Page 50 - 2020 AMA Winter

CLIMBINGMEETS
NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL WINTER...
THE AMA WINTER MEET 2020
Duncan Francis
So, I started writing this article after the meet but before COVID-19 really hit home. Only in retrospect do I realise just how lucky we were. After the virtually Winter-less Winter Meet in 2019, hopes were high but expectations were on hold; as it turned out, the Cairngorms absolutely delivered, and we completed the Meet before the lockdown cut in. We had snow, we had ice, we had frozen turf and we had snowed-up rock. We went climbing, we went mountaineering, we went exploring, we had blizzards and we had bluebird days with lots of sunshine. We placed rock gear, ice screws and slings, and banged in pegs and Warthogs. We dug snow-holes and cut steps up snow slopes and practiced all the ropework you could think of. In fact, we had a brilliant time. If you weren’t there, you missed out.
The Norwegian Lodge provided a great base, and with two chefs from 1 Scots
Guards, no-one went hungry. What a difference it makes to come back from a long day on the hill and not have to go food shopping and cook an evening meal! The parking may have been an issue, and there wasn’t any internet, but with the Pinemartin Bar and the Glenmore Lodge bar both just along the road, [albeit in opposite directions...] it didn’t really matter.
A lot of quality Winter routes in a variety of grades were climbed by various teams; Deep-cut Chimney on Hell’s Lum, Central Gully on Lurcher’s, and Anvil Gully on Creagan a Cha No [all IV,4***], Hidden Chimney Direct and Yukon Jack on Mess o’Pottage and Invernookie on Fiacaill Buttress [all IV,5***] and The Haston Line [III,4] for example. We couldn’t get on to Meagaidh or Coire an Lochain because of the amount of snow, but that didn’t really matter. In mountaineering, a lot of hills were ascended in a variety of ways, with
the East Ridge of Beinn a’Chaorainn being the most popular. It was done by pretty much everyone, in sun, in snow, in cloud and in wind; regardless of the conditions it is a great way up the mountain.
I won’t bang on about the Meet; no-one would read it anyway. Suffice to say that it was over-subscribed, despite being twice the size of previous years. We delivered a mass of Winter Mountaineering and Winter Climbing Foundation courses, a lot of other people got loads of QMDs and Winter climbs done [there wasn’t a single day when we couldn’t get out], and everyone had a good time. The mix of military and civilian instructors worked really well, and we achieved everything we set out to do. Have a look at the photos. Make sure that you don’t miss next year’s meet; it will be based in Kinlochleven in late March 2021. Watch this space...
50 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER