PERTH MOUNTAINEERING CLUB

(Junior Mountaineering Club of Scotland - Perth Section)

www.perth.mountaineeringclub.co.uk

Newsletter - April 2003

Editor’s Notes

The last three months has had some mixed weather, culminating in a very fine spell towards the end of March. Snow has been in short supply for the cross country skiers but some of the gullies in the Northern Corries in the Cairngorms have been in condition, helped by some fine freeze/thaw conditions. There is little of any consequence on any summits below about 3500 ft. and a couple of days ago I was able to do a complete traverse of Broad Cairn and associated Munros without touching a patch of snow anywhere – quite unusual for March in Scotland. Attendance at Meets has also been variable with the best numbers paradoxically coinciding with the worst weather. As Ron Payne mentions in his report, it is difficult to predict the attractiveness of a particular venue at any one time. Some old favourites are in the pipeline for the coming months – Strawberry Cottage in Glen Affric, camping in Glen Brittle and the Ling Hut in Torridon giving us full exposure to the mountains west of the Great Glen. A well attended slide evening helped to pass the worst of the winter evenings, as did Peter Hemming’s lecture at the joint PMC/PSNS meeting. These are reported on more fully later in the Newsletter.
The Land Reform Bill grinds its way through the Committee stages of the Scottish parliament and the revised version will hopefully come through largely unscathed. In practice I suspect that it will make little difference to access, with the whole issue being still based on the ‘Access Concordat’ which was in place before. At times, though, it is difficult to credit the Scottish Parliament with any sense, and there is an ongoing battle at present over the boundaries of the proposed Cairngorms National Park, with the whole of Highland Perthshire being more or less excluded. Even to one not wholly committed to the concept of National Parks in Scotland it seems a bit of a nonsense to exclude an area which is so essentially a part of the Grampians.

Reports of Meets Past

Blackrock Cottage : 11th & 12th January

During the course of the weekend the following members attended: Sue Adams, Donald Barrie, Richard Bott, Karen Campbell, Pamela Dutton, Alasdair Dutton, Peter Hemmings, Carolann Petrie, Steve Petrie, Beverly Robertson, Iain Robertson,(convener) Bob Ross and Alex Runciman.

Beverly and Iain, having traveled up earlier on the Friday had both fires going and a warm welcome for the rest of the party who arrived on the Friday evening. This was as well as it was a chilly evening with a frost that had lasted for some days; indeed Iain had to chip through six inches of ice to draw water from the burn,
The Saturday dawned frosty and clear and parties were soon on the move, though Alex had already departed at some ungodly hour before dawn in pursuit of a new ice climb in Glen Etive. The largest group, Karen, Peter, Pam, Alasdair and Sue headed down Glencoe to approach Sgor na h-Ulaidh from the Fionn Ghleann. Carolann and Steve traversed Bidean nam Bian while, below them, Richard and Donald searched out an ice climb. Alex too ended up on Bidean, there being insufficient ice for his purposes in Glen Etive. Beverly and Iain too were intent on Sgor na h-Ulaidh, but their approach was from the Glen Etive side via Corrie na Beinne. As with the other parties, they found but little snow, though the surface drainage had formed extensive sheets of ice which had to be treated with care. Later in the day the upper slopes were mist covered, but some were fortunate in being on the hill when breaks appeared with views down the Linnhe Loch to Ben More, Mull. That evening the now traditional Blackrock communal meal to celebrate the ‘Immortal Memory’ was much enjoyed.
Sunday was different altogether. The rain rained, the wind blew and all was desolate and dreich. Excellent reasons for not going on the hill were forthcoming and no one did.
(Many thanks are due to Iain for convening this meet at short notice when I had to pull out . Ed)

Day Meet : Braes of Balquhidder : 2nd February

Unlike recent day meets, this one was well attended: Desmond Bassett, Ulrike Bastle, Richard Bott, Lucia Bermude Carballo (guest), Alan Forsyth, Ray Lee, Colin Macmillan, Ron Payne, Carolann Petrie, Trish Reed (guest) , Phil Taylor and Iain Robertson (convening)

