The Munro Meet 1983
by P.C. Swindells
During the 1983 Whit Meet the Y.R.C, by a combined operation, succeeded in putting a member on the top of every Scottish Munro, a project that so caught the imagination of the club that 64 members, plus guests, took part, by comparison with the 25/30 who normally attend a Whit Meet.
This account is written primarily for anyone who, in the years to come, feels like repeating the venture and, as a result, it dwells on the planning and administration and draws on the individual area reports only for items of special interest or to illustrate a route taken in the more remote areas.
I suppose the best place to start is by answering the question ‘why’. Why did the Y.R.C undertake such an apparently pointless exercise which, on the face of it, is so out of keeping with the traditions of the club where any form of organisation is anathema and where people who go on Whit Meets go to do their own thing by day and to socialise and enjoy one another’s company at the camp-site in the evening. In any case, everyone knows that just because a mountain is dubbed a Munro it does not mean that it is necessarily more attractive than other non-Munros.
To answer the question it is necessary to go back a few years and to eavesdrop on the conversations members indulge in when out on their activities. In those days there were a number of regular topics which were each of them good for at least half an hour’s discussion. (Quite apart from ‘What’s for supper; but that only got a mention late in the afternoon). One was “women in the club”, another “the future of the club huts”, another “why are we not recruiting more young members”, and, amongst a few of us, “that the club was getting into a drift”. When I joined, twenty years ago, the majority on most meets climbed or pot-holed, walking was the exception. Today the opposite is true. No doubt this is due to the advancing age of many active members, but it does mean that activities lose some bite, some element of purpose, that the degree of challenge is weaker and hence, at the end of the day, the sense of achievement is less than would be the case when a pot had been bottomed or a strenuous route pushed through to its conclusion. Running parallel with this line of thought was a nostalgia for the good old days of pot-holing when descents were team efforts in the best sense of the word and every member of the team shared in the camaraderie and glow that was generated by a successful expedition.
It was easy to talk in these terms, it was not so easy to be constructive and find a practicable answer. Then one Saturday in the Autumn of 19811 attended a dinner given by one of our kindred clubs at which the chief speaker was Hamish Brown who, not so very long before, had completed his nonstop, solo, expedition over all the Munros, so graphically described in his book ‘Hamish’s Mountain Walks’. He indicated in his speech that whilst there are many who commence Munro bagging, there are still not many who have persevered and climbed the lot; furthermore, that if the successful climber was a member of a club, the probability was that he would belong to a very restricted number of clubs of which the S.M.C and the host club for the evening took pride of place.
Well, there it was; a real challenge; we go to Scotland regularly and we know the Scottish hills as well as most clubs and our long walk meets are amongst the best attented in our calendar. We’ll do them. We’ll climb all the Munros and what’s more, we’ll do them in the space of one meet.
What a blatant piece of one-upmanship, what a pointless exercise to boot. A club could climb all the Munros in one day provided it put enough people on the ground. (In fact rumour had it that one Scottish university attempted to do just that, and rumour also had it that they failed). That is just what certain members said when I sounded them out at the December Meet. I fully accepted their comments and let the matter drop; imagine therefore my surprise when at a committee meeting in the winter 1981/82 the East Lancashire Wednesday nighters came out strongly in favour of the Munro project and proposed that a feasability study should be undertaken with Whit 1983 in mind; and, surprise, surprise, the committee agreed, without dissent. The project was born.
A small band of us undertook the study and we first of all set ourselves certain guidelines which were:-
1 Members should operate in couples and solo trips should be avoided.
2 There was no ban on the use of cars. The object was to get up and down each Munro, how you got from one to the other was immaterial.
3 If a member walked with a guest then the member had to reach the summit of each peak.
4 Timings would be based on the Naismith rule of one hour per 2000 ft climbed plus one hour for every 3 miles walked. (This was later amended).
5 We were all very conscious that it is one thing to work out a route in the warmth of one’s home and quite another thing to do it on the ground if the weather turned nasty. Also one must always remember that Scottish hills are that much bigger than those South of the border, and those people who do their climbing in the Lakes or Wales must allow for longer walk-ins and a general absence of paths. To put this point the other way round, much of the art in planning routes lies in making the best use of the limited number of stalkers’ tracks. We felt it essential to build-in adequate safety margins and for this reason we decided to load each group with no more than 12 hours walking a day for 5 days only.
