Lee, Sarah and I decided attempt to get to Bidean nan Bian on the Three Sisters of Glencoe (a lot of sisters in the Highland Mountains). So we thought we would make things interesting by going up The Zigzags on Geàrr Aonach then up to Stob Corie nan Lochan.

Sarah and I decided to sleep at the start point the night before to allow a bit of a lie in before starting off (just one advantage of being based in a van). The walk in was interesting, it was my first time walking in to this part of Glencoe. Very dramatic. The Zigzags are a classic grade 1 winter climb. If I'm honest I wasn't very impressed. while the views were dramatic the route as a slight let down, being nothing more challenging than an easy summer scramble. The three of us decided that a bit of alternative route finding was needed to spice up the excitement, we finished up a fun snow gully but ended up coming on to the shoulder further up than the actual route.

At this point the route became spectacular. Tramping over virgin neve we headed along the shoulder and up the dramatic ridge to the summit of Stob Corie nan Lochan. The ridge proved to have a couple of cheeky rock steps and steep snow sections which provided a bit of excitement. Again this was another day of stunning views over the Highlands. Unfortunately my photos are all still on my GoPro. Hence the lack of photos in this blog. They will follow.

As we reached the summit of Stob Corie nan Lochan the weather started to turn. I was pretty shattered by this point and Sarah was beginning to get quiet so we decided to complete the traverse and miss off Bidean nan Bian. (Its a massive mountain, it will always be there for another day).

The second half of the traverse was quick but fun. A worthwhile route! The most disappointing thing is the looooooong walk out. From the Corrie basin it took us an hour of relentless downhill slog to get back to the car. We were fit to drop, in fact I did, I took a bit of a tumble on the wet rocks of the path and bruised my hand and leg and grazed my arm. Ouchie! Once back at the vehicles we retired to the Clachaig Inn for hot chocolate and to meet up with Tom another friend/instructor who had been having a day off.

Fantastic day out.

This was another early start. Lee rejoined Sarah and I and we headed off to do the classic grade 1 traverse of the Ballachulish Horseshoe. This route takes in the summits of Sgorr Bahan (901m) and Sgorr Dhearg (1024m). This stunning round was fairly straight forward. A steep walk up frozen fields to the nose of the shoulder then follow the shoulder up the first peak, down to a little Bealach then up to the second summit (the Munro). However that said it was a truly fantastic day. We were tramping over perfect, hard, nevé. The ridge is steep with stunning drops and an almost perfect line.

We were treated to views East down Glencoe to Rannoch Moor and North to the unclouded summit of Ben Nevis. Part of me was gutted that we hadn't chosen to do the CMD Arete onto the Ben, but the weather forecast had predicted that cloud and clag would come in at lunch so we decided to do a less committing route.

Overall it was a short day out but non the less superb for experiencing a nice day on the mountain with some stunning views of the Scottish Highlands.

The day was marred slightly by a long trudge through the forest to reach the road (I won't be repeating this way off), and a grumpy SYHA keeper, but the less said about him the better.

After a day shopping and recovering from the Five Sisters Sarah and I decided to have a potter up Aonach Mor.

The simplest way to the summit is to get the Gondola up to the ski center then wander round the side of the ski area following the fence line to the top of the ski piste. This takes a long time. On the way up I attempted to teach Sarah some boot and axe skills, we got them in the end.

Aonach Mor is a narrow featureless plateau with big cliffs on either side. To get to the summit requires walking on bearings for set distances, either pacing or timing. This proved to be an interesting challenge as different pacing are needed for summer and winter, and I can't remember how many paces I take in winter. So while Sarah paced I timed. we reached the summit cairn in an almost total whiteout. the views had been amazing on the way up but thoroughly crapped out as we got to the summit cairn. We decided to leave Aonach Beag for another day and started to navigate our way back.

This was nerve wracking and I had a little flap part way back. (Remind me never to give my map and compass to someone else). However after consulting the GPS and getting a second compass out (I was convinced that the firs had changed direction) we made it back to the top ski tow and then back to the gondola station.

A mentally exhausting day out. 

This was truly an alpine day in Scotland!

The Five Sisters of Kintail dominate the norther side of Glen Shiel. A long majestic ridge line with some quite stunning and imposing summits. The route takes in 3 Munros and 2 high peaks.

The siren that is my alarm brutishly dragged us from our slumber at a grueling 5am. Truly an alpine start to the day.

After a bit of faffing Sarah and I met with Sue and Lee who were joining us for the expedition. It was slightly amusing to introduce Lee to Sue in the pitch black when neither could see the other. After some too-ing and fro-ing we set off up Bealach an Lapain. This was still a brutal slog (this was the same start point as Brothers Ridge) however it was wonderful to reach the Bealach and know that the worst was over.

We set off with a gusto that was soon dampened by the long slog up to the first of the sisters, Sgùrr nan Spainteach 990m (not even a munro). From here we desended a short way before popping up to the summit of our first munro of the day (Sgùrr na Ciste Duibhe 1027m) there was a massive cairn here that some poor sod had had to build. Well played to them!

