Greeted and shown around by a very friendly hut maintenance officer, we settled in for a relaxing Friday evening, talking about plans for the day ahead, keeping in mind the strong winds that were forecast and knowing the cloud was likely to be in.
In the morning, Alex, Tim, Matt and Matt (“Styles” to avoid confusion) set off from Ballachulish to explore Beinn a’ Bheithir via the Schoolhouse Ridge, inspired by the many blue-sky Instagram photos that had been popping up that week. We got something very different…
After negotiating some challenging terrain, careful to avoid the cracking cornices and being battered by the wind, we decided on reaching the bealach it was time to head down. A bum slide and gravity helping with the decent. Once out of the wind, thoughts turned to some lunch. Alex went 180º though and returned to the bealach to see if the views were any better on Sgòrr Dhònuill – they weren’t.
On the way, Alex bumped into Colin heading down from Sgòrr Dhònuill, having ascended by the Dragon’s Tooth and on his way over to Sgòrr Dhònuill.
A little below and to the south, Mary, Vicky, and Stephen were on their own adventure on Fraochaidh, the fine Corbett tucked in behind Beinn a’ Bheithir. The wind still managed to find them too!
Derek also joined the weekend, meeting everyone at Alex MacIntyre and taking in some mountain fun on his way. I’ll need to get the name of the thing!
A great day out for us all, but we were glad to be back in the warmth of the hut and ready to get on to the main event – Burns Supper!
Everyone pitched in. Peeling, chopping, cooking, and definitely the eating! Our president, Mary, enjoyed her first taste of whisky cream sauce. And Vicky and Matt’s apple crumble went down a storm too!
Meet report by Alex Mitchell