AMRT Training Exercise

Yesterday I was out with Arran Mountain Rescue Team (I'm a probationary member) on a training exercise in the Cir Mhor area.  It was a great opportunity for the team to practice skills for moving on steep ground and numerous small parties were to be found exploring the south face of Cir Mhor throughout the day. I'm nursing a sore elbow (golfers or tennis elbow- I forget which, but would be better named climbers or kayakers elbow in my case) so followed Alec and his very happy (hairy) dog Luing up on to the Castles for a leg stretch before descending the Sub Rosa Gully and catching up with the rest of the team under the face of Cir Mhor.

Arran Mountain Rescue Team is made up of men and women volunteers from all over the island who train together in the hope that they can assist when an emergency arises in the hills. As a charity, the team depends on donations and the support of the public for its work.  You can donate to the team here: http://www.justgiving.com/amrt

 Big Alec taking in the view on the summit of Caisteal Abhail

 Looking back towards Cir Mhor and Goatfell in between snow showers. 

 Along the ridge of the Sleeping Warrior

 Back under Cir Mhor, catching up with other team members. 

 South face of Cir Mhor and the Rosa Pinnacle, where some of the best rock climbing in Scotland can be found.

Having a brew by the Argo-Cat (all terrain vehicle) before returning to base.

Around Holy Isle

The weather today was blissful.  This afternoon I dragged myself away from a mountain of admin to paddle around Holy Isle- a little mountain of a better kind, sitting in the middle of Lamlash Bay. Its a stunning journey in a sea kayak, and do-able in half a day with leisurely stops. We saw plenty of wildlife, including eiders, black guillemots, gannets and fulmars. The eiders are particularly entertaining just now as the males are displaying like mad and exclaiming ooo-OO-oooh at everything. The best of today's photos are below.

 The summit of Holy Isle stands 314m high. 

The peaks of the Goatfell Range visible looming above the Lamlash hills. 

"Wee Donald", the inner lighthouse on Holy Isle, and the lighthouse keepers cottages, now home to a Buddhist retreat.

Pillar Rock Lighthouse, the first square one to be built by the Northern Lighthouse Board, and designed by David A Stevenson

Gorgeous Goatfell

Living on an island on the West Coast of Scotland, we on Arran are quite used to feeling as if we have our own personal rain cloud stuck on the top of Goatfell, whilst the rest of the country basks in glorious sunshine. Yesterday the opposite occurred, as Arran twinkled in the sunlight, we watched heavy rain, snow and hail showers scoot right past us on either side, dusting the Highlands in snow and leaving the air clear and bright.
I climbed Goatfell with a lovely family of four who have been out with me for a couple of days this week. Great company, and the views from the top were breathtaking, with Jura and Northern Ireland clearly visible.

On the way up cloud began to skim the summit.  "Uh-oh" we thought- "there go our views", but it soon broke up and the sun returned.

Looking out across Brodick Bay with the top of Holy Isle visible beyond. 

Great summit views. From left: Achir, Cir Mhor, Caisteal Abhail and the Witches Step (Ceum na Cailleach)

The Peaks on the far side of Glen Rosa: Beinn Nuis and Beinn Tarsuinn at the rear, Beinn a Chliabhain and Achir in the fore.

The Horns of Alligin

Continuing the catch-up theme, here are some pictures from our traverse of Beinn Alligin on Wednesday. This was first visit to the Torridon area for a long while, an a new mountain for me. Beinn Alligin is an absolute stunner, and for nervous scramblers, the horns, while spectacular, are not that difficult. In fact I'd say I found them to be easy and fun, unlike the look of the teeny traverse path that avoids the difficulties, which appeared to be pretty scary. Be bold- take the bull by the horns and climb them direct!

 Beinn Alligin, with the Horns on the left.

Gardyloo (oooooooh) Gully

I'm playing catch up a bit with this post and probably the next couple as I've not been in to update as much as I would like. On Monday last we were heading in to Ben Nevis on a rumour that there may still be some wintry stuff to be found high up. What followed was a classic Ben spring day, with plenty of helpings of fun (good), falling ice (bad), and a lovely late finish in daylight (just).

Looking up in to Coire na Ciste from the CIC hut. Already roasting hot. 

We headed up in to Observatory Gully for a look at Gardyloo.  There were a few parties about, including teams on Tower Scoop which looked really thin, and lots of activity on the great ridges.

Observatory Gully, leading to Gardyloo on the left, and Tower Gully on the right.  The thin dribble of ice down and right of Tower Gully is tower scoop.

