Meet Report: 10-13 February 2024 at Inbhirfhaolain, Glen Etive.

For YRC members who like their glens saturated with water rather than midges, a February trip to Glen Etive is highly recommended. The Club’s first recorded trip there seems to have been made by Wm Cecil Slingsby in April 1896, and the Club has been making use of the Grampian Club’s Inbhirfhaolain hut since the 1960s. Several members present had been regular attendees of Inbhirfhaolain meets over the years, including Alan Linford, attending what he feels may have been his last such trip after many visits over the years with  family and on Club meets. Alan braved the weather and the hut’s basic facilities and put in at least as many miles walking over the weekend as the rest of the group.

Thursday. David Large, Ignacio Corradini and Tom Spencer arrived at Inbhirfhaolain at around 5pm to find the key safe containing two and a half keys, rather than the expected three. After a period of uncertain and frustrated stuffing of wrong keys in wrong locks they established the broken key was, or, more accurately, had been, the one for the padlock on the main door of the hut. 

A quick survey was made of the impenetrable fortress that is Inbhirfhaolain, with mutterings of lock breaking, ice axes, large rocks and other tools of the trade. The trio resorted to a six-mile drive back to an area of phone reception and eventually a number was found for the hut warden in Dundee. Once David had persuaded the warden that a member of the YRC could sound so un-Yorkshire, information was provided: a spare key was to be found “under the 4th rock from the water butt”. Six return miles later, a faint hint of plastic could be viewed by torchlight among a mass of roots. A long-forgotten time capsule, no doubt placed by the founders of the Grampian Club. With a degree of expressive effort Tom unknotted the eight plastic bags, opened the plastic container therein and found The Spare Key. They were in.

Friday. David, Ignacio and Tom climbed ‘The Weep’ (200m III) on Sron na Creise, with thawing but good, thick ice on a frozen waterfall at about 500 – 700m altitude.

Saturday. Buoyed by the success of Friday’s icefall, David, Ignacio and Tom rose at 5, left shortly after 6 and were stomping up from the North Face car park on Ben Nevis by 7.30. What could go wrong in a team comprising a youthful student, a skilled horse vet and a middle-aged professor? Start with the middle-aged professor stepping on some ice outside the CIC, landing on his head and almost knocking himself unconscious. Possible concussion was assessed thoroughly by the vet over the next hour, pain killers (ibuprofen not ketamine) were offered then they continued, some more gingerly than others, into Coire na Ciste. Their target was Number Three Gully Buttress (Grade III/IV).  By 1.20 pm an enthusiastic youth and an energetic vet were constructing a belay below a considerable icefall. Having assumed he was heading to a winter meet with dreadful weather, David had wisely left any excess ice-screws and pitons back in Nottingham. It would be a challenging, super-icy route in a rope of three. The realisation at 1.30 that there was, at best, four hours of daylight left at was a further drain on the team’s spirits, except for the vet who dashed across the nearest snowfield and started building a toilet out of snow. Better there than the belay ledge. Relief.  Up Number Three Gully they went. The left branch was about Grade II and youthful enthusiasm tackled a crumbing cornice on the right. Sunshine, flat calm, good views and snow buntings greeted the team on top. Descent was by Number Four Gully then back to the car. A good time was had by all, in the end.

Having staged overnight at Stirling, Michael and Richard Smith stopped at Bridge of Orchy to bag Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh before continuing to Glen Etive.

Following a mid-morning arrival at the hut, Steve and Wendy Richards walked up Stob Dubh, a steep ascent into winter conditions and cloud which broke on the top, revealing good views including North to Ben Nevis. Having followed the ridge they dropped down to the col at Mam Buidhe and descended East to the Lairig Gartain for a walk in darkness back to the hut.

Aaron Oakes completed a solo ascent of Ben Starav, ascending via the North ridge and dropping down from Stob Coire Dheirg to gain the path N to the glen.

Other members travelling up on Saturday paused in Tyndrum to watch that day’s Six Nations fixtures.

Sunday. Six of the group – Toby Dickinson, Rebecca King, Michael Smith, Richard Smith, Richard Taylor (nursing a bruised tailbone), and Conrad Tetley – walked up Ben Starav via its North ridge. The ground was acceptable, with frozen turf from 600m and a few banks of neve. Snow showers turned to rain later in the afternoon, and visibility was down to about 50m on the top. The group split at Stob Coire Dheirg, Richard Smith and Conrad Tetley continuing East to Glas Bheinn Mhor before returning (and nearly catching) the remainder of the group who had descended to pick up the track along Allt nam Meirleach for the walk back to the car park in the dark. Happily, Richard Taylor completed the day without causing any further trauma to his tailbone; meanwhile, Rebecca demonstrated her mastery of the wet-snow-on-wet-grass conditions with an unscheduled crouching glissade, coming to a halt in the ‘Leaning Jowler’ position, thankfully with both pride and bones intact.

Aaron Oakes headed up to Glenfinnan for a successful ascent of Sgurr Thuilm.

Steve and Wendy Richards made an attempt on Bidean nam Bian before being foiled by poor conditions on the top: 10m visibility, snow and high winds. A steep ascent past Allt nan Easan waterfalls led into deteriorating weather and onto Stob Coire Sgreamhach. Serious cornices and poor visibility resulted in a turnaround at this point due to time remaining and prospect of dangerous descent routes. The return via the East side of Allt nan Easan waterfalls proved just as steep and time consuming as expected. 

Monday. The weather conspired to supress the enthusiasm of most attendees, save for Richard Taylor who got a lift to the head of Loch Etive to do a five mile amble back to the hut, incorporating an (unsuccessful) attempt to find his ice axe which had become detached on the previous day’s descent from Ben Starav. Some members took up the traditional poor-weather activity of ‘wandering around outdoor equipment shops in Fort William and trying not to spend any money’. Conrad and Toby returned from Fort William taking the ‘Clachaig variation’, passing Steve and Wendy Richards in Glen Coe conducting the other traditional poor-weather activity known as ‘mooching about’.

Tuesday. With the hut cleaned, tidied and left in good order for another party due in the same day, members were away from Inbhirfhaolain by mid-morning.

Steve and Wendy Richards took advantage of a gap in the weather to drive to Glen Coe and take the Lairig Eilde path prior to ascending to Mam Buidhe col then up Stob Coire Raineach in high winds and horizontal ice pellets. Their efforts were rewarded with both the summit and the view of a rainbow over Glen Coe on the descent. Worth the effort on what had initially looked like a poor weather day. They then drove to Crianlarich for supper with Toby who had driven East in the hope of better conditions on Ben Lawers. ‘Hope’ is, however, not a plan, and Toby bailed out in the face of deteriorating weather, retreating to Crianlarich.

Thank you to the Grampian Club for the use of their hut again, and to Richard Smith for taking on catering duties and delivering in both style and substance, including maintaining the club tradition of serving a haggis for dinner.

Attendees

Ignacio Corradini, Toby Dickinson (PM), Rebecca King, David Large, Alan Linford, Harvey Lomas, Aaron Oakes, Steve Richards, Wendy Richards, Michael Smith, Richard Smith, Tom Spencer, Richard Taylor, Conrad Tetley