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Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.


Postby dooterbang » Sat Dec 25, 2010 9:38 pm

Route description: Ben More and Stob Binnein

Munros included on this walk: Ben More

Date walked: 25/12/2010

Time taken: 4 hours

Distance: 4 km

Ascent: 1174m

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After our success last xmas day in scaling Beinn Narnain my friend Stevie and i had decided to once again get ourselves up a Munro this year, Ben More would be our target.

We decided on this as it's close to a main road, has plenty of ascent and we could get up and down pretty quickly :)

We left Glasgow at 6.15am and headed on our way, i had wanted to leave at 5.30am and walk the 1st hour in darkness but Stevie needed sleep.

Black ice and poor weather conditions made the journey to the start longer than expected, however we had our gear on and hit the trail at 8.15am :D


Small sign for Ben More indicates start of walk - surprisingly :?
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We followed a zig zagging landrover track for 800m which left us at the bottom of the North face, ready for the relentless steep ascent. I knew what was in store as did this with Stob Binnein Sept 2010 in 40mph winds, rain, mist and no views for the full duration of the walk. . . .but i loved the challenge of the ascent :)


View of what lay ahead....
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It was xmas and we expected to find 3 wise men on our journey, this didn't materialize but we did spot the "3 wise sheep" !!.
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Snow wasn't deep but there was plenty of ice so i decided to stick on the crampons
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Stevie had decided not to put his crampons on at this point and started to struggle slightly on the steeper sections
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He soon realized it would be easier going and promptly put his on.


We both got the heads down and got on with reahing the summit
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It was now snowing, the wind had picked up and visibility was non existent :shock:
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We soon picked up the remains of an old wall which guided us up further to our destination.
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The snow was thicker abover 800M, we now had a white out!!

I love these kind of conditions as adds to the excitement and drama of any walk :)

After 2.15hrs i hit the summit of Ben More, Stevie was minutes behind.

We had a quick bite to eat and got the all important summit shots :wink:
Image

Image


We had decided just to retrace our steps and descend the route of our ascent.

Progress was quick, albeit tricky with the ever present rocks underfoot.

We got to the car at 12.15pm. Quick change and we left for Glasgow at 12.30pm.

I was home, showered, changed and sitting in my mums at 3pm for xmas dinner :D


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpjSyL1l5sc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/youtube]
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dooterbang
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby pigeon » Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:52 pm

Man you are keen .Well done some great pics there .Is Ben More as steep as it looks? :shock:
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby dooterbang » Sun Dec 26, 2010 11:31 am

It is steep in places but nothing too scary :wink:

Its a hard slog if your walking fitness isnt up to scratch.
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby pigeon » Sun Dec 26, 2010 11:37 am

Think i,ll wait till spring maybe tackle it from Inverlochlarig along with stob binnein .Looks a bit gentler from there :lol:
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby skuk007 » Sun Dec 26, 2010 2:33 pm

Blimey that is dedication getting out that early Xmas day. I remember the North side being really steep all the way up but that eigth picture makes it look scarily steep. Was there a bit of photographic licence in that one or did the slope really get to that angle? :)
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby mountainstar » Sun Dec 26, 2010 3:04 pm

Terrific, you are as mad as me! I did a similar thing on Xmas eve...and was back home by 12 noon!
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8787
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby dooterbang » Sun Dec 26, 2010 3:57 pm

mountainstar wrote:Terrific, you are as mad as me! I did a similar thing on Xmas eve...and was back home by 12 noon!
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8787


Brilliant. Just read your report :) . . . . and you found time for a 3min vid, awesome :)

Do you have a plan for New Years day i wonder?
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby monty » Sun Dec 26, 2010 5:02 pm

Nice report Dooterbang,
You took some great pictures again. :D That looks amasingly steep like Skuk007 has mentioned. Nice one
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby mountain coward » Mon Dec 27, 2010 3:01 am

If it really is as steep as pic no. 8, I definitely won't ever be going up or down that route - not even in summer! The NE ridge route that I took with my walking buddy Richard was okay and the south ridge or up from the col should be okay for the more nervous (like me)...
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby tango » Mon Dec 27, 2010 2:17 pm

Great report well done, just makes slightly jealous that all you guys & girls can get to the hills so quickly!! :D How was your mothers dinner?? Anything like my 1 I had i thought i was going to explode!! :shock:
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby Oldman » Mon Dec 27, 2010 3:27 pm

Happy Christmas y'all and what a way to spend it - fantastic outing and excellent report!!!. Picture number 8 is brilliant but the technical man in me wonders if that slope really is 50 degrees - a bit steep for me especially in those conditions. The angles of cloud and grass suggest that your mate with the camera was maybe holding it at a bit of an angle whilst hanging on to his bit of the hill for dear life? In such conditions it's good to have a bit of a laugh, it's Christmas! How are you going to upstage this report at New Year? By the way congratulations on reaching 100. Keep safe y'all!!

Here am I stuck in the house surrounded by warmth, good food, plenty beer and strong whisky and hoping to get a wee walk in before year's end - life can be hell!!

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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby dooterbang » Mon Dec 27, 2010 5:51 pm

mountain coward wrote:If it really is as steep as pic no. 8, I definitely won't ever be going up or down that route - not even in summer! T


It aint that steep :lol: , just the way the camera was angled :)

If you check photo 7 you can see my friend is almost vertical. This was a very steep section near the bottom of the hill, so pretty safe if you start sliding downwards.


Oldman wrote:Happy Christmas y'all and what a way to spend it - fantastic outing and excellent report!!!. Picture number 8 is brilliant but the technical man in me wonders if that slope really is 50 degrees Oldman


Not quite, :) Just a short section that was very steep, which can be bypassed. We went up it because it had a lovely patch of snow.


skuk007 wrote: Was there a bit of photographic licence in that one or did the slope really get to that angle? :)


Just one part was very steep, nothing dangerous though....the camera never lies :wink:



Merry Xmas all. :D
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby dooterbang » Mon Dec 27, 2010 5:53 pm

tango wrote:Great report well done, just makes slightly jealous that all you guys & girls can get to the hills so quickly!! :D How was your mothers dinner?? Anything like my 1 I had i thought i was going to explode!! :shock:


We took our time Mr Tango, :wink:

Dinner was good, seemed to eat more than usual....cant think why :lol:
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby CheeseHat » Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:53 pm

That looks fantastic man, well done on getting up so early first of all, I only made it into bed a couple of hours before you got up, due to a long-running festive evening of Trivial Pursuit... :? You must have been tempted by an after dinner nap, with a belly full of Xmas dinner?

I'm eager to do this one (and Stob Binnein) as soon as possible but in the absence (for now) of crampons and an ice axe, I might wait for the springtime.
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Re: Early Morning Xmas Munro - Ben More!!.

Postby alanmurray » Tue Dec 28, 2010 12:47 am

Christmas morning - hardcore!!
Great timing for your mum's Xmas dinner. Don't waste a minute of your life - even on Christmas morning !! Doss
Jealous - not been out for 6 weeks.
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