Marcus Risdell - 148325

I was put in touch with a visitor to Scotland by the Inverness Mountaineering. She described herself as having some winter experience albeit not in Scotland, and agreed to go with a 3 day backpack trip to the Cairngorms. I thought this was a good opportunity to practice my planning and leadership skills. As it looked like we were in for days of extreme gales and time contrainsts would not allow adjustments I planned for mutiple contingencies. In the end we settled on Beinn a' Bhuird, with two nights at Faindouran bothy. This would provide marginally better weather for the highest ground. From Inverness it was train and bus to Glenmore, then over the shoulder of Bynack Mhor, where the wind was about bearable, so I suggested we take a short cut over the summit of Creag Mhor and descend to Faindouran via Dagrum. The wind on the ridge made for hard work, but we arrived safely at the bothy with about an hour of daylight left.
We departed at first light and followed the Avon, checking the existence of the bridge at 099 061 as we planned to use it on the return. We crossed at the next bridge at the confluence with the Allt an t'Sluichd. We ascended Stob an t'Sluichd by the trackless north ridge, traversing round the bouldery summit by linking snow-patches. Although the snow was hard, crampons were not required. We had a contingency plan to include Leabaidh an Daimh Bhuidhe but as we were behind schedule I made the decision to stick to just one sumit today. After peering (from a safe distance) over the cornice above Garbh Choire we crossed point 1158 to the North Summit, arriving in poor visibility. An impressive amount of snow had built up in the in Coire Leum an Easaich. The summit plateau was scoured and icy but again crampons were not required. Taking a bearing down the ridge to Cnap Leum an Easaich we began the descent and soon left the ice behind, and the clowd lifted to give magnificent views over Cairngorm and Ben Macdui, although their tops remined in cloud. The best visibility as forecast was in the east. The broad ridge was a delight until we hit the heather! My companion however was slowing even more and later confessed to blisters as she had issues with her boots. It was almost dark when we returned to the bothy.
Another early start was required for the walk out as there aren't that many busses in winter. It was obvious the wether was deteriorating again and the winds were picking up. A direct route over the col by point 838 on Dagrum shortened the distance, but the wind was horrendous. We were being blown over as we descended the shoulder of Bynack Mhor and were hit with the full force of the wind coming off Cairngorm and funnelled through Strath Nethy. At An Lochan Uaine my companion switched to flip-flops and we just made the bus at Glenmore. Above Glenmore forest we had met no-one for 3 days.