Having established these guide lines we allocated sections of the Munro Tables to each planner who was asked to calculate the time needed to get up and down each peak and to assess which peaks could be taken together to make a full day. We did not, at this stage, formulate the different areas in any detail but it was obvious from the beginning that they would conform very closely to the geographical sections of the Munro Tables, 1981 edition.
We told the committee that we estimated we would need 18 pairs of good goers, each operating for a full week and averaging 20 to 25000 feet of climbing and 65 to 70 miles walking plus a mobile reserve of, say 2 or 3. By this time rumour of what was afoot had got around and the committee judged there was sufficient interest to warrant taking a positive decision that the 1983 Whit Meet would be the Munro Meet. A circular was sent to all members setting out the project and asking for names of those interested, preferred areas and an indication if anyone was likely to bring a friend, and by late 1982 the planners had a good idea who was going and were able to start assigning people to areas.
To do this we again set ourselves a series of guide lines which were:-
1 Where ever possible we would put a member in the area of his choice.
2 We would keep to the geographical sections as far as we could and would earmark certain sections, those with easiest access, to members who could only come out for part of the week.
3 We would try not to dilute the element of challenge. If attendance proved greater than the minimum necessary we would increase the number per team rather than reduce the size of the area.
4 We would locate the President and the reserves at Roy Bridge, which seemed as central a place as any in Scotland.
5 In deference to the age of many who would be taking part we would add 25% onto Naismiths timings.
Section 1 was reserved for short stay teams and was, in fact, spilt into 3.
Section 2 was a big group, 40,000 feet to climb and 93 miles to walk and was too much for one team yet a bit easy for 2 teams. It was also an area where a driver was necessary; for example the Ben Lawers ridge could be tackled by standing from Glen Lyon and ending on the shores of Loch Tay. In the end the area was given to a party of four who, as a makeweight, appointed themselves as general mobile reserve to the meet.
Section 3 was of similar size to section 2. It could, perhaps, have been done by one strong team provided they had a driver who could drop them at Forest Lodge and pick them up at Blackrock Cottage.
Section 4 obviously had to be sub-divided. The solution was to split it down the line of the Lairig Leacach and to allocate all to the West, together with section 3, to a strong East Lancashire team of 6 men who were wanting something that would extend them (they were not disappointed), whilst all to the East went to the Roy Bridge headquarters party.
Section 5 was another section suitable for a short-stay party.
Section 6 was a bit of a problem. No one knew much about the area and from the map it looked like a number of rounded humps separated by large distances of boggy moorland; admittedly the height differences were not great, so with clear skies and good going underfoot it ought to be possible to cover considerable distances, but if the cloud came down, good navigation would be essential. Then there was the question of access. Hamish Brown went in from Blair Athol and came out onto the A93 at Glenshee, but that was not practicable for us and it seemed we would be forced to have two or three different entry points with, of course, the attendant increase in distance walked. In the end the four Munros North of Glen Tilt were extracted and given to section 5. A most fortunate decision because, as will be seen in Appendix 2, the section 6 team had to operate under arduous conditions and had a full task completing their revised load.
Section 7 was another section reserved for short-stay people and was split with the Glas Maol hills going into section 6.
Section 8 was obviously a key area. Whoever was given it would be committed to high-level camping or the use of bothies for the whole of the week. Good navigation would be as essential as in section 6 and if there was much late-spring snow, schedules could be badly affected. To add to all this, if anything did go wrong, the reserves would find it hard to redeem the situation within the time available. Eventually it was decided to extract from the section the two Munros flanking Glen Feshie and also Cairngorm and Bynack More and to marry them to the Monadhliaths and to tackle what was left of section 8 from Deeside. This residue still amounted to 16000 feet of climbing and 74 miles of walking in a notorious area if the weather turned bad and it thus remained a potential hazard. (In fact, the team was unavoidably late getting out of the area and reporting success and by Thursday lunchtime the President had drawn up contingency plans which would put seven different teams of climbers into the Cairngorms
Section 9 was split into two. The Monadhliaths have already been mentioned, and the Creag Meagaidh group went to the Roy Bridge headquarters group.