After a long plod of interesting ups and downs we reached the second Munro of the day (Sgùrr na Carnach, 1002m). The summit of this mountain is a perfectly rounded hill. Seriously look it up on a map, see concentric circles! The sun gleamed through the cloud to light up the top as we made our way to the top.

After this it was a beasting down to another bealach before an interesting assent of Sgùrr Fhuaran (1067m) our final Munro of the day. We quickly descended before starting up our last major peak of the day Sgùrr nan Saighead (929m). Just mindless plodding to get up but an interesting nav challenge to get off the summit while avoiding treacherous cliff faces. (Ok not really as bad as it sounds, just had to head in the wrong direction for a bit before naving back to the corrie rim).

We finaly popped up to the top of Beinn Bhuidhe. At this point we had completed the Five Sisters. As it was getting late we started to descend back towards Glen Shiel, the cars, and the pub. It was dark by the time we got back to the road. We were tired, extremely tired and Sarah had wet feet, but it had been worth it. We had completed a traverse of a classic ridge line in perfect winter conditions (ironically for it to be a quality winter mountain day clag and wind are required). Back in the pub we made plans for the coming days.

After the success of yesterday (being able to cross rivers despite heavy rainfall) Sue, Sarah and I decided to attempt Beinn Fhada.  This Munro has rather a long walk in and a river crossing that Walk Highlands describes as "dangerous in spate".

A group of mutual friends and instructors had attempted Beinn Fhada yesterday and had had to turn back at this river crossing as the water level was too high to attempt a safe crossing. We knew this but decided to chance it and take a look, just in case the water level had dropped.

The day stared out in an ominous fashion. According to the guide book we could park in Dorusduain Woods, however as we drove towards them there was a large sign claiming that this was now a private road and the path now started from a different location. We ummed and ahhred but eventually decided to go to the new start point even if this did mean a much longer walk in.

After a long, but not unpleasant, walk we reached the river crossing. We were greated by a heart stopping view.

The boulders were washed out. The waterfall was quite spectacular, but as our friends had found the day before, impassable. Sue and I figured that discretion was the better part of valor and that a picnic was called for before turning our back on the Munro and heading back to the car. Sarah agreed and we had a pleasant half hour having lunch.

As we were eating said lunch a couple arrived who, like us, had designs on the Munros on the other side of the river. We explained that we thought the water levels too high to risk a crossing, and then watched them wander up and down stream looking for a possible crossing. The chap clearly thought it was possible but there was some vigorous shaking of the woman's head. We left, not wanting to see the remainder of their discussion.

We headed back to the vehicles and then Sarah and I went off to Skye to fill up the van and bag some geocaches. Not a wasted day. Later we joined the group of instructors at their cottage for a very nice dinner.

Yesterday was our first rest day in the Highlands. S and I went off to do some admin and check in with various relatives. Mum and Dad were very glad to hear that I was still alive as texts and phone calls hadn't been reaching me. Anyway we went on a geocache hunt before cooking up soup and going to have a  look at the Culin. Disappointingly the Sligachan Hotel was shut, just as we were thinking of joining Sue for coffee the wind picked up and started rocking the van. So we made the sensible decision to park up and watch Bee movie (good choice). Only after watching it did we remember that we needed to do some washing... Laundrette times! 

After cooking dinner we went to meet Sue in her hotel the Mackinnon Country House Hotel. What a stunning place! Its got an honestly bar and a coal fire in the sitting room. The land lady is lovely. We were all chatting round the fire when she asked where S and I were staying. When we said in my van down the road she looked horror struck! (A similar look to that Mum had when I suggested the idea to her too). Anyway first she said we were to park in her carpark so we could use the toilets, then she offered us towels and a bathroom to make use of. Then we were offered breakfast for £3 each. Finally she offered us a room for a very good price which we simply could not refuse. So now we are staying in the hotel it is plush.

So that brings me to today. After a leisurely breakfast in the hotel (they don't do speedy breakfasts) we headed round to a remote bit of coastline to tramp up a roadside munro. It was yet another long and torturous slog up a heather slope that was mostly bog. 

Fortunately the tedium was broken by a few interesting river crossing. The rivers weren't wide, but they were fast! 

Then boredom struck again and I seriously wondered if it was all worth it. Seriously who chooses to slog up a mountain in the lashing rain just because its there? Apparently me. 

Things got interesting again when we finally reached the Bealach and the winds hit us. Suddenly this was no longer a miserable traipse up a hill this was exciting, this was living, 

After an interesting, but rounded ridge we finally made the summit cairn. It was rather broken and looked a bit on the drunk side (possibly hit by lightning?) the wind abated and I was able to sort out a wardrobe malfunction that had been causing me some discomfort (I had only put one brace back on my waterproof trousers after a speedy layer change and they were falling down). We had a quick bite to eat and then headed down.