North of the Border

(March 2014)

I've never been the most stereotypical young man a lot of the time, and not many would celebrate their 21st birthday in snowy Scotland. Well I did and it was great! 

Geared up

 

 

My week off was approaching and just happened to be the same week as the Wolverhampton Mountaineering Clubs meet in the Cairngorms. I arranged to meet a few of the members up at the cottage where they would be stopping at on the Monday evening. 

This would be my first adventure into the Scotland and also my first long distance drive. And wow, it was a long way! I made my way up into the Scottish heartland of the Cairngorms and soon began to appreciate this vast wilderness of mountains, glens and fast moving clag (cloud). 

I arrived at Mill Cottage after a slight detour via a thick wooden area and a dead end single track lane. I was greeted by Pete and a freshly boiled kettle, and stared out of the window at the fading light falling across the wooden valley we sat in. 

Above the snowline

The first day was spent kicking my way up through the snow on Cairngorm mountain itself that reached high above the Aviemore ski centre. This short trip was my first experience moving across snow covered, fairly steep ground. The descent lead us back down to the carpark via the sparsely snow covered ski pistes and a exposed stone path lower down the route.

 

Aviemore Ski Centre and Cairngorm mountain shrouded in cloud

The night saw Dave, Sam and Rich pondering over a large map on the cottage wall, showing the many peaks that surrounded this particular area. While plans for the following day were discussed, I cracked on with cooking dinner of chicken fajitas for me, Pete and Mick. On trips I have continued to find meals and cooking the main entertainment of the evening as it involves everyone mixing together, having a few drinks and getting the stories and tales flowing. Oh and you also get to eat!

 

Me, Dave, Rich and Sam set off early the following day driving up the road and into the opposite valley, where we parked amongst an area of forestry commission planation's and a shallow briskly flowing river. I began the walk fully kitted up complete with a jacket, beanie hat and gloves. But within a few hundred metres of steepening ground my hyperactive production of body heat kicked in. I ended up stripping down to just my base layer as we weaved our way through the lower part of the wooded hillside, being baked by glorious and entirely abnormal Scottish sunshine. I slogged my way up the ever steeper terrain sweating profusely down my forehead and into my stinging eyes, .

 

As the treeline ended and we moved out onto the open heathland the wind soon picked up, rushing towards us as it funnelled between the valley walls. Soon as the altitude increased, we had to shelter behind a low dry wall to put on our jackets and gloves. The dampness from my earlier perspiration cooling rapidly in the wind and starting to suck heat from my body. This soon became a key lesson learnt about thermoregulation to try and minimise sweating as much as possible and even small amounts of moisture on clothes and hair caused can suck the heat from you as the temperature drops.

Heathland above the treeline

 

 

The path soon reached a suspect looking snow covered incline as Dave pointed out a potential avalanche risk, we made our way around this particular on more stable rocky ground. This observation indicated the importance of both spending time with experienced mountaineers, but also learning these key skills yourself to identify and minimise risk. The ground flattened and opened out to a large spongy plateau, known as the Great Moss, this area due to its attitude and gradient held large patches of snow that we soon began wading through.

 

 

Corniced edge on the summit ridge

Sam and Rich wrapped up

 

The wind continued to increase and howl across the vast openness of the plateau, as we made our way across towards the summit cairn. The view from the summit down into the valley below was the breath-taking and scary, with a several hundred metre drop should you tumble off the edge. The surrounding felt very atmospheric as we were circled by large grey cloud, the wind whipping up loose snow powder and clag hovering low to the ground. The edge from the summit leading into the abysses of the valley below was bordered by huge cornices (free hanging drifts of snow) created by the powerful gusts compacting and carving snow into unstable wave like structures. Yet another hazard when moving close to the edge of steep gradient terrain.

 



Edge of the abysses and valley below 

 

 

After hunkering down behind the summit cairn for a photo, we began our descent as the weather turned and close in around us. Sam lead the way down a scree and snow lined gully to some more friendly and pleasant heathland ground below, following the contours lines we picked out from the map to ensure our movements were in the right direction. The arrival into the treeline offered a great relief from the ever increasing winds that continued to sweep across the open and exposed ground above.

Ground easing below

 

 

Skills for the hills
The rest of the week flew by, and unfortunately without any skiing due to the strong winds and persistent rain. But I took a lot from my first experience of winter walking and exploration of the Cairngorm range. The main things the importance to have the correct equipment and correct skill set to use it, as well as the knowledge for making judgement on route finding, terrain evaluation and weather observation. This brief period in this vast, wilderness offered the reality of rapid changing conditions, necessity of judgment for clothing layers and also how to spot sometimes hidden hazards such as cornices and rocks beneath the snow.    

 

My best advice is get on a training course, go out with some experienced winter hill walkers and  watch plenty of British Mountaineering Council skills videos and articles. But mostly importantly don't be scared of getting out there once you have some knowledge and guidance, if you have the right skills and knowledge winter mountaineering and walking is an exciting and truly magically experience.