Off we went to Glenmore, 15 walkers and 9 intending to do some skiing or snowboarding. High winds seemed to be a given on trips at this point, and we anticipated it, but the reality was certainly worse than the forecast and it was fairly unpleasant even at the lower Cairn Gorm car park. Early on, the plans still seemed realistic though. It was, needless to say, not a great day for photography.
Photos follow the trip write-up below (click to skip).
After briefly enlivening things with a high-speed chase in pursuit of a flying jacket, Ali and Ed set off with their sights on Braeriach. With the skiers sorting out their passes, the rest of the walkers began trudging up Cairn Gorm, although it quickly became clear that paths were notional at best, and in the dire visibility keeping out the way of skiers/snowboarders was the main early concern.
As the day drew on, conditions were rapidly deteriorating and, for the Cairn Gorm walkers, reaching the Ptarmigan restaurant was a pleasant relief. A leisurely lunch in the warm followed, and a couple of people's interest in pushing on to the summit quickly waned after another glance outside.
The stations were being shut, and staff were advising the public to leave. Some fortuitous faffing about at the restaurant about which way to descend resulted in the walkers being offered a free ride down on the funicular. This unexpected offer was gratefully accepted! Although the descent would've been easy enough it really was vile up there.
The skiers came down at around the same time. With all back except Ali and Ed it was decided to head into Aviemore in search of a phone signal, a drink and ultimately a fish supper. Soon in contact with the two it was clear that all was well, they'd experienced similar conditions and within sight of their goal of Braeriach had sensibly decided to turn back. Julia and Tim went off to collect them.
Before too long everyone was back together, safe and sound and having made the most of what was a dismal day's weather. It was sad to hear later of a tragedy elsewhere in the Cairngorms and, although most of us had been in the 'safe' environment of the touristy side of Cairn Gorm, I think we all came away from this trip - and the recent winter skills meet - with a renewed appreciation of how bad things can get.
Trip photos
Click here to open the trip's album. If your device supports it, you will also see a slideshow below.
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