The initial pitches of Gardyloo were straightforward grade 1 on good snow. However, two pitches in, a party abseiled in to the top of the gully above us, and proceded to lead some necky and fragile grade V ice on the left wall.  It made entertaining and impressive viewing, which was a good thing, as it pinned us down for some time, hiding from the large lumps that were hurtling in to the gully regularly.  In the end we had to wait for them to finish as it was nuts to proceed into the shooting alley while they were on it.No matter, it was a gorgeous day, with plenty of daylight, and the best climbing for us was still to come. 

Gardyloo chockstone tunnel pitch. 

The penultimate pitch of Gardyloo has a big chockstone, which often has an icy tunnel behind it, which is how we found it.  It was the strangest ice climbing I have ever done, and I found the bridging both funny and hard work, as I tried not to get flushed down the U Bend. 

Yep, I'm giggling. 

From the tunnel, it wasn't far to the top, and a mellow bask in warm sunshine surrounded by walkers in shorts and T shirts.  From there, we prolonged the day a bit by heading back down over the Carn Mor Dearg Arete, in a leisurely fashion, and lingered to enjoy a magnificent sunset  just before we dropped below the treeline above the North Face Carpark. 

The CMD Arete was bare of snow. 

A magic end to a magic day.

Three Beinns and a Short Eared Owl

The forecast today was for mizzly wetness and strong winds, and at first it looked like this promise would be fulfilled. I met Garry Fraser from Scots Magazine bright and early in Brodick, with a plan to get up high in the mountains and enjoy some of Arran's best hillwalking.  We picked the Three Beinns as our objective, one of my favourite ridge walks and I was sure that even in the damp weather, Gary would not be disappointed.

Looking down Glen Rosa from the path the climbs steeply alongside the Garbh Allt to Coire a Bhradain

The route takes an early escape from Glen Rosa alongside the Garbh Allt and climbs through a deer exclosure that protects native trees in the gorge from nibbling.  Higher up we crossed the bog, and then the Garbh Allt, to take a path that strikes out towards the toe of the first Beinn, Beinn Nuis. Our big wildlife sighting of the day appeared at this point, a short eared owl that reared up out of the heather in front of us. We had a wonderful view of this day flying bird of prey, as it flapped away over the moor. 

The wreckage of a B24D Liberator near the summit of Beinn Nuis.

It wasn't long before we were in the mist, high on the slopes of Beinn Nuis. Shortly before the summit we took a brief detour to visit the site of a crashed B24D Liberator, which met its end on the western flank of the mountain on route to Prestwick from Newfoundland in August 1943. Sadly all 10 of the American servicemen on board perished in the crash.

Beyond the summit, the ridge undulates, until a final pull up on to the second of the Beinns, Beinn Tarsuinn. From here there is a steep and badly eroded descent to the bealach by the bowmans pass, where it is possible to descend further towards Beinn a Chliabhain to the south. 

The mist began to clear as we neared the summit of Beinn a Chliabhainn

At last with the clearing weather we were able to look back towards Beinn Tarsuinn and the route we had traveled. 

Looking back towards Cir Mhor at the head of Glen Rosa. The summit of Beinn a Chliabhain is in the foreground and in the far distance the ridge of the Sleeping Warrior.

The cloud finally clears from the summit of Beinn Nuis as seen across Coire a Bhradain

Looking south towards Brodick Bay, with Holy Isle peeping out in the far distance. 

Finally, back down in Glen Rosa, the famous view of Cir Mhor at the top of the glen. 

With the lifting weather, our spirits lifted, and it is a brilliant ridge walk in all conditions. By the time we were back down in Glen Rosa it was positively balmy and springlike.

Boing!

Spring has sprung and I'm bouncing back from the disappointment of an early end to winter and making the most of the new season. Yesterday Wally and I felt inspired to take the rope for a walk and have a look at the state of the rock at the top end of Glen Rosa. It was a damp dull cold day, with an icy wind, so we avoided the pitched climbing and went for a poke around on Achir. On the way up we were treated to a flypast by a golden eagle- flying low over the heather, and our heads at the top end of Glen Rosa.  Magic!

The Rosa Pinnacle on Cir Mhor skimmed with cloud. 

Side view of the Rosa Pinnacle, showing the slabs of the classic climb Souwester Slabs (VDiff).  South Ridge Direct (VS 5b) more or less follows the skyline. 

Looking down Glen Rosa

Wally scrambling on Achir. The weather deteriorated and as the green rock began to drip we retraced our steps from the trench under the Mauvais Pas and rethought our plans in to a walking day!

We took the traverse path that avoids the difficulties on Achir to the north side, and then through the Bowmans pass and over Beinn a Chliabhain. Here Wally emerges from the mist on Beinn a Chliabhain.