The near 4hr drive to the Kintail Bunkhouse from the central belt is a pleasure, some of the finest scenery, however the last stretch was in the dark, so I would have to wait till morning to enjoy the full 4K experience of Kintail’s magnificence, this was further amplified during our Saturday tour.

After initially entering the Ranger’s property and getting barked at by his protective Collie (Ed he was really very friendly!), I was directed down the track to the Bunkhouse where upon arrival I unloaded the myriad of kit and made introductions to fellow members, and grabbed some dinner.  Paul  was the Trip Contact (TC) for the weekend, a wee bit later Paul assembled the members and there was a discussion re groups and routes for Saturday, with route cards documented and shared including folks in the groups.  Alan had a huge library of maps and photos which was immensely helpful in coalescing a plan for the Saturday route into A’ Chralaig in search of snow, particularly with regards to the entry and walk in on track, which I was later advised was breezy compared to previous years walk in.  Three ski groups were formed with group safety kit issued, the groups being the Senior Senders AKA The A Team, Snow Bunnies and the 3 Amigos.  Another group, the Feral Goats, walked up A Ghlas-bheinn.

The Senior Senders (A Team) left the accommodation at 7am, Mike drove us to the starting point, a layby at the side of Loch Cluanie, where we parked / kitted up,  we were walking by 7:45.  The ground was nicely solid under foot, with the frozen tundra providing good purchase as we walked in.  Three hours later, we arrived at the snow line where we transitioned into our boots and skis/skins, and left our shoes in a bag with location noted.  We skinned up to a ridge, and considered approach options to the summit of A’ Chralaig, either straight up the ridge or drop into the bowl to our right and ascend from there, the consensus was the ridge.  We transitioned into our boot crampons and with axe in hand we steadily climbed up the ridge, this was the first time I had used this kit in anger and the ‘on the job training’ from Kevin was gratefully received.  After the short climb, the weather came in and vis was very poor as we walked to the summit where we transitioned to our skis.  The vis over the cornice was practically zero as we transitioned, but improved slightly as we traversed slightly to skiers left and started our descent.  Reasonable open spaces to ski in with a few sharks, the snow was variable with some crust, harder packed areas and as we descended the snow softened up and the sun came out.  As we descended, Kevin had received an update on the radio that Lisa had a fall and unfortunately hurt her knee, and that Mountain Rescue had been called.  We lunched as we transitioned, and skinned up with the stunning mountains bathed in sunshine, for now…  As we ascended the clag came in and by the time we transitioned for our second decent, the vis was very poor.  We carefully skiing down in the poor vis, eventually running out just below where the Snow Bunnies were positioned in wait for the helicopter to rescue Lisa.  The helicopter was circling for quite some time as we waited with the Bunnies, but it was unable to land, due to the poor vis.  Due to the worsening weather, we had taken the decision to make our exit and we skinned out of the bowl, over the ridge we had ascended earlier before skiing down to collect our shoes.  We continued to ski / walk as far as we could before changing into our shoes and walking out.  In all, we were on the hill for nearly 9hrs.  A grand day out!

The evening’s repast was its usual bountiful self with much sharing of the day’s adventures (and mishaps!). We were all delighted to hear that Lisa’s injury was not serious and she was to rejoin us that evening courtesy of club president’s taxi service. We even remembered to save some food for them!

Reflecting on the need to call out MRT concluded that the training and kit provided by the club had done its job well. The bothy bag kept the Snow Bunnies warm and protected, and calling out MRT was the right thing to do with all remaining calm having a clear understanding of what to do.

Sunday proved less eventful with one party off on MTBs around the Ben Fhada loop another a leisurely ride up the glen and the young guns (plus one slightly older one!) ascended Ciste Dubh. Despite strong winds good days were had by all.

So a weekend using all of our kit – skis, boards, boot crampons, bikes, axes, radios, bothy bags. Despite the lean conditions and very successful and enjoyable weekend.

Mark Ledingham & Paul Whitefoot.