Highlander Mountain Marathon

A mountain marathon in the Highlands in April could either mean two things; completely crystal blue skies or shed loads of precipitation. We got both this weekend as high winds blew through snow squalls (although blizzards may be a better description) between brighter spells.



Friday night at the event centre in Torridon village was pretty grim and an anxious night was spent in the tent listening to the rain lashing against the fly sheet and being battered by sudden gusts of wind rolling down the flanks of Ben Alligin. Saturday was much better and at 7.30am we set off on a magical mystery bus tour to the other side of the hills by Loch Carron. Very unexpected. 'A' class had a slight twist where you could leave out one of the checkpoints of your choice. This had the effect of splitting everyone up and we saw hardly anyone all day. The checkpoints were in superb locations and the running was suprisingly good on stalkers paths and deer tracks. I have run and walked a fair bit round the area before, but the course took me to parts where I would have never had the inclination to go. After 30km of running we reached the overnight camp near Coulin after 7hs and unexpectedly in 5th place.


The overnight camp was much more pleasant compared to all other mountain marathons I have done due to the suply of cooked food, hot drinks, beer and a band. Still, I felt the need to heat up some extra food in the tent. It was less windy than the previous night, but there had been a dusting of snow. All in all a very cosy night, although the thought of another day trogging through snow was not that inspiring.


Day 2 was awful. My feet, having just spent the last 12 hours thawing them out, were agony after just 10min of running. This sensation ebbed and flowed throughout the day in direct proportion the the depth of snow and water on the ground. I was carrying most of the kit, but my partner had bad blisters and was struggling to raise the speed above walking pace. It took 2hs to get the first 2 checkpoints and even the spells of sunshine could do little to improve my mood. Deep snow and tricky terrain kept our pace to a minimum throughout the day. The combination of the pain in my feet and a frustration at the lack of running terrain made it all very demotivating. If Jonathan hadn't been so keen to finish I am sure I would have joined the dnfs. Eventually, we reached the 3 last rather cruelly placed checkpoints, having mastered a lethal near-vertical heather gully and a waist-deep river crossing, and finished having surprisingly only dropping one place.

I suppose I must have had some enjoyable moments out of the 7.5hs (25km in distance) we were 'running' for. Previously I have read somewhere that 'there are no bad days, just learning days', so it was without a doubt a day to learn something. Would I do it again? Most definetly!

Glover's Chimney - the video

That's my climbing holiday come to an end. Neil and myself managed one final route in a very blowy 'gorms on Saturday. We shelved our orginal plans for Fiacaill Buttress as it looked it be covered with snow. Hidden Chimney II/III on the Mess of Pottage has always been in the back of my mind so we joined the hordes and headed over there instead. Despite a long wait for the second pitch it was a great route and well worth the two stars it gets.

Earlier in the week Neil took some footage of me seconding on Glover's and has now posted it on You Tube so the world can see how not to climb it here. In my defence my hands were absolutely numb, but still I must make sure my axes stick next time ; ).

Castle Ridge

Another fantastic day on the Ben when the forecast was completely wrong. Neil and myself had Castle Ridge (III) to ourselves and fresh snow had covered all tracks of previous ascents. We spent a couple of very enjoyable hours climbing in the sun in thermals. With nothing too hard climbing-wise, great rock gear and belays it was perhaps the most pleasant days climbing I have had for a while. Getting off the top down to the halfway lochan was a bit of a chore due to soft snow overlaying ice and rocks catching crampons.

Glover's Chimney

Winter really has come back to the Highlands and it has snowed, snowed again and snowed some more. After a brief thaw on Thursday, when I climbed a thoroughly dripping Goat Track Gully (II), the artic conditions returned. It was another wild day in the 'gorms on Saturday when I did my annual ascent of Fiacaill Ridge (I/II). The conditions put me off the corries so on Sunday we went into Beinn Bhan on the Applecross penisular. The route we went into to do, Suspense Buttress (II/III), looked improbable for the grade and the impressive surroundings of Coire Na Feola were intimidating.

Ice was forming on the harder lines but the buttress were bare and whipped by spindrift. We headed up the scenically impressive Easy Gully (I) which is split into two runnels by an impressive rib. The snow in the gully was deep so we kept to the side walls and the last pitch was a great turfy groove at II. The route is definetly worth a couple of stars. The place has an easy walk-in, a safe descent and a real mountain feel.