The main problem North of the Great Glen was how to split the lower sections 10, 11 and 12.
Section 13, Torridon (plus Slioch) formed a nice concentrated allocation of 23000 feet and 55 miles.
Section 14. An Teallach and the Fannaichs was a full load of 25000 feet and 66 miles, much of it in remote country, whilst everything North of the Garve/Ullapool road amounted to 20000 feet and 57 miles plus a lot of driving. These two most Northerly groups had to be self-contained. They were a long way from base and if anything went wrong – say on the Whitbread hills – it would be very doubtful if word could be got back to the President so that reserves could get out in time to retrieve the situation. It was therefore decided that each of these groups should comprise three not two climbers and that they should be ready to help each other should the necessity arise.
Section 17, the Islands, presented no problem. A senior member was having a family holiday on Mull and he would take care of Ben More, and the only question about Skye was how quickly the weather would allow us to complete all the climbs and then get back onto the mainland to help as required. In fact, the weather over Skye was excellent and the party only needed 2 days; Sunday for Blaven and Monday for a complete traverse of the main ridge.
Sections 11 and 12 together covered a considerable area stretching from Kintail, via Glen Affric and Loch Mullardoch to Glen Strathfarrar in the East and Achnashellach in the West. The hills were remote, large and widely separated and it was obvious from the beginning that 2 teams would not be able to cope in the time available. The problems facing the planners were made no easier by the avowed intentions of those who wished to climb the section 12 mountains to include in their itinerary a canoe passage up Loch Monar. Luckily the idea proved to be still-born as the Strathfarrar Estate would not give them permission (it is worth remembering that all cars have to leave the estate each night) and so the members concerned had to be content with knocking off the Farrar 4 from the East and then driving round to Glen Carron in order to gain access to the 7 remote Munros which are in the Monar Forest.
Section 11 could be reduced in size in a number of ways but as it was our hope that the team would base itself in Glen Shiel (and thus be able to liaise with the teams coming from Skye and Knoydart) it seemed sensible to remove from the section the 2 Easterly Munros in Glen Affric and to give them, together with those North of Loch Mullardoch, as a weekend stint to our member who lives near Inverness. This still left a formidable task in section 11 of 23000 ft to climb and 72 miles to walk which would be on top of a carry-in to Alltbeithe Hostel.
Section 10 Knoydart. We transferred the 2 Munros by Loch Lochy to the Roy Bridge team and then felt that, given reasonable conditions, 2 teams ought to be able to climb the remaining hills in the section; one team carrying-in to the Western end and the other team concentrating on the Munros around the head of Loch Arkaig and around Loch Quoich. Then both teams would amalgamate for an assault on The Saddle and the others South of Glen Shiel. Nonetheless there remained an element of risk, the carrying party had a tight schedule and no one knew the peripheral hills where the going could prove to be rough. Thus we deemed it prudent to cater for an overlap on the South of Glen Shiel (i.e. certain Munros to be climbed by more than one team) and to arrange a meeting point at Shiel Bridge where the section 10 teams could meet those from section 11 as well as those coming from Skye.
Working out routes as I have just described was an enjoyable and satisfying experience but the planners were only too aware that the Y.R.C does not take kindly to being told what to do, and that they, the planners, must do no more than the bare minimum. Once members had been allocated to an area, the rest was up to them.
We did not anticipate that there would be access problems nor did we think that small teams would experience any diffculty in finding camping sites, but we double-checked by asking friends who had themselves done all the Munros. They did not think there would be any difficulties; nor, in fact, were there.
The last point that we thought had to receive some consideration was the method of communicating between the teams and base; it would be tragic if the scheme were to founder because of some misunderstanding over the telephone. For example, imagine the risks if members had to identify peaks by name; not only does the same name occur more than once in the tables, but the variations in pronounciation are legion. It was decided therefore that each man would be given an area reference number and that we would refer to Munros by their number in the Tables. There were really only two reasons why a team would want to ring in. The first was to report success and the second was to ask for help, and in the latter case it was vital that base received concise information. For this reason we worked out a standard form of telephone procedure and all teams were asked to adhere to it. There was a good deal of discussion about the best way of forming the telephone link. What was necessary was to persuade some long-suffering soul, or family of souls, to man a telephone anywhere in Britain and to relay messages on to the President as he made his routine evening call; exactly how the President was then going to get in touch with the team that was in trouble was no so clear. In the event, none of that mattered as, by great good fortune, one of our senior members, Duncan Brown, agreed to act as co-ordinator, and, what was even better, to spend the week at a hotel in Roy Bridge while doing so. This was an excellent arrangement and the liaison between Duncan and the President was so close that there was never any need to leave messages; one got one’s answer there and then.
