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skinny
@Spxtz
Just got back from a lovely weekend in the snowy mountains - like @skinny I had wanted to do a winter skills course this year, but found they were all booked up so made a plan with some much more experienced mates to go out.
Just to be clear: I would not recommend that anyone tries winter walking without being accompanied by people with a lot of experience. I went with a friend who is an alpine climber and another whose dad is in the mountain rescue and has spent his whole life in the hills. Also we all live in Glasgow so we were also prepared to sack it off if the weather reports had looked any worse.
We walked in to Ben Alder Cottage bothy on Friday afternoon (a much longer and more arduous walk than we'd expected, partly because the landowner has added a deer fence across the boggiest parts of the path and partly because we were carrying a bag of firewood each because of the weather). Then on Saturday we did a loop of Beinn Bheoil and Ben Alder, similar to this Walkhighlands route but starting by heading up the bealach from the south. Then we walked out on Sunday.
In the week beforehand I'd been extremely concerned about the quantity of snow and ice as there had been a severe weather warning for the region on Wednesday, but because of the really warm spell a couple of weeks previously the significant snow was only above about 700m, and though it was deep in places it was only hard and icy on the north faces and on the summits. We only needed to use crampons and axes on the Long Leachas ridge climb and on the descent from the summit of Ben Alder, but (having never used them before) the difference they made in terms of feeling secure was astonishing. Plus the crampons force you to take every step deliberately.
We were really lucky with the weather, there were only a few little snow showers for most of the day, and it was largely sunny when we were up on the summit plateau. But as we were coming back down the bealach there was a proper whiteout on the top, a nice reminder that you can't rely on good weather. Even though I felt reasonably confident using the gear for a first time, I'll still plan to do a winter skills course this coming winter.
I also hired B2 boots from Tiso, and borrowed the crampons and axe from a pal. I wouldn't do another 50km weekend (16 in, 18 hills, 16 out) in borrowed boots. My toes are fucked. But I don't think I'm going to do this kind of walking often enough that the massive investment is worthwhile for now.
Still a great weekend, maybe the last one like this of the season! Quite looking forward to some summer Munros that don't need half as much planning or gear.
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