Page 32 - 2017 AMA Winter

Climbing Meets
AMA
Scotland
Meet –
June 2017
By Mark Gregory
In late June, a small group of intrepid explorers descended on Crianlarich for a 3-day venture across the Loch Lomond
National Park. The fine weather that preceded arrival at Inverardran Cottage created a false sense of security for those who, possibly through blissful ignorance, avoided the weather forecast for the coming days. The chosen venue came as a consequence of a desire to exploit Scotland’s vast mountainous landscape; building on the success of prior summer & winter meets but located more favourably for those travelling from England. Inverardran Cottage was a lucky find as the event looked in jeopardy as the avail- ability and cost of accommodation in the region looked precarious over the chosen weekend. The cottage itself, owned by the Ochils Mountaineering Club, provided everything required of an AMA Meet; cooking & dining facilities, accommodation for 18, a lounge with log fire, boot/drying room and hot showers. More important than all this, was the Ben More Hotel with its bar and restaurant which is situated within spitting distance of the cottage for that well deserve post-crag beer. After all, isn’t it that cool succulent pint of local ale that truly makes a quality mountain day? The intent was to offer walking, scrambling and climbing and this was only achieved through the employment of civilian instructors to complement the MLT and RCS qualified members of the association. Over the weekend their training and experience proved invaluable. Aside from guaranteeing the delivery of all three activities, their experience and local knowledge further developed the instructors in attendance and opened minds to the existence of Bog Asphodel, common orchid and butterwort amongst other flora and fauna.
The first day started with the climbers heading off to the Narnain Boulders for single pitch climbing in what could only be described as ‘moist conditions’ with low cloud and high winds making ‘topping
30 ARMY MOUNTAINEER
out’ an interesting conclusion to some challenging routes. The scramblers cir- cumnavigated the climbers to move further up Glen Croe for their attempt on the pinnacles of The Cobbler and to ‘thread the needle’, a route known well by the accompanying MIC. Despite the excitably blustery conditions the team of three steadily made their way up the ridge before descending back to Glen Croe with pulses racing and an air of satisfac- tion akin to summiting one of the great peaks. The story was somewhat different for the walkers though who, further to the east, made their attempt on Ben More (‘Big Hill’, 1174m). Although fine at first, the new front that had earlier moistened the climbers eventually arrived in the east bringing with it rain and high winds greater than that experienced on the crags. A long but steady slog up the Ben More Burn from Benmore Farm was greeted by a sudden surge in wind speeds that forced the team to turn around a mere 100m from the summit. A disappointing but wise move. A short descent over the neighbouring saddle permitted a brief rest-bite for lunch before the wind was confronted again to retrace their steps back to base.
The temperamental conditions continued on Sunday however fortunes were to take a turn. On this occasion it was the climbers who faced the greatest challenge. Their search for a better venue saw them follow in the footsteps of the scramblers as they too headed further into Glen Croe, into the shadow of the Cobbler for their day’s outing. Despite their best efforts the venue proved particularly difficult in the prevailing conditions with wet and slippery rock increasing route complexity by at least a grade. Some time was spent sheltering from the wind and rain as belays were established but morale was maintained by Sophie’s travelling sweet shop. It truly was a lunch box to behold. An early retreat was beaten by the group; however the scramblers soldiered on under Nick’s watchful eye. Up the pinnacles and through the needle again but this time with a new team in tow. The walkers headed west and down to Loch Lomond for their attempt on Cruach Ardrain (‘Stack of the High Peaks’, 1046m) and Beinn Tulaichean (‘Hill of the Hillocks’, 946m). A fairly long walk in before the final push to the summits made for a long day but the feel-good factor that came with standing astride