique. At the bottom, we ate a sandwich and bypassed the 923m top and col by following the fenceposts down (which was better in terms of spindrift, but much worse in terms of snow depth!) We could allow ourselves a bit of larking about, now we were in relative safety. As with any challenging day like this, it seems to take forever to get down, and so it proved. Finally, however, we made it back, and I was glad to see my car had not slid down the hill. Beef was fully frozen, including wet feet (lack of gaiters to blame), and so got a change of clothes as we got the heating on in the car. I couldn't believe we'd only walked 8K!
I think he slept pretty well that night
These are the kind of days you learn a lot from, and I definitely did
Descending by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
P1040007 by
Ross Thomson, on Flickr
