Another superb quality mountaineering day. Staying at the Ling Hut with friends Martin, Bruce, and Paul. Today Paul was feeling tired from our exertions on Sunday so just three of us made the journey. I based the route on a description by Gary Smith in his excellent book “Scotland’s Mountains with one axe”, he called it the Liathach North-South crossing, and a fantastic route it proved to be today!
The forecast had been for frequent showers with 60-70mph gusts, and only 20% chance of cloud-free summits. We were rewarded for our optimism however and although winds were blustery, the ridge and summits were mostly clear, and we even had some warm sun on our descent of the path on the south side. Monday’s rain in the glen had given heavy deposits of fresh snow higher up, and as we ascended into Coire Dubh Beag we were continually assessing the potential avalanche risk in Access Gully. (We had no Wi-Fi in the hut and had been unable to get the sais update). Having geared up, we each solo-ed again, keeping close to the left wall and assessing the stability of the windslab every few minutes. Bruce dug a test pit at one point which showed a shear layer about 150mm below the surface, but by sticking to the left wall we felt the risk was still justifiable. All was well and the snow conditions improved with altitude. The top-out was magnificent; emerging on the narrow summit ridge right by the cairn for the descent path, with clear views south to Glen Torridon. We enjoyed a very scenic walk east to the summit of Stuc a’ Choire Dubh Bhig, before returning to the cairn for the descent.
We reached the road in time for Paul to give us a lift to Torridon village, where we just made last orders for lunch at 2.30!
11.44km, 1111m of ascent, elapsed time just over 7 hours.
Area :
Northern Highlands South (winter)
Extending from Torridon in the north to Knoydart in the south, and including Glen Shiel, Glen Carron and Applecross, Northern Highlands South includes many brilliant winter climbs of all grades and styles. The quartzite cliffs of Beinn Eighe and the corries of Bheinn Bhan have become forcing grounds for modern mixed climbing, while Liathach nearby offers many fine, steep, traditional ice climbs. New winter climbing possibilities are being discovered on the mountains throughout this area on an annual basis.
