Natalie Minnis - 193074

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Awards Completed

ML
Member Of

Winter Walking Record

Details

Date : 06/02/2019

Duration : 3-5 hours

Style : Solo

Type : Quality Mountain Day (QMD)

Weather : Partially cloudy

Wind : Moderate wind

Camping Type : N/A

Nights Camping : 0

Mountains : The Sow of Atholl

Flagged :

Description

I wanted to try out a new pair of snow shoes, and I thought The Sow of Atholl might be a good place to try them, as it has a relatively gentle slope and a high start. It was actually a tougher hill than I'd expected. I really enjoyed the walk in, and I put on the snow shoes at about 580m altitude. I found them much easier to walk in than I'd expected, and according to Strava, my pace increased slightly after putting them on.
From about 750m altitude the wind increased strongly and there was a complete whiteout. I managed to locate the summit cairn, but then I panicked a bit, as the wind was at my back, and when I turned round to start the descent, the full force of the wind startled me. I quickly pulled on my balaclava, and headed down as fast as I could. However in my sudden panic, I had veered off course a bit, and I soon realised I was heading down in the wrong direction. I'd only descended about 20m, so I tried to walk round on a bearing - only I soon realised, from looking at my GPS map, that I was walking round the wrong way. I decided to walk back up to the summit, and from there, using my paper map and compass, it was so easy just to head south, and within minutes I was out of the whiteout and clearly back on course.
It was a good lesson in the dangers of panic, and the importance of taking time to navigate properly.

Area : Loch Rannoch to Newtonmore (Beinn Udlamain)

This area is listed in the SMC Munros Guide as ‘The Drumochter Hills) and covers the hills and mountains between Loch Rannoch and Newtonmore. Loch Ericht forms the western boundary and Glen Tromie the eastern boundary, with the Pass of Drumochter (the A9 and the Highland Main Line) dividing the area in two. Among the seven Munros in this area, only one is over 1000m (Beinn Udlamain is 1011m).

Location

Marker
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