So much for the planning. The President had meanwhile found a good camp-site near Roy Bridge and the last circular had gone out. Interest had, by this time, quickened considerably, the tally of those intending to take part had comfortably passed the level set by the most optimistic of the planners, and, the club showed its fettle by knocking off the Lakes 3000’s at an April Meet with snow on the ground, and all was set to go. The only thing that was not set was the weather. All through May the cold and wet continued and it was apparent that there would be more snow than one normally expects and most members thought it prudent to include an axe. In fact, the weather was patchy, the West did not have a bad week; elsewhere the cloud was down on most days and certain districts had quite a heavy fall of wet spring snow.
If we were to do it again, what would we change? The answer probably is very little given the same cross-section of people involved. The administration was unobtrusive yet effective. There were two occasions when reserves were called out (in one case a member suffered a sprained ankle midway through the week and that left two groups of hills to be covered and in the other case the weather threw a group behind schedule) and in both instances the communications procedure worked without a hitch. I think the planners were justified in calculating their timings off Naismith plus 25% and I think the areas allocated were reasonable for the people involved. Admittedly there were young and fit teams who made light of their tasks and finished well ahead of schedule but most people went round about on par for the course while one or two groups had to contend with adverse conditions and had a struggle to finish on time.
In conclusion; the meet was an undoubted success and reflected credit on the wholehearted commitment of all involved. I think it achieved its objectives. There is no doubt that it generated a considerable amount of good-will amongst friends and that members felt, with satisfaction, that they had played their part in allowing the club to achieve all it set out to do. I believe most people were satisfied with the degree of challenge which they, personally, had to face. No doubt, if the weather had been better, we could have managed with fewer people, and perhaps then it would have been a bit too easy. So let us conclude, in a perverse sort of way. by saying thank you to the British climate which, by its very waywardness, made the meet the memorable occasion that it was.
Appendix 1. Summary of Areas, peaks and members
| Code | Area | Munro Section Number | Peaks by Munro number | Members and Guests |
| A | Far North | 15,16 | 253,189,154,140,254,249,55,172,170,206,82 | Ron Goodwin,Simon Goodwin,Ian Goodwin |
| B | Fannaichs & An Teallach | 14 | 267,190,246,109,153,276,69,70,137,135, 238,51,262,41,204,210,261,239 | Mike Hobson, Peter Chadwick, Howard Rutter |
| C | Torridon & Slioch | 13,14 | 240,191,258,160,72,105,117,169 | Bill Lofthouse, Ken Aldred |
| D | Strathfarrar & East of Achnashellach | 12 | 148,149,56,79,252,275,122,74,136,219,158 | Ian Crowther, John Whalley, David Judson, Peter Standing, Harvey Lomas, Glyn Edwards |
| E | North Glen Affric & Sgurr na Lapaich | 11,12 | 40,73,150,22,28,64 | Clive Rowlands and Friend |
| F | Five Sisters & Glen Affric | 11 | 66,102,194,91,129,163,46,32,131,42,200, 269,97,21,164,264,13,11,125 | Derek Smithson & Brian Portas |
| G | Knoydart to Glen Shiel | 10 | 156,188,202,88,113,207,128,265,215,230,108, 101,93,143,214,155,107,166,116,126,268,118,221 | Alan Kay, Howard Humphreys, John Barton, Cliff Cobb |
| H | Feshie, West Cairngorms Monadh Liaths | 8&9 | 111,34,5,52,256,220,263,247 | Stanley Marsden, Victor Bugg |
| I | Ben Avon & East Cairgorms | 8 | 3,4,127,39,18,92,2,12,20,243,58,16,10 | Stephen Bugg, Jeremy Tremaene, Mark Fey, Chris Bound |
| J | Glas Maol, Cairnwell Tarf & Tilt | 6&7 | 67,157,68,112,77,98,84,217,222,177,241. 270,29,63,175 | Brian Nicholson, Don Mackay, Bob Chadwick, Jack Holmes |