A fall of snow between 07.00 and 08.00 hours caused a certain concern over road conditions and there were mutterings about locations for a low-level walk, but the true spirit of the PMC came through and three cars left Perth, following in the wake of a friendly gritter. Thus to Inverlochlarig where the shortest day was chosen by all. This was Beinn Tulaichean and a crocodile trudged upwards through the blowing snow, none deviating from the trench which Richard energetically ploughed. At about 1,000 feet we caught up with another party which included Trish who, after waiting for an hour or so, had given the PMC up for lost. Drifting powder snow lying on steep wet grass; not the best of conditions and this explains our moderate upward progress. Further up the wind became stronger and it was bitingly cold; the cairn touched, we didn’t linger but headed north to the bealach and down east into the glen of the Inverlochlarig Burn. The slope was sufficiently steep and the powder snow sufficiently deep for bum slides and one of the young ladies was observed to complete her slide with a forward somersault – quite deliberately, unlike somersaults others of us have unwittingly performed in similar circumstances. And so we returned to the cars, all in good order. We graced the (other) King’s House with our presence before returning to Perth.

C.I.C. Hut : 7th & 8th February

Attending : Willie Jeffery and Phil Taylor (convening)

This meet started badly and finished in the same vein. Whilst driving to the hut a text message advised that two of the party had had to pull out due to illness. We arrived at the Torlundy car park to be greeted by a warm westerly breeze and a couple of cars. The walk in was wet underfoot and rather devoid of snow. As we gained altitude the wind increased and rain started, so the hut offered a welcome respite from the elements.
Saturday morning heralded even wetter and warmer conditions. On perusal the crags were shedding ice at a rapid rate and the snow looked very unstable. We allowed a few brave (foolish!) parties to depart and check out the conditions for an hour before returning soggy and confirming tout thoughts that climbing was out of the question.
So, with reluctance, we packed up and headed down to Torlundy. Maybe next year ….?

Glen Lichd : 14th& 15th February

Attending : Iain and Beverley Robertson, Ron Payne, Norrie, Dave Prentice (convener)