After being snowed out on Monday in the 'gorms where we went XC ski-ing instead after an abortive attempt at climbing, we headed into the Ben on Tuesday to do a classic - Glover's Chimney.

Glover's (a those in the know call it) was a route I had heard alot about. It is an obvious gully and chimney line up to Tower Gap. It goes at III,4 with the crux at the very top. Given a guidebook length of 150m we expected a fairly easy day. The first ice pitch was steady III and after a bit of a rope stretch a block belay was reached. More icy grooves followed slightly left of the main gully to avoid deep snow. After two pitches in the gully, there was an icy steepening before the final chimney. Some hard back and footing lead up through the chimney to the gap after significantly more than the stipulated 150m climbing length. The gap was startling for the drops off to either side. I was man-handled over the far side of the gap and we went up Tower Ridge for a couple of hundred meters until we finally reached the plateau as the light began to fade. On reflection the route felt much more sustained, even the lower pitches, and technically difficult than the other classic IVs I have done recently on the Ben. Maybe this is just a reflection on the conditions we experienced and my inability to thrutch efficiently! Anyway it was a 13h day and today was a well deserved rest day.

A truely mixed week

My holiday has really started well. On Monday myself and Juan headed into the Ben to do Green Gully (IV,4). Unfortnately another party had the same idea and got to the route ahead of us. The gully is pretty narrow, so due the amount of snow that was lying on the ice we got a fair battering from above. Nothing too bad though. It was a great route and the steep sections were fairly short-lived and protection was okay. Some of the peg belays have seen better days but the ice, when dug out, was great. Less snow would have been better and some freeze-thaw can only improve matters.

Time: 9H

Tuesday saw us on Curved Ridge II/III,3 which was our first route on the Buachaille. Somehow I started up the right hand side of Crowberry Basin and climbed a nice rock chimeny pitch before easier ground and a traverse back across the Basin lead back to the route. The first two pitches were nearly snow free, but the route got more snowy and better the higher up we went. Although nowhere hard, it did seem quite a long route. Again the weather was superb aside from a number of squally snow showers.

Time: 7H

Wednesday's weather was excellent again, so after a quick run up and down the Pap of Glencoe (1h 20 from the Youth Hostel)we decided to go rock climbing in Polldubh, Geln Nevis. Juan's foot wasn't doing too well so I ended up doing some climbing on my own. The routes were polished, but the rock was warm and I can see why this place is popular. Perfect rock slabs set amongst Caledonian pine forst, ringed my snowy peaks. Just a great place to be.

Thursday was a proper Corries day. A thaw was forecast along with 70M and hour gusts, and we got it. The corrie was deserted when we got there for about 9am and even after we got down there were only a few other parties around. Visibility was initially great, but then the wind picked up and the higher up we climbed the worse the snow got. Goat Track Gully (II) was just about in and there was a decent amount of ice on the crux. A lovely short steep corner with superb rock gear just where you need it. Some kind soul had even left some in-situ. Belaying above in the wind-driven spray from the rapidly melting snow was less fun. Al, up from Bristol, lead through and we traversed off on to the Goat Track back to a full breakfast in the Mountain Cafe. A truely Scottish experience.

Torridon Bouldering

An easy day today and I got distracted from Marilyn bagging by the superb bouldering

near the youth hostel in Torridon village. I was a bit sceptical about the quality so didn't bother with buying the local guide, but next tiem I am there I will. Still, there is lots to go at at all grades and the only drawback is the slightly boggy ground. Wear wellies!

Sron na Lairig

With heaps of snow and a good forecast for Saturday it seemed an ideal opportunity to head to Glencoe and so avoid the hordes who would be trooping into the Corries. I headed in with Steve for a great easy mountaineering day on Sron na Lairig, a three star II. The walk-in, described in the guide as long, was only an hour to the bottom of the route.

We soloed up mixed ground and short gullies to the second steepening and then moved together for the rest of the rocky crest. The narrow top section of the ridge was superb with large drops on both sides and, with the bright blue sky and soft snow, the route felt almost Alpine.

Time: 5.75h