KINTAIL MUNROS & FABULOUS WINTER CONDITIONS

Ian celebrating in the sun

The Alpine east face of A' Chralaig

The 'Pinnicles' en route to Mullach Fraoch-choire

Fabulous ridge walking and cloud formations

You'd think it was a different day in the snow and hail showers!

A' Chraliag, looking back along the fine ridge

The 'Pinnacled section before the summit of Mullach Fraoch-choire

Wonderful soft snow descent into Coire Odhar

Crampons or no crampons? That is the question!

Alpine

Kintail in the NW Highlands is one of those many areas in Scotland where you are spoiled for choice on the many, many fine ridge walks on offer. From a base anywhere in the stunning Glen Shiel you could easily spend a week or more Munro bagging along narrow creests. Today Ian and I had just one day to choose from the many options. It must be over 15 years since I last walked along the wonderful Munros of A' Chralaig & Mullach Fraoch-choire. I'd almost forgotten how good they are. As these were two new Munros for Ian we decided on this. With a forecast of sunny spells and snow/hail showers we left the car park and headed into strong winds and rain! It wasn't long before the clouds cleared and we enjoyed fine views as we tackled the initial steep, pathless hillside to gain the ridge line. Our first summit of A' Chralaig was greeted with a hefty snow shower and we were enveloped in a cloud bubble with strong head winds. The temperatures hovered around freezing point above 900m today. Walking along an iced up and snowy ridge it was a decision for crampons or no crampons, but definitely an ice axe. Most of the time it was easy ridge walking on snow free paths but there was a definite feel of winter to the day. The final obstacle of the 'Pinnacled' section of ridge leading to our second Munro summit gave a bit more excitement to the day. The traverse path around this section was completely banked out with hard snow at a 40 degree angle, leaving a greasy rock scramble to negotiate! It may have been 25 degrees C in the south of England today but if you were up on the Scottish hills I am sure you will agree it certainly wasn't summer! A terrific day out!