Day 1:
7 hr. Loch Morlich to Corrour Bothy. White outs, drifting snow, head winds. Arrived 1730hrs.
Day 2:
6hr. Climbed Devil`s Peak via a good 40 degree snow ramp in excellent condition and out of the worst of the wind. Crossed bealach and ascended to .1213m. White out. Navigated on bearing, pacing, angle, aspect and the sound of the wind on the steep face to our R. Same detail from sub summit to Cairn Toul except knee deep drift to wade through whilst trying to follow bearing and pace. Good to get off the back side. Good decision making kept us to N flanks and out of the worst of the wind. Found steep snow ramps to descend, wrapping N or a final cliff band.
Day 3: 6:15. Wild night of wind, rattling the door on its latch and howling around the bothy. Sleep intermittent! Luckily that wind was mostly at our backs from the extraction. I got into a good groove breaking trail. Ali tagged in toward the end. Saw up to 30 ptarmigan up near Pools of Dee. Descended avoiding loaded slopes and terrain traps to reach snowy wonder land in the forest.
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.
