Roy Bridge - Winterskills Weekend
25-26 February 2006
By Rachel Alvarado
Along on the weekend were Clare Campbell, Tracy, Jim, Sarah, David, Mary, Shona, Martin, Helen, Ruth, Pete, Sam, Nick, Cathie, Andrew and Rachel (that’s me).
We stayed at the Aite Cruinnichidh hostel, which, after several tongue tied attempts at the pronunciation, we decided was called Ate Crunchydick. The facilities are eclectic including a large kitchen/dining room, 4 toilets and 3 showers for 30 people…and a sauna!
All arrived on Friday night. There was the usual scramble for the best beds and dilemmas about room companions – I want to share with them because they’re tidy/bring me a cup of tea in the morning/tell good jokes/have a salsa alarm clock etc… - I don’t want to share with them because they are grumpy in the morning/talk in their sleep/have cheesy socks etc… 10pm we met one of our guides (Rodger) for the winter skills day on Saturday. He must be much used to disorganization as he looked us in the eye and asked pointed questions about the presence and readiness of all our gear. In theory, helmets were to be less than 5 years old, but he pretended not to hear when someone discovered a 1975 sticker on the inside of their helmet. David Brown gave Rodger a really hard time just for the sport of it and Rodger left muttering something about needing to “pack an extra sense of humour for tomorrow”
Saturday up bright and early. Two groups met Rodger and Mick in the Nevis Range car park and we paid our £8 for the gondola. Shona, Helen and I considered getting a family ticket; they were to be my 16 year old daughters. In the end we decided the saving of £2 wasn’t worth the guilt, and I’d like to point out that I don’t think it would be a biologically viable lie anyway…. We were then whisked up to the snowline in style.
Rodger made up for having to do the late shift the night before, by having 4 girls in his group, while Mick got all 3 guys (including David…) and 2 girls. We headed around the east side of Aonach an Nid and learned about walking in snow, axe placement and use of leash, we practiced sliding down a snow slope and spinning round our ice axes then planting them to bring us to a halt. Apparently if you slip and start going fast you are doomed anyway…. so this was more of a fun exercise. We then fitted our crampons and got run through the safety aspects of not lacerating and impaling your companions having chosen to attach multiple jaggy metal spikey things about your person. We practiced “flat footing” up and down ice and snow and then front pointing up and down steeper ice. Over the day we also made ice axe belays and a bollard belay and all dangled on the rope to test it. Micks group made an exhilarating ascent of “easy gully”. Excellent day with a bit of wild Scottish weather thrown in at the end, just to make a navigation lesson held inside a large bothy bag, very-very-flappy-and-incomprehensible.
The non winter skills people on the weekend went skiing on piste to practice their tele turns. This resulted in an enormous improvement in skill levels (reportedly) and also served to remind people why they gave up the comedy of Scottish on piste skiing and took up ski touring. A trip up Aonach Mor was also included for some light relief.
Saturday night and everyone congregated back at the hostel. Waiting for the showers was made much more entertaining by drinking beer in the sauna with fleece clad Australians. They did eventually warm up enough to take a few layers off. Lots of good chat over a tasty and ample communal meal followed, later degenerating into silly wine fueled chat later in the evening – eg. describe your “fantasy mountain guide”, culminating in adjusting my crampons to fit my tele ski boots with the only appropriate tool available – a butter knife.
Sunday about half the group were taking part in an avalanche awareness course which involved some lecture time first. A group of 5 of us went out ski touring. I am ashamed to admit that I was champing at the bit so much to get up to the skyline where the sun was glinting off the snow… I forgot to say goodbye to everyone properly. Very remiss and I apologise. It was a privilege to have your company this weekend everyone!
We had a superb day out, plenty of action, scenery and Scottish magic. We drove east from Roybridge to Fersit. A very pretty road that meandered over an old iron bridge with a big drop to a gorge beneath . We skied the munro Chno Dearg, and the top to its south Meall Garbh. I felt really hardcore setting off from the carpark with skis and ice axe strapped to my pack, then quickly felt a bit silly slopping through a field of cows and their dung wearing tele boots, with skis and an ice axe strapped to my pack.
We got up to the snowline, put the skins on our skis, changed our body movements to a rhythmic slide….. and went through the portal into another world. We reached Lochan Coire an Lochain in amazing light and with the craggy steep eastern sides of Stob Coire Sgriodain towering over us, we skied across it’s frozen surface. A snack in the sunshine sitting on boulders, surrounded by crisp white virgin snow- hot chocolate never tasted so good. We pulled up over the saddle to the top of Meall Garbh and were stunned by breathtaking views of what seemed like the whole world around us. To the west we could see Ben Alder and pick out the Lancets Edge, to the south beneath us Loch Ossian, to the west the Anoach Eagach ridge and all the summits of Glencoe. Outstanding!! I really enjoyed the ski down. If points had been awarded for style and grace I wouldn’t have been on the podium but hey, do I sound bothered…
Chat on the way down included a discussion on the “Faff Factor”, possible development of a club anti-faffing policy, a faffing assessment for new members, the introduction of a colour coded wristbands so that those of a similar faffing level could choose to group together….. Further chit-chat included how difficult it was going to be to choose a photo of the week even just amongst the shots that had been taken that day.
All I can say in conclusion is : 5 star weekend and great company!!
Rachel
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