Over the past week I've been on a Mountain Leader Award Training course run by
Steve Spalding. Our base for the week was Fearnan on Loch Tay with the three others from GWC. Steve came to meet us in the morning of the first day and we headed up the road into Glenlyon and parked up close to Macgregor's Leap. We headed straight up the steep slopes towards Lochan Creag a' Mhadaidh. The focus today was on pacing and estimating distance & time. We all measured our number of paces over 100 metres and tried out different slope angles; looking at how our paces were effected. Next we looked at different speeds and techniques for moving over different terrain. I found it very useful and interesting to see how pace and time could vary so much over a mixture of simple and complex ground. We finished up back at base and got a brew on while we reflected on today's main teaching points. Steve then showed us a few basic techniques with a rope and using some nearby picnic tables as anchors :) We were told that we would be putting this to more practical use in a more realistic setting the next day.
 |
| Some map and compass action |
We had an early start the next day, as we had to drive to Steve's house in Pitlocry. After a brew and a quick chat about the plan for the day, we headed out in the car and parked just up the road at the Ben Vrackie car park near Baledmund. As we headed north into the woods, we tried to put our new-found counting steps knowledge into practice between the footbridges that were marked on the map - with some mixed results! We pressed on to Loch a' Choire, passing through Poll gun Toin between Creag Bhreac and Stac an Fheidh. It was a fine day weather-wise and I was sincerely glad to be out on such a fine hill. We grabbed a bite on the slopes overlooking the loch below and talked about types of food on the hill and the use of a GPS. Next, we headed up the steep scree slopes on the south side of Ben Vrackie. We looked at different techniques and tactics for moving over steep ground. When we reached the top, Catriona's compass was broken; luckily I happened to have a spare
Silva 4 and gave it to her. Over the next few minutes we used bearings and triangulation techniques to pinpoint our position on the map. Catriona soon noticed that her bearings were a full 180 degrees out and to our amazement the compass I had given her had flipped magnetic polarity! All very amusing as everyone accused me of giving her a joke compass :) It still worked as accurately as before; she just had to remember to follow the white end and not the red! We headed northwest towards Meall an' Daimh and then swung to the southwest and tried to find a way down through the crags. Steve gave us some tips on route finding over rocky terrain and I have to say it was very useful indeed. It was then time to get the ropes out and practice lowering down steep ground. We first looked at simple knots and anchor selection which wasn't that new to me to be honest but was interesting to look at it without having any shiny stuff to jam in the rock. The body belaying and the self abseil techniques were very useful skills to learn and also the use of direct belay around a rock. It was then time to practice the art of using a confidence rope, which is actually a lot harder than I had imagined it to be. On heading back down to the car park, Steve talked back over another great training day and recapped all we had covered throughout the day. Driving back to the hostel I knew I would sleep well that night!
The next morning was a little less practical; we once again headed to Steve's place and we went over a crash course in mountain weather and some useful places to find forecasts and synoptic charts. Steve also had a selection of useful books that he recommended to us; everything from birds to rocks. After our lecture, Steve took us up the hill to Glen Brerachan to practice some casualty care and evacuation techniques. It was this afternoon that, to my horror, the sole started to detach from my trusty
Meindl boots! Gutted... they had served my very well as I bought them way back in 2002 for my Outdoor Education course at Edinburgh University so I couldn't say that I hadn't got good wear out of them. Luckily, I had my pair of
Scarpa Manta in the car as a backup. On that sorry note, we finished up for the day and headed back to base for the night.
After a good nights sleep, we headed back to Pitlochry and met Steve on the banks of the River Tummel for some river crossings. The river wasn't particulary high, but we looked at different strategies and tactics for getting across; both as a group and individually. I had read about various tacktics in a number of books but never had the opportunity to put them into practice in the real world. Then it was time to get the rope out and really get wet. With the river being far from a raging torrent, it was difficult to get the idea of how effective the 'V' technique would be in fast moving water but it was still a very useful exercise. After getting dry, we headed back to Steve to plan our two day expedition. Looking at a few weather forecasts and listening to what Steve recommended; it was soon decided to head west towards Bridge of Orchy. Non of us had walked any of the hills in that area so we jumped at the chance to explore the area. Steve talked us through what equipment to take and split between us and then it was time to head back to base to pack our bags.