As with all good meets, the story of the meet started well before anyone had left Perth. Iain had warned that the key was late in arriving, despite an assurance from the Edinburgh University booking secretary that it had been posted, and mid-morning on Friday, I received a phone call saying it had not arrived. Alternative strategies were discussed – Rattagan YHA; a bunkhouse; a day meet. But the weather forecast was great; there were hills there which Norrie and I had not been up and the rest of the party (Ron) was keen to go up. It is on occasions like this that it is perhaps a relief not to have a fully-booked meet – though another car-full would have been nice. So it was not too difficult to periodically phone round and keep everyone informed of progress.
When Bev woke up (she was briefly on the critical path), Iain obtained the phone number for the flat of the hut booking secretary – who was at uni, but she had a very nice flatmate who was very helpful and she gave me the number of her mobile, and as it was by then lunch and as all students seem to spend inordinate periods of time on their mobiles (if my own daughters are anything to go by), I managed to get through.
“I can’t understand why you have not received your key. It was posted on Tuesday …….. I can even remember the address – it was Rosemount something”. “Blairgowrie?” I suggested, helpfully. “Yes, that’s right”. The key being posted to the wrong address was one of the possible scenarios Iain and I had discussed earlier – but Bev had specifically requested the key be sent to her address, not the one on the booking letter.
A phone call to Blairgowrie just confirmed that Alan and Sheila were not in. But Iain had Alan’s office number and Alan has a very nice and helpful secretary who gave me his mobile number. Alan was driving along somewhere near Stirling, but not in the direction of Perth. Now Alan was also very nice and helpful, but neither he nor Sheila were going to be back in time and the neighbour with the spare key was out. It was beginning to look as though a rucsac re-pack suitable for a stay at the YHA was becoming more likely.
However I had phoned the booking secretary to update her on our progress (or rather lack of it) and she’d confirmed she had a spare key and was going back to her flat. It was 1.30 when I phoned her. As she seemed an especially nice and helpful person, I had thought of a cunning plan. I am not quite sure how she managed it – students have ways and means – but she managed to get to the bus station by 2.00pm in time to chat up the bus driver (who must also have been a nice and helpful man) to take the key on his bus to Perth.
During the course of this, and the various rounds of phone calls, my packing had not exactly progressed to plan, so Norrie (who is always a nice and helpful man and lives not far away) went and duly collected the key. So at the back of 4.00pm, Ron, who also being a nice and helpful man had volunteered to take his car, arrived and we all set off, rather relieved no-one was going to be arriving at Glenlicht House expecting a lovely warm welcoming fire.
There was however a warm and welcoming fire at the Cluanie Inn where we stopped for sustenance and I revived, having slept much of the way up (due to some late nights), being vaguely aware en route of the full moon reflected in lochs and the black shape of mountains rising into a starry sky. It was past 9.00pm when Ron parked the car at the end of the track leading up Gleann Lichd. It was very cold and very clear as we walked with our quota of wood and coal the 100minutes or so up the glen, a first for Norrie and me, and a fine walk in it was, with no need for torches and the only problem being occasional icy patches gleaming in the moonlight. But we thought we had a problem when we arrived – the key would not open the padlock. After a few moments of mild panic, it reluctantly turned and the splendour of Glenlicht house was revealed. It is one step up from a good bothy – gas rings for cooking, a light in the main room and rather basic cooking utensils, crockery and cutlery being the differentiating factors. Also a reluctant water supply. I was pleased I had brought my arctic sleeping bag.
The water supply had fully frozen by Saturday morning so a washing-up bowl from the local burn became the water supply. The grandeur of the location was now fully apparent, the hut silhouetted against a cloudless sky, the first rays of sunlight touching the tops of the hills. It at least took our minds off the porridge which was meant to set us up for the day, but instead set us back – something to do with rather ancient oatmeal Ron said.
The sun was well down the north side of the glen as we trudged southwards in the shade over hard-frozen ground up Allt an Lapain towards the blue above. As we neared the bealach the silence was broken by the beating blades of a helicopter which circled low above, scattering a herd of deer. We weren’t sure whether we or the deer were the centre of attraction and conjectured it might be the local sheikh landowner and guests surveying his domain. We at least provided them with a splash of colour against the winter browns.
When we reached the bealach, our view perhaps approached that from the helicopter – but they had none of the inner satisfaction of the 700m climb, or so we told ourselves. The view was stunning. Along the ridge to the west the snow-capped Five Sisters; beyond them the Cuillin of Skye; further round the Cuillin of Rum; the Cluanie Ridge and many other peaks to the south; Glen Shiel way below and to the north, the Torridon hills. As we ascended Saileag, the vistas got even better with the Ben coming into view and I found it hard to understand why my (old) Western Highlands guide dismisses it as a ‘most uninteresting hill which has been fitly described as a mere swelling of the ridge where the mountain spirit has turned in his sleep and lifted the coverlet a little’. Perhaps that may be the case coming over the Five Sisters, but not for us.
Norrie descended from there to the north while Iain, Ron and myself continued east to Sgurr a Bhealaich Dheirg, which is at least described as ‘a very picturesque and finely situated summit’. But Iain’s appreciation was somewhat tarnished by the onset of cramp – in fact the worst cramp he had ever suffered, and then another attack which superseded the former as the worst cramp he had ever suffered. After a few iterations, he no longer needed to convince us he was in agony and the easiest way down became the imperative. Instead of going down the north ridge, we headed for Coire nan Eun. At the initial hard-frozen snow slope Iain decided to put on his crampons and as we looked up we wondered why he was taking so long. It materialised that cramp and crampons did not go too well together and he couldn’t bend to put them on.
We got to the watershed on the main track through to Glen Affric where the waters to our right drained to the North Sea and those to the left into the Atlantic just as the last light faded at 6.00pm. It took another long slow two hours to get to the hut. Again there was no need to use head torches, but this time the moon was behind us and there was a lot of ice on the track which made things difficult especially when we were in the moon shadow. Ron led the way, shouting warnings to us when he located (or on some occasions, failed to locate) ice. Norrie’s fire was appreciated even more than his account of eagles circling beneath him and an improvised communal meal, wine and whisky did wonders for Iain’s cramp.
The one drawback of Glenlicht house is that when one is faced by another glorious day there is a 1000m haul up to the tops and there was an unspoken understanding that an alternative might be the preferred option. Lunch and a pint at Kintail Lodge, (where a local surprisingly said that Glenlicht House had been a school), fitted the bill, followed by a drive to Glenelg and a leisurely stroll through the woods to the site of Camusfearna where there is a memorial to Tarka the otter immortalised by Gavin Maxwell. All that was left was for Ron to chauffeur us back, but by then the sky had clouded over and the magic of the weekend was another memory.

