First off the bus, Graeme Morrison traversed the Grey Corries from Spean Bridge. He reached the first top wearing shorts and T shirt but found his summer spirit tamed by most inclement snow showers! Very quickly, he was back to wearing everything he had available and made good progress along the ridge. He even bagged the last top Sgorr Choinich Beag before heading for the low level path.

Further down the road, a climbing party consisting of Ali Erginsoy, Joe Glennie, Jake Lee and Illona Morrice, set off from the Golf Course with the intention of going up Castle Ridge, a plan they had to abandon as the rock was very slippery. They made their way to Number 5 Gully which was filled with hard neve and cut steps with the one ice axe which one of the party had the forethought to bring. They got to the start of Ledge Route and had a pleasant ridge scramble to the summit of Carn Dearg before the long descent to beer and chips.

Keen fisher Fran Knowles headed off for Loch Meall an t-Suidhe, north-west of Ben Nevis. Fran never caught fish. Again. Still, she got some good views! From Polldhubh, dedicated corbetteer John Henderson had designs on Mam na Gualainn. He took the path east of Stob Ban, went up the bealach and dropped back down to the West Highland Way before climbing the hill itself. On return, John also went over Sgurr a’ Mhaim and took “the descent from hell back to the bus”.

Peter Miller, Werner Theron and Ella Wood’s objective of the day was Aonach Beag. They walked steeply up to Sgurr a’ Bhic in mixed weather and followed the ridge to Stob Choire Bhealaich. After reaching the summit, they returned to Steall via the south-west shoulder. They too had a fine day with excellent views, including great sagging cornices on the north-east face of Aonach Beag.

Also up the Aonach was Ken Ross, who also took a detour to the Steall waterfall.

The Ring of Steall was the most popular choice of the day. Bob Macdonald, Jan Petersen (Danish guest) and Chrissy found the river crossing over the wire bridge easy enough, however the second one by the waterfall proved to be “a nightmare” and the trio deemed it wiser to wade through.

Jim Conway, Graeme Gillespie and Myra Shearer did the same round of hills and experienced similar aquatic difficulties! Both groups made their separate way up An Gearanach, Stob Choire a’ Chairn, Am Bodach and Sgurr a’ Mhairm and took the north west ridge back to the coach. Although the Macdonald party had a straightforward day, Graeme, Jim and Myra had a more eventful outing as Jim took a 20ft fall half way through the walk. Luckily, nobody reported any major injuries.

Due to various old war wounds, Dave McLean and Natacha Mihajlovic opted for a low level walk to Loch Treig. They turned back before reaching the loch due to a boggy path (and possibly lack of inspiration). On the way back, they had a snack by the river while dipping their feet in ice cold water to relieve their ankles. Within minutes, an increasingly restless Dave asked if their “was actually some benefit to this pain?” Man of little faith.

Kate Darlington, Daniel Moysey, and Sarah White set out towards Stob Ban. Unfortunately, Sarah felt unwell and had to turn back. Dan and Kate made it to the cloud crowned summit but the clag cleared to reveal the hill’s impressive eastern crags. The second munro Mullach nan Coirean became their next objective and they reached the top with lots of spare time. Also on the ridge was Andy Williams.

In conclusion, a slightly disappointing turnout for such a classic area (22 members attended). However, everybody made the most of it in ever improving weather and achieved their goals in the time allocated. Or just a bit more…

Natacha Mihajlovic