It was December 1996 and the RAF Kinloss MRT had been staying at Ullapool Youth Hostel for the weekend. There had been heavy snow for a few days. Any plans for getting in an early winter climb were abandoned.
Beinn Dearg has some classic lines including the Cold climbs Route Emerald Gully a classic ice route. I had in the past done it in the past. We also a few years before climbed some new climbs in Glen Squaib but in these days we never reported them.
We planned to do a circuit of the three Munro’s maybe just two due to the weather, taking into short daylight and the heavy snow with more forecast. We had plenty of leaders out so it was a going to be a good day as my mate Dan Carrol was coming. He was wanting a look at the climbs on Beinn Dearg. Now Dan is a great mountaineer not long back from a successful ascent of an 8000 metre peak. It would be a fun day. This is from my diary.
“I had one really hard day in winter a few years ago in deep snow. We had broken a trail leaving the path for Beinn Dearg. It was one early winters day in Dec doing at one point 1 kilometre an hour. I was with Dan Carrol who later summited Everest. We had been followed at a distance by a solo climber. He kept his distance and we broke the path in. We managed one Munro and that was enough for the day yet we came off the hill by head torch. We never saw our friend who was following us on the way off? It was very hard work coming of the hill the deep snow was everywhere. I was glad to be back at the land rover and the short drive to Ullapool.
On getting back to Ullapool fairly tired we were having some soup . We got a call to help Dundonnell MRT as a climber was struggling in the Beinn Dearg area. We were pretty tired but the weather was good and we drove to start of the forestry track. We were dreading an all night search and our area to search was up again to the Beleach of Beinn Dearg. The weather cleared and the helicopter from Stornaway was sent to search. We stopped regularly as we were very tired. Our previous footprints were gone and it was hellish hard. We were scanning the hills looking for torchlight. I saw something high and bright a small dot on the ridge. It must be him we got hold of the helicopter by radio and gave him a a bearing and a rough location.
The wind was gone and then I saw the light getting bigger and bigger it was the moon sneaking over the ridge .
The helicopter called and said “ the light you are seeing is the moon and sadly we do not have the fuel to go there.” I felt a right plonker as the Glen was now floodlight by the moon.
This was all we needed as we prepared for a long night on the hill. An hour later the missing Walker was located tired and a bit lost and 3 kilometres from our location but okay and flown back to Rescue control. He had underestimated the snow depth and got caught by the weather.
I lived with my “Moon Rescue” for a few years. We got back in time to Ullapool for a late pint and our dried up dinner.
Todays tip; Timings : It easy to underestimate your hill time in deep snow. It takes so long even though we had snow shoes on it was extremely hard work.
It all ended well but every time I see the moon appear on on the hill my memory goes back to that day in 1996.
From another winter journey on my own:
I followed the “Famine Wall” on to near the summit and then all the way along the ridge. Its a huge feature that few know of its history and why it was built. It was built in the time of the Potato Famine in the 1840’s its a story of tragedy and” Man’s inhumanity to man” Yet its good to know some of the stories of these majestic places and the cost in emigration to our small country. How many died making these walls and roads we will never know but the Walls and roads are there as a reminder. So please when you visit these places please pass on these stories?
Old mans thoughts and tales. 