| K | Glen Doll & Lochnagar | 7 | 199,198,114,139,248,213,19,33,80,229 | Cliff Large, David Large, Robin Payton |
| L | Nevis Glencoe, Etive | 3,4 | 31,141,168,152,201,60,142,85,250,54, 224,48,43,106,196,23,182,208,146,195,233, 132,104,120,228,30,71,162,165,95,133,49,138, 231,1,7,8,6,50,37,14,173 | David Smith, Harry Robinson, Derek Bush, Peter Moss, Barry Wood, Bill Lee |
| M | Loch Ericht, Loch Laggan, Loch Lochy | 4,9,10 | 47,38,25,94,53,260,78,24,110,226,203, 232,81,174,36,44,76,26,75,123,236,271 | The President, David Atherton, Dennis Armstrong, Adrian Bridge, David Stembridge, Andrew Stembridge, David Brown, Jack Oberlander, Eddie Edwards, Maurice Wilson, Duncan Brown, John Cullingworth, John Medley |
| N | Drumochter and part of Tarf & Tilt | 5,6 | 151,119,178,272,209,227,234,145,124,121,187 | Arthur Salmon, Roy Salmon, Frank Wilkinson, George Postill, R.G. Salmon |
| O | Glen Lyon to Bridge of Orchy | 2 | 57,87,167,186,99,193,244,9,35,134,45,65,257, 86,89,61,96,103,192,237,62,130,90,59,205 | Peter Swindells, Arthur Craven, Alan Brown, Mike Otter |
| P | Tyndrum & Crianlarich | 1 | 273,27,100,171,242,144,216,218,83,15,17 | Peter Clarke, Roy Wilson, Mike Thompson, Ralph Hague |
| Q | Arrochar Alps | 1 | 255,115,274,225,212 | Ray Harben, Mathew Harben |
| R | Lomond & Earn | 1 | 179,161,176,245 | John Hemingway, Neville Newman, Chris Newman, Jack Davenport, Pat Stonehouse |
| S | Skye & Sgriol | 17,10 | 185,235,197,266,181,184,159,211,147, 223,259,251,180 | Mike Smith, Mick Sutton, Duncan Mackay, Howard Papworth |
| T | Mull | 17 | 183 | Harry Stembridge |
Appendix 2. Extracts from the individual reports.
Section 2. Glen Lyon. Known by the locals as the glen of the 3 L’s. the longest, the loneliest and the loveliest glen in Scotland, Glen Lyon, together with its neighbour, Glen Lochay, has a splendid sense of remoteness. The hills on both sides of Glen Lochay, and on the North of Glen Lyon tend to be formless and featureless, their main challenge in poor visibility being navigational. They can generally be climbed with ease from more than one point; we planned our routes to give two parties approximately equal days, and as it worked out quite well the details are as follows:-
| Day | Mountain | Munro Ref | Climbed Feet | Walked Miles | Time Taken | Start Point | Finishing Point |
| 1. | (evening of arrival) | ||||||
| Meall Buidhe | 244 | 1750 | 5 | 2 3/4hrs | 508463 | 508463 | |
| Stuch an Lochan | 193 | 1850 | 5 | 2 3/4hrs | “ | ||
| 2. | CreagMhor | 167 | 4500 | 10 | 7 1/2hrs | 686477 | 620479 |
| CarnMairg | 87 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| MeallCarbh | 186 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Carn Gorm | 99 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Schiehallion | 57 | 2500 | 4 | 2 1/2hrs | 732564 | 732564 | |
| Meall Ghaordie | 89 | 2500 | 3? | 2 3/4hrs | 513422 | 513422 | |
| 3. | Beinn Heasgarnich | 61 | 4000 | 15 | 6hrs | 422348 | 422348 |
| CreagMhor | 96 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Sgiath Chuill | 237 | 3500 | 15 | 5 1/2 hrs | 453356 | 453356 | |
| Meall Glas | 192 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| N.B. can get a car up Glen Lochay as far as Batavaime. | |||||||
| 4. | Meall Greigh | 134 | 5500 | 10 | 7hrs | 680400 | 608378 |
| Meall Garbh | 35 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Ben Lawers | 9 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Beinn Ghlas | 45 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Meall nan Tarmachan | 86 | 1650 | 2 1/2 | 2 3/4hrs | 601392 | 601392 | |
| Meall Corranaich | 65 | 2650 | 7 | 4 3/4hrs | 608378 | 620479 | |
| Meall a Choire Leith | 257 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| 5. | BenChallum | 103 | 2700 | 6 1/2 | 4 1/4hrs | 355290 | 355290 |
| Beinn Dorain | 62 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Beinn an Dothaidh | 130 | 5500 | 12 | 9 3/4hrs | 327357 | 327357 | |
| Beinn Mhanach | 205 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Beinna Chreachain | 59 | 3750 | 8 | 6 1/4hrs | 322443 | 322443 | |
