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Weather/Conditions: Snow, sun
and wind from the north east whipping snow off the plateau. Drifts were
especially deep but windslab was a couple of inches thick at most. Hard
terrain, especially on the snowed up boulder fields.
Distance/Ascent/Time: 5.4km / 400m /
3h 25m
Accompanying: Alone |
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Snow has come in huge volumes all the way to
area level, in (almost) every corner of the country and giving the east
a battering because the air is coming from that direction (Siberia). It
continues to come until the succession of south-west storms starts up
again.
My mountain activity recently has been lower than I'd have liked, but
with commitments piling on top of one another as they do, it's tougher
to get to the mountains than usual. And with all the hill-going
crew seemingly doing as little as me, I can't hitch lifts either.
I got a lift to Blanefield and set off up Slackdhu with spindrift and
wind in my face. I met a guy from Strathblane who had soloed Coffin
Gully and was his way back down. He said the snow was in good condition apart from
the cornicing. He mentioned the occasional bottomless pit of snow. From
subsequent experience, this meant more than occasional.
I wasn't going to climb my left ramp today (the more exposed of routes
here) but thought I'd check out the right ramp - it looked dodgy but it
was the best reasonable option.
The snow was hard work but the ground steepened and I competed against
steep slopes, deep drifts and occasional windslab. I tried ascending the
hill by a couple of routes, but alone and without enough awareness about
avalanches, I couldn't make myself climb the exposed slabs. What
if... kept going through my head. In certain circumstances you can
get away with just going for something regardless of possible outcome.
With snow, there's no point.
The guy I'd
met at the start said it was safe but I was making my own decisions.
Assume the slope did slide - I'd be overwhelmed quicker than I'd realise
what was happening. I'd already set one off in the Campsie Fells and I
wasn't going to do that again.
So I decided to traverse the slopes in a SE direction but with the sun
going down I began to doubt that I'd make the summit. Beneath Jenny's
Lum, the slopes were turning pink and I went up to the Lum to have a
look at the ice smear and see the sun go down from there.
It was beautiful evening. I spent ten minutes at the crag, wading
through the drifts and checking out the ice smears, which shattered and
collapsed to the touch of an axe. With the sun
on the horizon I set off to Strathblane, taking pleasure in the views,
ease of descent, and the spindrift, lit orange by sunlight and snaking
across shaded blue snow. Behind me, my weaving descent tracks glowed. It
was a beautiful sunset. I took the river back to Campsie Dene Road and
emerged at Strathblane tired completely out of proportion of the small
size of today's route.
So I got the bus home where I met a couple at the bus stop that had
spent their day walking the West Highland Way from Milngavie.
Roll on winter, I reckon. Maybe soon I'll be happy to feel the warm
breeze of summer, but with winter ahead I'm keen as anything.
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