Cairngorms Part 1

The first taste I got of mountain climbing was the great “Mt Travers” expedition, in which Tristram and I climbed a rather small and unassuming mountain but still managed to get into trouble. That trip made me realise how scared I was of heights and exposed slopes and it made me forget about mountaineering for a while.

Then last year in Peru I remember seeing magnificent peaks like Veronica

I wondered what it might be like up there ….

The idea of actually climbing such a peak is still a bit crazy, but Jan brought it a little bit closer by getting me a spot on a mountaineering course for my birthday!! This week we’ve both been up in Scotland giving it a go …

On the first day we were introduced to all the fancy gear, ice-axes, crampons and plastic boots. It was fun sliding around practising our self-arrests, and feeling the grip of the crampons in a slippery slope. The boots were a bit uncomfortable, but at least for now it didn’t seem like there was much to worry about.

On the second day, our instructor “Fi” showed us how to build a snow hole and we got nice a warm digging furiously into old hard snow. Jan and I unwisely decided to build ours on the steepest slope and had to contend with repeatedly sliding down it while we dug. But when it was finished it was a snug fit for two.

We also did a bit more digging to create a snow bollard, and other stuff like navigation and step cutting. It was pretty cold and windy but nevertheless great fun. After all the exertion in the cold we could really enjoy the pleasures of a beer and a giant scottish pub- meal!

For the first two days of our 5 day course we were joined with people from a two day one, so on the second day we said goodbye to everybody except Paul who would be joining us on the final 3 day part.