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NOTE - This TR was copied directly from my blog, thus the assumption was that readers would have little if any experience of mountaineering - I'm not trying to teach you how to suck eggs or anything!
January 6th, 2011 was a very long day indeed! After getting out of bed at 0330, getting ready and doing final checks on my gear, I got a 0500 train to Glasgow. My bus north didn't leave until 0700 - but no other services ran to Glasgow in time, leaving me with time to kill in Glasgow. Eventually, my two climbing partners Dylan and Barry arrived, and we got on our bus heading to Inveruglas.
The bus ride - roughly an hour - was spent mostly in the dark, and as we got off the bus at our stop, there was just a hint of light in the air. I took this photograph using a little rock wall next to the loch - there wasn't enough light to shoot handheld yet, and naturally I had no tripod with me - too bulky and heavy to lug up any mountain, never mind a serious winter climb. This photograph looks south down Loch Lomond, with the prominent peak of Ben Lomond in the distance.
After a few minutes we set off down Coiregrogan towards Ben Vane - our target for the day. Ben Vane is a relatively small mountain, barely a munro at 915m (3,051ft). It is, however a steep unrelenting and rocky climb to the top even in good conditions. On that day, conditions were unfortunately not on our side. Snow was aplenty, which was expected, but unfortunately the snowpack was almost completely unconsolidated - there was a very thin layer of frozen snow on top, but not nearly enough to stand on. Instead, with each step, our feet plunged knee-deep in snow which made progress slow and difficult
The first part of our climb was fairly easy, a short hop up on to a little plateau on the bottom of the mountain. There we saw another climber coming up from the other side of the plateau. We took a quick photo break, where I took the opportunity to get a photograph of Dylan looking out and admiring the view across Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine. I often find landscape photographs to be more effective with a person in the photo to give it some sense of scale or involvement.
We set off once again, and from here on it was increasingly steep going with deeper and deeper snow. Not ideal conditions! It was, however, still very manageable if tiring. A little further up, we once again encountered the climber we saw before, when we stopped in the same spot for a break. We all got talking, and after a sandwich and a drink, we set off as one party - and remained as such until the end of the trip. It wasn't until a couple of hours later I even learned his name - Kenny. Conditions became increasingly steep and the snow wasn't getting a whole lot firmer which led to some very interesting moments where there was some mild scrambling. Ordinarily it would pose no problem at all, but the ever collapsing snow made it very difficult to get a secure footing or axe-hold on anything, as the snow would simply collapse under the weight. There were one or two points where I was really pushing the limits of what I was comfortable doing - but the excellent advice from the rest of the party meant I could keep going without too much trouble, only one or two moments of panic where holds collapsed above fairly large dropoffs! I took the camera out one more time to capture this shot looking down Loch Lomond, once again Ben Lomond is visible on the left side of the loch, and in the right foreground, the elegant but rocky corbett A' Chrois. After this, the camera had to go back in the pack again - otherwise it would end up buried in snow every ten seconds, as well as being bashed off every rock on the mountain!
The going became even more tough, and it was now getting into the territory where crampons were going to be needed. So, we took a short break to attach our crampons to our boots, and here I encountered my first really major problem. In order to attach my crampons, I removed my outer gloves to give me the dexterity needed. After securely attaching them, I picked up my gloves, and found them to be completely frozen rigid. With only a thin pair of woolen gloves on and an absolutely brutal wind chill, this clearly wasn't going to do. I tried putting the gloves back on, but I couldn't grip my axe at all - it really was solid. At this time I also noticed my trouser legs were frozen past the knee, and my hood was also solid. Luckily, Kenny came to the rescue with - at first, another pair of medium gloves, which did a grand job of keeping my hands able to function.
Eventually, we came to a little false summit. By this point, I was exhausted, my hands were pretty chilly, my feet were two numb plates of meat, and I was faced with a brutally steep section. Given the snow conditions and my own condition, I was no longer comfortable with the idea of continuing. Had the snow been harder I would have happily continued on, knowing that axe and crampon placements would be pretty secure and take my weight without argument. So, I made the decision - it was time for me to call it a day. Continuing would mean compromising my own security as well as that of the others. It's always gutting to not reach the summit - but I firmly believe it was the right decision for me. Rest assured, I will be back. I do not like being beaten. Dylan and Kenny made a push for the summit which was only a short distance away. I stayed behind, with Barry keeping me company. He took the photograph of me, before I put the camera back in my pack again.
20 minutes later, Dylan and Kenny returned. I'd put on an extra midlayer as I was starting to get a bit chilly. Time to head back down! Kenny and I swapped gloves, giving me these massive wooly mittens which were incredible. Absolute lifesavers - lesson number one, get a pair of these. My hands were toasty in no time.
Going down is always easier than going up - but also generally more dangerous. More accidents occur on the descent than the ascent. My reckoning is this is due to tiredness, and the tendancy to think less about where you are going and the conditions you are in. Still, we had quite a good time coming down. While not necessarily recommended, I had a fantastic time doing a sort of sitting glissade down the slope. Certainly cut down on the descent time and was a lot of fun! Slowly, the feeling returned to my feet - my right at first, which wasn't too bad (incase anyone doesn't know, when your body parts thaw out after being frozen, it hurts like a bugger!) however my left foot, when it eventually defrosted, was much more painful. Another lesson learned - I had put my gaiters on too late, by which time there had already been snow inside my boots. If I'd done that earlier, it's doubtful that I would have had the same problem. Eventually, we got to the bottom, with very little time left before our bus back home. Kenny graciously offered us a lift to Balloch, where we arrived just in time to get a train back to Glasgow. Waste of our £20 return bus tickets, but such is life - we got back and that's the important bit.
In all, a very long, very tiring day out - but a few very valuable lessons learned from various bits of kit failing and using others which did work. Bummed about not getting to the summit, but conditions were just against me - I'm certain had the snow been more compacted, it would have been no issue at all.
So, that's it for my first trip of 2011 - stay tuned for more as the year goes on!
Stuart
