As the year drew to a close, I found myself embarking on an unforgettable adventure with my mountaineering club to celebrate Hogmanay. This journey was not just a testament to the joy of mountaineering but also a humbling lesson in the importance of planning, skills, and quick thinking.
The Importance of Planning
After analysing the mountain weather reports I knew that a storm was due to roll in by midday. Meticulous planning was crucial to enjoy my solo winter hike. It would be a race against time to ascend and then descend the mountain before the weather turned hostile. This required a detailed understanding of timing, map reading, and gauging the speed of my travel, all decided upon the night before I stepped outside the hostel. Each step was calculated, each moment on the mountain, a play of precision and my strategy.
The next morning I set out in darkness and caught the stunning pink sunrise over the Northern Corries where I enjoy winter climbing each season. However, an old proverb played on my mind making me feel very certain that the sky was an indication of terrible weather to come.
“A red sky in the morning is a shepherds warning.”
There is truth in this saying despite it being old lore. According to meteorologist articles the red sky is present when high pressure moves east and is indicative of poorer weather and low pressure to come. In other words, here comes my storm!
A Rookie Error at the Summit
Reaching the summit was exhilarating, but it was here that I made a rookie navigation 101 error that could have cost me dearly. Rushed by the low visibility, plummeting temperatures and the strong southerly winds ushering in the storm, I neglected to take my bearings.
In the Cairngorms, such winds are notorious. They sweep over the plateau, gaining speed and force, bringing blizzard and whiteout conditions frequently. That day, the winds were bearing down on me with unrelenting fury and my visibility was reducing by the minute.
The Basic Mistake
In my haste to descend, I followed another hiker’s path visible in the distance. This decision, seemingly inconsequential at the moment, led me astray. It was not in fact a path. When the land around me didn’t match my expectations, a sinking realization dawned upon me – I’ve made a mistake. This intrusive thought threatened to smash my confidence into pieces if doubt about my choices that day.
Avoiding Panic, Embracing Skills
The typical solution in such scenarios is to backtrack to the last known location. However, the fierce winds made ascending back up to the summit an impossible feat. Panic threatened to overwhelm me but I knew I had to control it to make it home safely. With a deep breath and refocusing, I drew upon my skills and knowledge, first deciding that my ultimate goal was to descend the mountain. Check! I’m already descending. Then, I had to identify my location using my map reading skills, taking in the shape of land around me and orienting my map before the visibility was too poor to see my surroundings. Lastly I would properly take bearings from where I was to where I wanted to be and head off in the correct direction.
In winter when the cloud descends on snowy, featureless terrain it can be difficult to tell up from down and mountaineers easily become disorientated. Fortunately I have navigated in whiteout and darkness before now. Once I had my location and direction of travel I decided against going back up the ridge. Staying low would allow me to stay out of the most powerful wind, save my energy and I would aim off to my path at the other end of the ridge, intersecting the route I planned to descend by. My plan had changed, but, I had a new plan for my new situation.
A Challenging Detour
Opting for safety, I skirted around the mountain’s side, trudging through deep snow, frozen bog, and thick heather shrubs. It was a physically draining choice, but necessary, as the ascent in high wind would exhaust me faster. A new danger faced me in this rough terrain as one wrong step could result in injury, immobilization, and a grim wait for rescue, all the while battling the onset of hypothermia. Step by step I stuck to my plan and made forward progression carefully and constantly risk assessing my course.
Navigation Success
After about an hour of strenuous trekking, I finally reached the descent path. My navigation was confirmed by a thin, weakly trodden path, a Beallach to my right (Gaelic for mountain pass), and the Glenmore Forest and Loch Morlich to my left. The land looked as I expected now. Yet, the journey was far from over.
The Treacherous Descent
Descending the frozen track required utmost caution to avoid slipping and the forest presented its own set of challenges. The storm had felled eight large trees, forcing me to crawl and clamber over the obstacles. This route, while shielded from the wind, posed a different danger – the weakened, swaying tall pines threatened to topple in the escalating wind.
Safely Out of the Woods
As I hastened through the forest, alert to the sounds of swaying and potentially falling trees, I eventually emerged onto the paved road near the visitor center. The contrasting scene of children playing in the snow and the bustling reindeer center was surreal. I thought of my own children, imagining us all enjoying a family trip to see the reindeer, and how fortunate I was to safely navigate my way back down from the mountains.
Reflections and Gratitude
Every safe return from the mountains is a moment of gratitude I hold dear. Over the years, I’ve honed my skills and knowledge through training and sharing the experience of peers. These have been instrumental in ensuring my safe return, allowing me to savor the majestic outdoors and the beautiful mountains of our country. Anyone choosing to venture into Scotland’s small and mighty mountains should heed warning to the volatile and unpredictable environment they are in. It’s imperative to learn the basic skills necessary to survive or to go with an experienced fellow mountaineer so that the experience can be an enjoyable one.
This Hogmanay adventure was a stark reminder of the unpredictability of nature and the importance of being prepared. It reaffirmed my respect for the mountains and the need for continuous learning and cautiousness, even as an experienced mountaineer. The mountains, in all their splendor, are as treacherous as they are beautiful, and each journey is a lesson in humility and respect for the natural world.
Leave a ReplyCancel reply