This weekend has to have been one of the hardest of my life. That is to say it was exceptionally gruelling and at times unpleasant. Im sure that I have had worse experiences, but the pain and discomfort had faded with time, where as this is still fresh in my memory. Indeed the aches and pains are still wracking my body.
So what was I doing? Sue and I were on a Snow-holeing adventure, come mock assessment, come learning experience.
I met up with Sue and Sam Leary in Inchlaggan. The aim of the weekend was to be shown how to dig a snow-hole properly and to have our Winter Mountain Leader Skills tested/judged. After being told off by Sam for not packing the right stuff and quick re shuffle of my kit to include the right stuff we headed up on to the mountains.
That is to say we tried to head up on to the mountains. Only there was a slight problem, the weather. If you have read enough of my blog posts you will have started to get the impression that the weather generally scuppers the best plans in Scottish Winter. So stuck our heads over this broad shoulder of mountain and got properly battered by the wind and horizontal spin drift.
We decided to run off towards a nearby hut that was sheltered in the valley. Deep doesn't do the snow justice. At points we literally crawled across the snow. Two Winter Mountain Leader Trainees and a holder of the Mountain Instructor Certificate (for explanations visit www.mountain-training.org) reduced to crawling over the snow, it was that deep and soft.
So what was I doing? Sue and I were on a Snow-holeing adventure, come mock assessment, come learning experience.
I met up with Sue and Sam Leary in Inchlaggan. The aim of the weekend was to be shown how to dig a snow-hole properly and to have our Winter Mountain Leader Skills tested/judged. After being told off by Sam for not packing the right stuff and quick re shuffle of my kit to include the right stuff we headed up on to the mountains.
That is to say we tried to head up on to the mountains. Only there was a slight problem, the weather. If you have read enough of my blog posts you will have started to get the impression that the weather generally scuppers the best plans in Scottish Winter. So stuck our heads over this broad shoulder of mountain and got properly battered by the wind and horizontal spin drift.
We decided to run off towards a nearby hut that was sheltered in the valley. Deep doesn't do the snow justice. At points we literally crawled across the snow. Two Winter Mountain Leader Trainees and a holder of the Mountain Instructor Certificate (for explanations visit www.mountain-training.org) reduced to crawling over the snow, it was that deep and soft.
The Hut, but how to cross the river?
We reached the hut to find a massive snow drift inside, it had blow in through a tiny hole in the wall! However the hut provided a level of security. If the snow-hole proved an no go then we could at least sleep in the hut.
Any way we did some more wading and eventually reached the site that we planned to dig our shelter in. We started digging our shelter. I wont go in to detail but it took 4h and we were getting battered by wind and spindrift. It was painful physical work. I was shattered, but very glad to be out of the wind. Goodness only knows how sue and I would have fared trying to dig the hole on our own. Sam is a machine, that woman can dig effectively, and I'm very glad she was there!
Any way we did some more wading and eventually reached the site that we planned to dig our shelter in. We started digging our shelter. I wont go in to detail but it took 4h and we were getting battered by wind and spindrift. It was painful physical work. I was shattered, but very glad to be out of the wind. Goodness only knows how sue and I would have fared trying to dig the hole on our own. Sam is a machine, that woman can dig effectively, and I'm very glad she was there!
We settled in to the hole and started cooking dinner and settling down for the night. Sam had given us the blessed news that it was too dangerous to go out night navigating that evening so we would get an earlyish night. It was still gone midnight before we settled down to sleep. Sleep was broken by having to wake up and dig out the entrance to the hole. Despite that I slept like a log! My new role mat was a treat to sleep on (Exped synmat UL 9).
What a view eh? Kinlock Rannoch to Glen Loyn.
Waking up on Sunday morning was quite incredible! It was clear blue skies, still breezy but good visibility and a simply stunning view. That made it all worth it. Anyway we navigated around the area. popped up an Munro that we had slept in the side of, then off up towards a second one.
We didn't go up the second as the snow was a bit suspect and we didn't really need to go up it. It was one of those stunning days that makes all the rest of the awful weather worth it!
We didn't go up the second as the snow was a bit suspect and we didn't really need to go up it. It was one of those stunning days that makes all the rest of the awful weather worth it!
Sam and I enjoying the view after the blizzard the day before (Photo Sue Back).
We pooled down the mountain and got back to the vans at about 5. Shattered. Wrecked. Broken people. The only obvious way to recover was to drive back to the Killin hotel for dinner and a discussion. After dinner I drove round to Fort William to recoup and plan for Torridon.
A fantastic, if not gruelling, weekend. Thank you Sam for agreeing to it.
A fantastic, if not gruelling, weekend. Thank you Sam for agreeing to it.