
Myself and 2 others with a plan to get the biggest munros left on my list, right in the middle of winter. blue skies, and minimum winds gave stunning views across scotland with the clearest visibility.
Our plan was to camp on top of the plateau, carrying 2 tents with us, and full overnight packs, gave relatively slow going. Reaching the summit of ben a bhuird was a welcome relief, that is until spotting just how far away ben avon was. We managed to reach the summit of Ben Avon just as the sun was setting, and then discovered the impossible task of tent erecting when tent pegs will not go into the frozen ground. A long time, 2 axes and a crampon securing the 2 man tent, all three of us squeezed inside, for a not very restful night.
Now, we knew that the weather was to take a turn later on the second day, yet it became apparent at 4am, that it had other ideas. Wind feocious enough to lift the tent with 3 of us inside, gave us the decision to get out and get of the plateau before it became any worse.
Crawling in storm force winds we headed back down off the plateau, in what became the longest walk off a mountain I think to date I have done, 8 hours, slowed further by a fall on black ice in the forest resulting in a damaged medial ligament in my knee!!!
Area :
The Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are ‘a little piece of the arctic in Scotland’ according to the SMC Munros Guide and the area contains many of the tallest peaks in the East Highlands. Ben Macdui (1309m), Cairn Gorm (1244m) and Braeriach (1296) are probably three of the better known and the whole area is full of steep corries and high plateaux. Access to the mountains is typically from Aviemore or Braemar.