Davie Scott's Blog: 01.02.2013

With the weather looking less than great and a lot of recent snowfall scrapping our original route choices of either Glovers Chimney III,4 or Gardyloo Gully II/III rather than the option of not going out, Craig and I decided to head up Carn Mor Dearg with a view to making a traverse of the Carn Mor Dearg Arete. As we gained height up the long monotonous slog up Carn Beag Dearg, the wind gained velocity and visibility deteriorated. Shortly after gaining the initial top, we encountered a group of 3 who were descending due to the weather and not a bad call either as the group werent familiar with the route and had already expressed difficulty in route finding. With the worsening conditions at the forefront of our minds, we pressed on to Carn Mor Dearg to assess conditions on the ridge its self. On route we came across another group of 4 from London who were gearing up with the same intentions, to complete a traverse of the CMD arete, and after exchanging pleasantries we continued on our way. As earlier, the wind had picked up a bit more and visibility was very poor with good old stingy spindrift scouring our faces like cold sand paper. It was at this point we decided with the winds gusting at about 65mph and showing no sign of letting up that we should abandon the plan and descend. We about turned and soon came across the group of 4 from London we had met earlier and it was clear that one of the group was struggling with their crampons. After a closer inspection, we informed the individual and the group that the crampons (C3) were not compatible with the B1 boots they were attempting to attach them to due to the absence of a front toe welt in the boots. Craig did however fashion a good temporary fix with some cable ties which allowed the individual to wear them on descent. A leisurely descent and walk back down the path to the top car park made for good conversation and as always some good banter! not an ideal day out but a good day none the less