| Beinn Achaladair | 90 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| 6. | Tolmount | 198 | 3000 | 14 | 6 1/2hrs | 282762 | 282762 |
| Tom Buidhe | 199 | as reserve party | |||||
| 7. | Cairngorm | 5 | 2500 | 9 | 7 1/2hrs | 995053 | 995053 |
| BynackMore | 52 | as reserve party | |||||
| 8. | CarnLiath | 123 | 3000 | 4 1/2 | 3 hrs | ||
Total. 30 Munros. 50750ft 131 miles.
Section 6. West of the Cairnwell Pass. The following passage well illustrates the nature of the country. ‘Having absorbed all available information, spent some time gazing at the O.S sheet 43, and reading the relevant chapter of the S.M.C guide, we decided to walk in to the head of Glen Taitneach and set up camp, reviewing the situation in the light of the weather, visibility, and the look of the going. Next morning brought no improvement to the weather, so waterproofs on and away to try and find Beinn Iutharn Mhor, Carn an Righ, Glas Tulaichean and Carn Bhac. Once we got into cloud, visibility was down to about 30ft. Aim was B.I.M but, with usual Y.R.C distrust of things mechanical, compass was ignored and a fence thought to be county boundary was followed until it became obvious it was something else. Soon the party found themselves on the last summit of the group instead of the first. Identified by a ‘thank God’ trig point. The only hill in the area that had one. Despite the positive landmark and careful bearings the next two peaks took rather longer to find than we had expected. We had hoped to do C.B as well with this lot, though having sampled the Cairngorm stuff we realised that to set out to cross some three miles of pathless bog and tussock to find a hill with no obvious summit needed more careful consideration. Carn Bhac translates into The Hill of the Peat Hags and has three summits spread over some one and half miles, just like Kinder without paths or obvious landmarks like the Downfall.
Our next camp site was just off the A93, six miles South of Braemar. From there we intended to knock off the remainder of our task, C.B and An S (An Socach). Most foolproof method of dealing with C.B seemed to be to drive to Inverey and walk up Glen Ey for about six miles which left us with just a couple of miles to walk up the Alt na Clach Geala at the head of which lay the soggy mass of C.B. A gamekeeper we spoke to on our way up the glen gave us a great feeling of confidence by saying that he could find the summit of C.B but inferred that anyone else would be lucky. . . .we realised why when we reached the top and spent about an hour and a half wandering about among the peat hags in a snowstorm with zero visibility, wondering which heap of stones was the summit. An Socach, by comparison, was easy. A real path took us to within a mile and a half of the top and started from the A. A box on the A93 at 141836.
Section 10. Knoydart. South of Loch Arkaig. First thoughts among the planners were that the three Munros in this area might be done in one hard day. A second look at the map made them think otherwise and here is the report from those who actually did them.
‘Gaor Bheinn (Gulvain) The SMC recommended route is from Glenfinnan from the South but for logistical reasons we were going in from the North and at the end of the day it was easy to see why the South approach is preferred. The first obstacle was the Leac na Carnaich ridge which we crossed at about 410m, with a corresponding drop into Gleann Camgharaidh, followed by a climb around the shoulder of Braigh nan Uamhachan to a very windy col and a steep tussocky ascent in thick mist to the ridge of Gulvain. The ridge connecting the South and North (main) summit is a pleasant grassy stroll, narrowing to a short rocky section at the North end. Not wishing to retrace our steps we came off the North ridge and had no problems crossing the Allt Camgharaidh but still had to recross the Leac na Carnaich ridge. The whole area is extremely wild and the ground is consistently rough for walking.
Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr nan Coireachan. These two peaks, over 2 map-miles apart, connected by a ridge never dropping below 740m, containing two un-named and two named tops, are an obvious one-day execursion. As in the case of Gulvain, the S.M.C recommend approach from the South and again we did them from the North. The differences between the North and South approaches are not as marked as with Gulvain. We crossed the River Pean by stepping stones about one mile East of Gleann Pean bothy and continued up steep grassy slopes to the summit of Thuilm. In fine weather the ridge must be a delight but in the prevailing conditions of thick mist and high wind we only got intermittent views from the drops in the ridge – views of a total wilderness, of numberless and unnamable peaks, the only softening touch being a glimpse of Prince Charles’ monument at the head of Loch Shiel. The East – West traverse is recommend and a look at the map confirms why. From Sgurr nan Coireachan the N.E ridge leads directly down to the Gleann Pean bothy and forms a straightforward way down and a leisurely stroll brought us back to Strathan. The bothy is being renovated and, vandals permitting, will make an excellent starting point for some very interesting country.’
West Knoydart. This team set off from the bothy at A Chuil carrying food for 5 days and intending to pick up their car at Kinloch Hourn at the end of their trip (the car having been ferried round by the other two). They climbed to the bealach between Sgurr nan Coireachan and Garbh Chioch Mhor, dumped their sacks, knocked off those two and descended to camp at the extreme West end of Loch Quoich. Next day they travelled with the minimum of gear, climbed Sgurr na Ciche, returned to camp for lunch, polished off Sgurr Mor and then moved camp to under the North East ridge of Luinne Bheinn. Next day they climbed both Luinne Bheinn and Meall Buidhe and moved camp to Barrisdale; finally, on the day after, they climbed Ladhar Bheinn and commenced their walk out to Kinloch Hourn, eventually camping two miles west of the road.
Section 11. Kintail and Glen Affrie. This party started by walking in to Alltbeithe and the extract begins as they are about to climb the hills on the North of Glen Affric. ‘We left the hostel at 7.ooa.m. to start our six Munros, which kept us busy for over 13 hours. The cloud was still low and the wind very cold. Our log forecast route-finding difficulties.
We chose the middle one of the three paths leading up from Glen Affric and this turned out to be a reasonably good choice. Nothing could make this an easy day, but a lot of thought went into reducing the strain. This was the first of four days, not a last effort; so we walked down the glen for about half an hour and then turned North, up to Bealach Coire Ghaidheil. From here we turned East, then North East, up to the unique cairn on Mam Sodhail. The ridge was reasonably defined, but visibility was so bad that a unique cairn was necessary to identify the top. The cairn was round and hollow with a wet visitor’s book in a plastic box, in a metal box. The climb into the hollow centre was made interesting by the sheath of ice formed by the combination of wind and moisture.
After Man Sodhail we followed the ridge carefully North over Carn Eige and onto Beinn Fhionnlaidh after which a steady pace took us down to the bealach and up onto An Socach where we met a group of armed services personnel who had been at Alltbeithe the night before.
After pausing for a few words, we continued Westward across the bealach and then traversed across Coire nan Dearcag to join the ridge at its lowest point between Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan and Mullach na Dheiragain. Leaving our ice axes to lighten the load, we trudged Northwards over two tops and finally abandoned our rucksacks for the final lift up onto Mullach na Dheiragain. We returned to the axes, collecting our sacks en route and then moved very slowly up the ridge to the top of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan. There was an easy walk down the East ridge and then we ran down the soft snow and then the path to Alltbeithe, a dram, food and rest for weary feet.
The extract continues with an account of their adventures on A’Chralaig and Mullach Fraoch choire.
“On returning to the campsite we met Alan Kay and Howard Humphreys who had been carrying heavy sacks in the wilds of Knoydart and then, later, Mike Smith and party who had been in Skye. There was a relaxed atmosphere as we had all completed our primary tasks and each had a fairly simple day for Thursday which would allow us ample time to attend the ceremonial ascent of mountain 123 with the President.
