The Cairnwell, Carn a Gheoidh, and Carn Aosda, 11th January 2014
The first hills of the year coincided with the purchase of some new gear. Over Christmas I bought myself a lightly used pair of Scarpa Manta boots and a set of Black Diamond Sabretooth crampons from eBay. The intention is to get into the hills over winter a bit more and actually feel safe doing it. For years I've been going out in winter with no crampons and over the last two years I've actively avoided going out too much because I just didn't feel safe in Summer boots. Hopefully getting out in Winter will improve my navigation as well.
As soon as I'd won the auction, I arranged a hill date with Steg, with details to be confirmed nearer the time. Still a bit fearful of isolation in deep Winter, I selected three Munros at Glenshee; The Cairnwell, Carn a Gheoidh, and Carn Aosda. They are close to the road, and also close to the ski center.
It was Steg's turn to drive so he picked me up at 7am on Saturday morning and I was on the pavement in the cold air waiting with a thermal mug of tea in hand for him in one hand and a nice coffee for myself in the other.
We arrived at the ski center at 9:45am and got all our Winter gear on, ready for the hike up to the first Munro, The Cairnwell. From the outset, crampons were on. The snow was very crisp and wind-blown making for good purchase. The air was clear, it was cold and there was a biting northerly. I felt quite comfortable in my Buffalo jacket however.
We made the summit of the Cairnwell at 10:25 - it might well be the easiest Munro in Scotland. The top is hard to miss - it's a jumble of huts and mobile phone masts. There was a biting wind from the South.
The next stop after that was Carn a' Gheoidh, which was a longer walk than it seemed on the map, but was over fairly flat terrain. At one point I looked south, looking for Loch Vrotachan which was supposed to be on the map but I could barely see it - it had become as white as the snow surrounding.
We made the summit of Carn a' Gheoidh just before midday and by this point we had wandered through a few snow flurries which were causing some incredible shifting snow.
The third Munro of the day, and my 96th in total was to be Carn Aosda.
We trekked back to the col between the first two Munros and headed for the final push. It's right in the middle of the ski slopes, so you have to be careful not to cross any runs. We found the Carn Aosda hut and stopped for a bite to eat.
Then it was a short hop to the summit, where it was too cold to stand about for too long in the strong winds. We got there about 1:30pm. Here's Steg at the summit:
From there, we headed back to the car park but on the way, stopped to get the rope out and try out some techniques that Steg learned in the Alps.
We were back at the car and off for a pint about 2pm.
A fairly easy day all in, but good experience of using the crampons and learning some winter skills.
As soon as I'd won the auction, I arranged a hill date with Steg, with details to be confirmed nearer the time. Still a bit fearful of isolation in deep Winter, I selected three Munros at Glenshee; The Cairnwell, Carn a Gheoidh, and Carn Aosda. They are close to the road, and also close to the ski center.
It was Steg's turn to drive so he picked me up at 7am on Saturday morning and I was on the pavement in the cold air waiting with a thermal mug of tea in hand for him in one hand and a nice coffee for myself in the other.
 |
| A clear morning's drive |
We arrived at the ski center at 9:45am and got all our Winter gear on, ready for the hike up to the first Munro, The Cairnwell. From the outset, crampons were on. The snow was very crisp and wind-blown making for good purchase. The air was clear, it was cold and there was a biting northerly. I felt quite comfortable in my Buffalo jacket however.
We made the summit of the Cairnwell at 10:25 - it might well be the easiest Munro in Scotland. The top is hard to miss - it's a jumble of huts and mobile phone masts. There was a biting wind from the South.
 |
| Me at the summit of The Cairnwell. |
We made the summit of Carn a' Gheoidh just before midday and by this point we had wandered through a few snow flurries which were causing some incredible shifting snow.
 |
| Shifting snows |
 |
| Summit of Carn a Gheoidh |
We trekked back to the col between the first two Munros and headed for the final push. It's right in the middle of the ski slopes, so you have to be careful not to cross any runs. We found the Carn Aosda hut and stopped for a bite to eat.
Then it was a short hop to the summit, where it was too cold to stand about for too long in the strong winds. We got there about 1:30pm. Here's Steg at the summit:
From there, we headed back to the car park but on the way, stopped to get the rope out and try out some techniques that Steg learned in the Alps.
We were back at the car and off for a pint about 2pm.
A fairly easy day all in, but good experience of using the crampons and learning some winter skills.
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