Last year my son, Alfie, decided that he’d like to go on a snowhole expedition for his birthday. We spent a three days and two nights out in the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands. We had a great time, but I figured that the reality of being in sub zero temperatures the whole time would take the shine off things. So I was delighted, although a bit surprised, when he asked to go for a similar trip this year as well. He’d actually hoped to bring a friend along this time but, for one reason or another, it didn’t quite work out.
We spent yesterday travelling up to the west coast of Scotland, around the Fort William area. We lived up this way for 12 months about six years ago and, although I’ve been back a number of times since, it was a trip down memory lane for Alfie. We stayed at the Abernethy Trust outdoor centre at Ardgour, where I’d spent most of my time during that year, so it really was like old times.
Rather than heading straight out with expedition rucksacks like last year, I decided to make it a bit more of an skills development trip. To get maximum time above the snow line, we chose Aonach Mor as our destination, so that we could take advantage of the gondola which services the Nevis Range Ski Centre and quickly get 650m up the mountain.
We soon found a large bank of suitably angled snow in which to start our winter skills practice. We spent a good couple of hours showing Alfie how to use his boots as tools for kicking steps in ascent and descent, before moving on to the ice axe and practicing self arrests and ice axe arrests from many different positions. As we continued up the ridge to Aonach an Nid, we came across increasing amounts of ice which soon lead to our crampons being fitted and more practice of new skills.
Coming onto the ridge also took us into the sunlight. With the patchy cloud being gradually burnt away by the sun, we were treated to the sight of a number of glockenspectres. In all my time in the mountains, and hearing others talk of this strange phenomenon, I’d never actually seen one until today. I’m sure someone can explain the science behind it better than me but, in essence, the sun creates a circular rainbow effect, with the shadow of the observer in the middle. I’ve seen clearer pictures of glockenspectres before, but this is ‘ours’.
Continuing up the ridge we came across the biggest gathering of winter climbers I’ve ever seen. There must have been about 50 people, all geared up, taking advantage of the winter conditions and sunny weather coinciding with a weekend. It certainly didn’t give the feel of remoteness the mountains normally create. So we quickly continued on up to, and across, the plateau in search of the actual summit, where we had amazing views across Carn Mor Dearg towards Ben Nevis.
By this time, we were both getting a bit peckish but, rather than simply eating our lunch, Alfie wanted to make it a bit more of an experience. We found ourselves a nice steep slope as the mountain drops away to the east, about 150m from the summit, and dug ourselves a shelter horizontally into the hillside, out of the cold breeze. It was only as we took time to enjoy our lunch, that we realised what an awesome view we’d given ourselves for the event.
Last year, when we spent three days on Cairgorm, we never got to see further than about 100m. Today was a completely different world. After a misty start, we were treated to a day of sunshine, clear skies, loads of snow, ice and even glockenspectres. Amazing!
