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| Looking down on Arrochar from Ardgartan Forest |
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| Looking down on Arrochar from Ardgartan Forest |
After a distinct lack of winter in
Glen Clova, I had been keeping a close eye on the weather and the amount of snow in the highlands. It seemed that there had been a sizeable dump of snow recently and the avalanche risk was high as a result. However, after a quick chat, James and I agreed that a
Traverse of The Cobbler would be a pretty safe bet.
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| Heading up the path from Arrochar through Ardgartan Forest |
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| Looking down Loch Long from above Ardgartan Forest |
We left Edinburgh early and James drove in the dark to Arrochar. We had soon geared up and were leaving the shore car park, next to the turning for Succoth. We crossed the A83 and headed straight up the hill into the woods. We followed the old, wet mine track upwards until we met the main path that traverses the foot of Creag an Fhithich. We were still below the clouds and there wasn't much wind - more importantly, it wasn't raining - but it was hard going in our big boots and with our heavy packs. As we reached the main path, things around us were beginning to look quite wintery, and we had a great view down to Arrochar (still very green looking) below.
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| Looking along the Allt a' Bhalachain to The Cobbler |
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| A rather wintery-looking Cobbler |
We carried on and followed the path around to meet the Allt a' Bhalachain and into the full on Scottish winter weather. The cloud was low in front of us, but as we headed up the North banks of the river towards Coire a' Bhalachain, the mighty Cobbler emerged occasionally to greet us. As we got closer, we realised that we were going to need to head West sometime very soon... so we did... and we soon started swimming through waist-deep powder. Needless to say, it was tough going and as we approached the base of the 'ramp' at the bottom of the South Peak, the wind came rushing through from the West and things got rather 'chilly'.
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| A rather wintery-looking Cobbler |
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| The 'swimming' approach the The Cobbler's South Peak |
We got our gear on and managed to find a sheltered spot for the first belay. With a solid wire and a good cam firmly in place, I headed up the first pitch. We had thought about moving together, but the first part of the 'ramp' looked quite steep and a few tricky sections. Nonetheless, the worst was soon successfully negotiated and I was at the top of the steepest section. With the help of a half-buried axe belay on the other side of a big ledge, I brought James up safely. He then raced up to the summit of the South Peak and I simply followed behind, as the slope angle wasn't particularly steep. There was plenty of ice underneath the fresh powder, so progress was relatively swift.
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| A rather wintery-looking Cobbler |
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| Our route ahead on the South Peak of The Cobbler |
James found a good block and threw down the rope ready for the abseil. James went first; down to a wide ledge 30 metres below - then I followed. Unfortunately, we then discovered that the rope had jammed around the block above us and no amount of brute force made any difference. We couldn't go down from the ledge, as below us was a further vertical drop for 20 metres. We couldn't retrieve the rope so our only option was to attempt to climb up the rope - well... James did!
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| James on the ridge on the South Peak of The Cobbler |
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| Looking towards the summit of The Brack from the South Peak of The Cobbler |
I didn't envy him one bit. He fixed two Prusiks and made his way up the rope. We had a chat about how jammed the rope actually was, and whether it was a good idea or not to weight it. We figured that it was probably best avoided, as the ground was a little less steep to the left; but to the right were the rope ran was a sheer face. James made great progress up the crag but suddenly he slipped off on the final steep section. There was a horrible sound of metal against rock and I saw James pendulum from left to right as the Prusiks took hold of the rope... thankfully the rope held fast. He then traversed left again and this time reached the top safely - much to my relief, as all I could do was watch helplessly from below. Time was now pressing on, and we realised that it would soon be dark. After some shouting back and forth we agreed that it would be quicker (and the most sensible) for me to climb back up to join him and we could retreat down the way we came... or rather: we THOUGHT it would be quicker!
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| Looking back Southeast from the South Peak of The Cobbler |
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| Arthur's Seat (South Peak) Summit on The Cobbler |
It turned out that I took a similar whipper to James but I ended up hanging down the blank vertical wall and all I could do was make use of a couple of tiny edges to slowly pull myself higher and rely on James to take in more rope - slowly I got higher. I was totally wiped when I eventually pulled over the top and collapsed in a wreck in the snow. There was only one place we were going now: down.
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| James on the South Peak of The Cobbler |
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| On the summit of the South Peak of The Cobbler |
We wasted to time in descending down the ramp. The weather had closed in a little and the light was fading fast. James rigged an abseil from a lonely small tree and we had soon cleared all major difficulties. In our haste to retreat, we had veered off down the slope to the right, below An t-Sron. Instead of wasting time and contouring round to the Allt a' Bhalachain, we headed straight for the edge of the Ardgartan Forest. In front of me, I saw James' lower half vanish as he disappeared into a hidden stream below the snow. As I approached him to offer assistance, I promptly disappeared beside him - much to my surprise - soaked!
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| South Peak summit on The Cobbler |
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| James abseiling down the South Peak of The Cobbler |
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| James abseiling down the South Peak of The Cobbler |
After slowly crossing the complex terrain, we reached the trees but found them extremely dense and hard to penetrate. With time ticking on, we had no option but to force our way through the trees and down the steep banks of the forest. Eventually we reached a forestry track heading Northwest; that we quickly followed back to the car park. It was late when we got back to the car - weary and soaked to the skin. We now had the long drive back to Edinburgh to reflect on a pretty full-on adventure with many experiences thrown in.
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| James retrieving our rope from the South Peak of The Cobbler |
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| James abseiling down the South Peak of The Cobbler |
