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| 14th March 2008 - Macintyre Hut, Onich After another abortive trip up to the far north 2 weeks ago, ruined by more bad weather, the club reconvened in Onich. Surely this year's most reliable venue. Climbing and skiing conditions looked excellent, with plenty of snow having fallen during the week, and a fine forecast. So, John Kay took the opportunity to go running. To be fair, he was running close to some mountains, so that's OK. It was a race from Mamore Lodge to Fort William, along part of the Murdoch route (see previous meet report). John finished a creditable 6th, but claimed that "5th would have been better". Lucy & Dave went for a more conventional activity, skiing at Aonach Mor. They were looking forward to some off-piste action in the famed, but seldom open, back corrie. It was all set, they got round to the Braveheart Chair, got on it and set off. Then it stopped moving. They waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, a workman was spied slowly making his way up the hill on foot. Not the fittest of people, he was pausing often to catch his breath, and also to catch much abuse from the stricken skiers. It turned out that the lift was broken beyond repair, and everyone would have to be lowered off by a winch ! Quite a time consuming operation, they were stuck on the lift for 2 chilly hours. Enough to ruin anyone's day. The rest of the club went climbing (Neil, Rab, Ken, Colin, Gav & Ally). They didn't want to mix it with the crowds on the Ben, so followed Rab's suggestion of the North East Ridge of Stob Ban, in the Mamores. Bizarrely, they ended up creating queues on their own route ! The walk in was positively alpine, t-shirts & sweating, looking up to snow covered peaks. The route itself wasn't particularly frozen, but was great fun. Lots of immature banter being the order of the day. It's a great route, and despite the self inflicted crowding, it does feel more adventurous than the same old Ben routes. The knife edge arete near the top provided particular amusement. At the top of the hill, Gav & Ally were persuaded that they couldn't tick it off, unless they touched the highest point of the snow. Unfortunately, this was above a massive cornice, so they had to resort to unconventional tactics (see below) A splendid day indeed. Topped off by the arrival of Brendan and his guitar on Saturday night, and the inevitable sing song. On Sunday, shock of shocks, the weather was still fine. Dave, Lucy wanted to actually get some skiing done, so they headed up to Glen Coe, along with Ken & Brendan. Pretty much the whole place was open. Excellent conditions, and reliable uplift meant they had a better day. Gav & Ally made their now traditional Sunday visit to Polldubh, and did Storm. 85m of dry rock in the sun is pretty good for March. Colin & Rab did the East Ridge of Beinn a'Chaorainn, while Neil walked up the same hill. Another splendid day indeed ! Providing the rarest of all things, a meet where everyone did something on both days. Even John went for another run. Training for the London marathon you understand.
The North East Ridge of Stob Ban
Colin & Gav battle it out on the arete
Colin, Ally & Gav at the top of the North Top of Stob Ban
On the way over to the summit of Stob Ban
Ally & Gav successfully tick off Stob Ban
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