That night it rained and blew hard and next morning it was still raining although the wind had eased slightly and the cloud level appeared higher. We finally left the car at 10.15 wearing light cotton clothing under waterproofs and carrying the minimum of gear. We choose to ascend from the West side, An Coarann Mor, to gain shelter from the full force of the wind and to traverse the peaks with the wind behind us. As we walked up the glen, we could see new snow through momentary gaps in the cloud and considered the need for axes. However we believed we fit, the route short and we could not be stopped by a bit of new snow. We were wrong! As we mounted the hillside, we found difficulty maintaining our balance because of the strong wind and the driving rain turned to snow. At about 1500 ft we had a short conference which concluded we should seek shelter for something to eat and put on spare clothing. We still thought we could force it. At about 1800 ft we traversed into a gully, added some clothing and decided to retreat and quickly! We felt that the cold could kill us, and, if not, the 2 or 3 inches of wet snow on steep grass might. This was the position on what we thought was the sheltered side of the ridge.
What we did not realise was that we were off course. . . . . . . We slept 11 hours and equipped with our warmest clothing, ice axes, and plenty of food we set off again. This time we chose to ascend to a bealach just East of the ridge. With low cloud, this made route-finding more certain and the route less steep so that, if conditions were very difficult, we could force it. As we ascended, the expected cold strong wind of the last week failed to materialise. At the Bealach Choire a’Chait, there were only light winds and a visibility of about 15 yards. Shortly we met snow on the ridge; instead of it being old snow on the side of the ridge guiding us upward, we now had about 6 inches of new wet snow to walk in. At the time, we were not certain it was the bealach; we could see no paths, but the ground did fall away to the North-East. We turned due West up a steep and very wet hillside between outcrops of rock. After about a quarter of an hour we believed a slight ridge had formed and we were on route. The route began to turn to the North-West, as expected, and we met a series of cairns which led us to the summit. This was the only clearly cairned route we met and the visibility was too poor for us to understand why. Perhaps they were intended as a guide for descent because for us they started when the route-finding had become easier.
After the first summit, A’Chralaig and the top marked 1008, we were involved in knee-deep patches of snow. At one point there was a clear path traversing the East side across steep old snow covered with wet new snow which looked dangerous, so we stayed on the crest. This involved rock climbing and unstable wet snow for which we should have roped and would have been foolish to cross without ice axes. This was so difficult we did not return this way from the second summit, Mullach Fraoch-choire, but continued North and had a longer walk back. This was winter mountaineering under thawing conditions. The descent of the steep snow-covered grass was at its most hazardous and when balled snow caused a slip, then one seemed to accelerate immediately on hitting ground.
Sections 15 and 16. Everything North of the Garve/ Ullapool road. We will close these extracts from the area reports, as we began them, by showing the log of this group’s activities. Having a driver, they were able to make the interesting through route from East Rhidorroch to the Dirrie More but it would be unwise to assume that access up Glen Achall is always so readily available.
| Day | Mountain | Munro Ref | Climbed Feet | Walked Miles | Time Taken | Start Point | Finishing Point |
| 1. | Ben Klibeck | 189 | 2640 | 8 | 5 | 530268 | 575346 |
| 2. | Ben Hope | 253 | 3000 | 4 | 3 3/4hrs | 461478 | 461478 |
| 3. | Conival | 154 | 3350 | 10 1/2 | 7 3/4hrs | 251218 | 251218 |
| Ben More Assynt | 140 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| 4. | Ben Wyvis | 82 | 3250 | 8 | 5 1/2hrs | 411678 | 411678 |
| 5. | Seana Braigh | 254 | 5000 | 18 | 13hrs | 233940 | 276743 |
| 5. | Eididh nan Clach Geala | 249 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ |
| Meall nan Ceapraichean | 172 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Beinn Dearg | 55 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Con a Meall | 170 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| Am | 206 | “ | “ | “ | “ | “ | |
| 7. | Drive to Roy Bridge | ||||||
| 8. | Carn Llath | 123 | 3000 | 4 1/2 | 3 | ||
Total. 12 Munros. 22940ft 61 miles.