 |
| Where are we?! |
We set off early in a convoy of two cars towards Tyndrum on the A85. We parked one car at the station at Bridge of Orchy and then continued a little further north until we turned off and parked at Achallader. Leaving the car behind, we headed off into the unknown. The weather really was glorious and we all felt like we had been well and truly blessed as we walked along full of vitality. Our first goal was to cross the railway and gain some height, so after crossing at the footbridge we headed straight up into the northeast corrie of Beinn Achaladair. Here, we paused for a snack and to admire the stunning views north over Rannoch Moor. Now revitalised, we headed up the western slope of Meall Buidhe to gain another 200m in height. Then we traversed the slope heading northest around to Lochan a' Chreachain. Next, we headed straight up the steep west-facing slope to gain the ridge leading to the top of Beinn a Chreachain. It was a glorious day and we had great views of the hills in every direction. The only annoyance was the blustery wind in our face as we headed west along the ridge to the summit of Beinn Achaladair. As we walked along, we each took it in turns to lead a leg and we discussed what pace worked when moving over different terrain with our heavy bags. As expected, we quickly decided that walking slightly slower without as many stops was the way to go! The day was now getting on a bit so we started to think about a spot to camp. The main priority was definitely to get out of the wind! We headed down from the ridge to the east and found a nice sheltered spot down in Coire nan Clach. The ground was quite firm, not too boggy and we soon had our tents up and a cuppa brewing away. It was then time to get stuck into some well earned grub. Boil in the bag was the order of the day and I have to say that I took the opportunity to eat most of my food after a full on day and I knew we still had the night nav to come later on.
 |
| Campsite |
After a couple of hours recharging and chilling out, we once again ventured out into the hills. All remaining light had now well and truly disappeared, so it was head torches on for everyone. Our main aim for the evening was to bag Beinn Mhanach so the first thing we did was to discuss tactics. The general plan was to head for a few obvious features and split the route into shorter legs for each of us to lead. Martin was the first to be in charge and headed for the bealach to the southeast that was split by the boundary line. This was reached without much difficulty and then Paul took over and found the top of the crags that lay further eastwards. Catriona then led us south up the gentle slope to the bealach between Beinn Mhanach and Beinn a' Chuirn. It was then up to me to find the summit... which I did nae bother :) We then reversed the legs back to the tents. As visibility was good, due to the clear night, our first experience of night nav was a great success but I could imagine it being a lot more difficult in poor conditions. I was very relieved to crawl into my sleeping bag and get a good nights sleep; it had been a long day.
I woke with the inside of the tent very much resembling a sauna. Clearly it was another gloriously sunny day but inside the tent we were cooking! We sat outside and cooked breakfast in the sun; the perfect start to our last day of the training. Steve said that to start the day, we were to split into pairs and formulate a plan for how to attack Beinn a Dothaidh. Martin and I decided that it was important that we tried to loose as little height as possible so our plan was to contour around to the bealach just above Coire Daingean. Paul and Catriona had their own idea so we set off following our different routes. Steve initially started walking with Martin and I but after twenty minutes or so it became clear that Paul and Catriona had lost far too much height and had dropped way down below the crags of Coire a' Ghabhalach. Steve told us to continue on and bag the next top and instructed us to meet him at the spot height of 744m above Coire an Dothaidh. We parted and Martin and I continued on with our plan while Steve disappeared in search of the others. We bagged Beinn a Dothaidh without incident and then traversed along the ridge to the spot height of 1000m before heading down to meet up with Steve. By this time the heat of the midday sun was beating down on us and I remember the heat feeling almost relentless; almost too hot! We arrived at our meeting place to find Steve and Paul cooling their feet in a small pool at the bealach. Catriona had steamed up to bag the summit of Beinn a Dothaidh and wasn't too far behind us. After a quick bite we decided to stash some of our bags, as we had to return to this spot after bagging our next target; Beinn Dorain. On our way to the summit, we were each given a secret target to find in a kind of micro nav mock assessment exercise which proved to be very useful; as we got the chance to put everything into practice that we had learned over the week. At the top we were treated to a brilliant panorama through Glen Coe and over to Ben Nevis. It was then time to head down to Bridge of Orchy and round of a fantastic week. As we descended, Steve took each of us aside and chatted to us individually about how the week had gone. Personally, I thought it had gone really well and I was keen to put to use all the skills I had leaned from Steve.
 |
| Crew |