Day Meet – Braemar : 2nd March

Attending ; Bev and Iain Robertson, Trish Reed (Guest) Ron Payne (Convener)

Ron Payne writes: After all my years in this club I have still to master the strange art of predicting members’ interest in any particular outing. Take today, a destination with broad appeal and a good forecast; alright, limited ski touring potential but a day for the hills definitely. And the meet could have fitted into one car! Having just enthused about the forecast why was it raining as I arose from my bed? Fortunately this was to prove the remnants of the overnight weather front and not a taster for the day.
Iain indicated a desire to ascend An Socach from Baddoch, oddly for Iain not a route he has trod previously. Well why not, and Iain met up with Trish in the High Street - what a brave soul twice out with this club and from Edinburgh too - and collected me from my lair in Wolfhill and we whisked up to Baddoch. We noted in passing that the lack of interest in the day extended to the skiing fraternity also, they being rather thin to non existent in the car park as we passed over Glenshee. And we arrived at Baddoch to have a complete choice of parking. Where are all the people wondered we? The answer was swift arriving in the form of several cars from the Braemar direction. Was breakfast late in the hotels and B & Bs of this wonderful village this morning? Well we enquired not having secured our pole positions, booted up and headed up the glen.
We soon arrived at the burn running down from Coire Fhearneasg at the north east end of this great whale back of a mountain. Seeking an easier crossing we ascended the wee path alongside. Soon we could delay no longer and found that far from easier it was much more tricky, the evidence of this being the wet boots and trews the party had to endure for the near future. And so we wended up onto the wee outlying top of Socach Mor then girding our loins - well it sounds good whatever it means - we plodded up the soft patches which passed for snow to the north east top of An Socach. Here the flaw in our planning was exposed. The walk to the main summit would have the wind on our nose. Alright, it was not too strong being only fresh; however, it was at this stage that the odd showers of hail cum snow decided to arrive. The prize was in the wonderful views, the juxtaposition of the cloud and sun. Altogether a fair reward for the odd shower. In any case the cameras were kept busy.
The return was prosaic, the wind now blowing from behind we slanted down the mountain towards the route of ascent. Well it had to be better than the hard track far below. We relieved our boredom at one point by a scientific investigation into the structural properties of snow by hurling this in ball form down the slope. I have to report no great conclusions were reached. The remainder of the walk out was accomplished without incident. Feeling the need to refresh various parts we stopped at the Spittal Hotel at which Iain was feted, well slightly. One year ago he was replumbed in the heart department. Well done sir! I can’t wait to have the same so I can keep up.

Raeburn’s Hut, Newtonmore : March 29th & 30th

Present, Beverly and Ian Robertson, Jessie and Graham Crowder, Ron Payne, Alan Bailey (convening) Part timers included Sheila Bailey, Trish Reid, David Prentice, Alaister Dutton and Des Bassett.
The full time contingent duly arrived on Friday night with the majority quickly moving over the hill to the Monadliath hotel for a swift half or three! Saturday dawned somewhat cloudy and showery and with most members having a definite plan there was not a lot of swithering. A party comprising Iain, Bev, Ron and Des explored the remoter northern parts of Creag Megaidh, starting from the head of Glen Roy and traversing the hill to Moy Cottage on the Loch Laggan road. This side of the hill provides a completely different outlook on the mountain and a good stalkers’ path helped the group to quickly follow up the unfrequented but lovely glen containing the Burn of Agie, before striking across easy ground to Meagaidh’s summit. Dave Prentice, meanwhile, was dropped off on the Glen Spean road, climbed An Cearcallach and then dropped down to an unlikely rendezvous with the others at the junction of two burns. A splendid and different approach to this mountain. The other party of the Crowders, Alasdair and myself made our way from Whitewell to Braeriach by the central north ridge. The odd squall and snow flurry added to the splendid views, but it was not a day for hanging around on the top due to a biting wind. Snow was severely lacking with only the odd extensive patch. Very sad! An early exit off the hill was rewarded with hot chocolate and apple pie in Alec’s café. Everyone later pitched in to enjoy a communal meal with the part timers descending like a herd of locusts to the feast. Ron has several hundred metres of spaghetti available at a very cheap rate!
On Sunday Bev and Ian repeated Dave’s ascent of An Cearcallach, whilst the Crowders, Baileys and Ron had fun with Geal Charn and the river crossing. This was a clearer day than Saturday with splendid views and a brisk wind from the west. All in all, a really satisfying weekend.

