Wednesday 14 September 2016

Aonach Mor Scrambling

Today I took long term client Alan somewhere new (and Mick was out observing today too). He'd climbed on the west face of Aonach Mor in winter but not in summer and he'd not done the west ridge of the peak (which we call Golden Oldy in winter- suitable as he's bit of a golden old himself). The scramble goes at about Grade 2 but is made a little more serious than the likes of the Aoanch Eagach say owing to the lack of travel. This means more loose rock and moss/lichen. It stayed dry for us but the cloud stubbornly hugged the summit ribs in a thin layer meaning only occasionally views until we got back to the top of the gondola and the cafe where we enjoyed a brew in the sunshine on the balcony.
We did get lucky with a few views during the day and the route would be cleaner with more travel- the narrow bits are quite spectacular with good drops on either side!
View up the Glen
 Our route poking out amongst the cloud
 A clear spell
 Back in the mist
 The 'golden oldy' himself!
 Another view
 Take a seat!
The thin bit!