Page 29 - 2022 AMA Summer

As a fair-weather climber, I was completely unprepared for the battering, bone-chilling cold of the Cairngorms in winter, which I plunged into as a novice learning to winter climb on this year’s Scottish Winter Meet. My only previous experience was a five-day winter walking course run through a civilian company which, though I didn’t realise it at the time, was blessed with exceptional weather. This time, I was not so lucky.
Whilst the climbing was cold and character building, it was exhilarating and a totally new challenge compared to ‘summer’ climbing. The addition of two lethal looking axes, as well as crampons on the ol’ boots, force the body and mind to adopt unfamiliar movement patterns and sensations, and the mind to see problems through an extra dimension.
A gentle introduction saw myself and Pte Will Blenkinsop shuffle our way up Central Gully, Fluted Buttress in Coire an t-Sneachda (pronunciation butchered consistently all week), under the sublime stewardship of John Orr, IFMGA. The approach, climbing, and subsequent exfil- tration, were all bitterly cold with freezing low cloud sealing hoods, buckles and zips under a layer of ice. These hardships did little to temper the exhilaration of our first true winter climb which, although only a moderate snow gully, whet our appetites for something meatier.
With a fire kindled inside us, our second day would see a much more ambitious attempt of a grade 3 classic, made more difficult by poor conditions. After waiting in what felt like the queue for the Hillary step, with similarly serious consequences (reality
pictured), young William and I gainfully followed John up a meandering, and at times precarious route with a precipitous drop off the left shoulder. The crux here came just after the second belay with a high step onto a wedged boulder being made from a narrow (when you’ve got boots on) ledge. Like a crafty mountain goat, John breezed past this point with such ease that Will and I thought “how hard can it be?”. Reader, I needn’t tell you how wrong we were. After some difficulty and much swearing, Will battled his way upwards and out of sight. Left alone on my narrow ledge, I considered how nice a ledge it really was, and how little reason there was to leave. An icy blast sweeping up the face of the mountain reminded me of my reality, blowing me into motion. An ambitious reverse hook with the right axe and some ballerina-esque manoeuvring had me up and over the crux, humbled and panting yet satisfied by the action.
An unfortunate change in conditions left us unable to climb for the remainder of the week, which was cut short for myself by work. However, not willing to waste a moment with John, the three of us made our way to the local crag to practice the fundamentals of belay building and simple rescue systems. I came away from the week with some excellent memories, new friends and more technical skills added to my repertoire. Having applied for the meet on a whim, I was delighted with what I found: keen, interesting climbers to climb with, vastly experienced guides to learn from and a well organised framework to go adventuring from. Well done Martin South and the AMA for organising such a great event.
To all those who receive this journal but haven’t quite made the leap to sign up for a meet, there really is nothing to lose and everything to gain – I am so pleased that I did.
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 29