Slide Shows and Lectures

The joint PSNS/PMC lecture in late January attracted a good turn out from both societies, and was given by Peter Hemmings, who talked about his trip to the southern part of Greenland in August 2002. It was well tailored to a mixed audience of mountaineers and naturalists, with some superb slides of the mountains and general environment. Having flown over the area on the way to America recently I can vouch for the spectacularly nature of the scenery with a multitude of knife-edge ridges and tottering pinnacles. Peter and his party did a number of excellent routes, the difficulties of which were only hinted at. An ever abiding memory was one of the whole party being constantly dressed in an anti-insect hood to keep off the millions of flies that seemed to infest the area. Towards the end of February Phil Taylor hosted the ‘President’s Evening ‘ An impressive number of club members ventured across into darkest Fife to attend the annual slide show. The diversity of venues and quality of the slides made for an interesting and enjoyable evening. Areas covered included the Sierra Nevada, the Pyrenees, Australia and trekking in the Himalayas, as well as ski touring in the Sivretta region of Switzerland and ice climbing in Colorado. Thanks are due to all who attended and to Karen Taylor for the catering – especially the hot nuts!

The Mountainmind Quiz, 2003

As due reward for winning the quiz in 2002 the club was saddled with the organisation of the competition for 2003, which was held in the Dewar’s Centre on March 19th. Fourteen teams submitted themselves to a grilling that involved identifying 100 slides and answering 24 verbal questions on all aspects of mountaineering. The Grampian Mountaineering Club came first in the preliminary rounds, beating second-placed Atholl Wanderers by a full 6 marks, but they came unstuck in the head-to-head final when some fiendishly difficult and at times obscure questions combined to bring them down. So Atholl Wanderers won the Mountainmind trophy and the dubious privilege of hosting next year’s competition. Thanks are due to all the club members who helped in the organisation, but especially to Iain Robertson, Graham Nicoll, Dave Prentice and Donald Barrie for all the hard work that they put into organising a most enjoyable and successful evening, and for sorting through hundreds of potential questions. One or two knowledgeable members of the club struggled to match the winning teams as they tried to answer (unofficially) the wide variety of questions.

Items of interest?

The Dundee Climbing Wall is on stream, which is just as well since Hadrian’s Wall at Falkirk closed down when it was bought out by a local trading operation. Although I have yet to savour its delights first reports are favourable and encouraging. Dave Pritchard was quite impressed saying that the routes were well set and that there was a good spread of grades, which he found to be a touch on the soft side! ( Other more mortal climbers have found them quite demanding!) One thing is certain; it is definitely more accessible to those based in Perth and Dunkeld, involving as it does a twenty mile journey rather than a forty mile one.
There is an annual membership fee of £10 and then an entrance fee of £5.50 at peak periods and £4.50 at other times. If you are an occasional user you can pay a registration fee of £1 on each visit, although it may involve filling out a form on each visit. An annual fee of £285.00 allows unlimited climbing but a quick calculation suggests that you have to visit fifty times a year to benefit from it. The telephone number is 01382 201901 and the address is 7, Blinshall Street, Dundee DD1 5DF.

Tiso’s in Dundee are running a club discount night on Wednesday 30th April from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.. 15% of all products (except books, maps, canoes and GPS where only 10% is available) and 20% of all tents. Club Members, of course, receive 10% off purchases at Mountain Supplies, as well as up to 25% at the Christmas Club night.

Grahame Nicoll had a few days in Norway courtesy of a cheap Ryanair flight and reported some excellent ice climbing and slightly frostbitten feet, which are now fortunately recovering. Willie Jeffrey also found excellent ice climbing in Colorado though a rucsack related injury reduced the amount of available climbing time.
Mel Nicoll is kindly convening the Club’s Annual Dinner this year; it will be an ‘away dinner’ held at the Loch Maree Hotel on Saturday 29th November. The dinner price is £20 and b & b has been negotiated at a special rate of £15 pppn. which is extremely good value. Why not make a weekend of it and maybe bring a spouse, partner or friend for a weekend away? There is much to do in this beautiful area – Slioch, Ben Eighe, Baosbheinn, etc and there is the tantalising possibility of being able to access the splendid Fisherfield peaks by arranging a boat across Loch Maree from the hotel Who knows, maybe the hills will be dusted with the first snows of a hopefully wintry winter. For more information contact Mel.

On Saileag - Glen Lichd Meet, February.