An unseasonable bout of cold meant a one last winter outing could be planned, and this time it would be across the boarder. The objective was the majestic Mitre Ridge, over in Beinn a' Bhuird's Garbh Choire, and is both big and remote, which is a guaranteed recipe for adventure in Scottish winter terms.
After an overnight bivi in the cars we set out just before dawn from Invercauld, east of Braemar. The approach initially heads out past the large estate house on good roads before turning on dirt tracks as it winds up into Gleann an t-Slugain. For speed we opted to use bikes for this part of the approach, however what was a dusting of overnight snow at the car park quickly turned into 4 inches, then 6 inches of fresh snow, clogging brakes and reducing grip. Perhaps somewhat naively we assumed that the going would be better out of the top of the glen, so continued to push and carry (and at one point throw!) the bikes through drifts for another hour or so only to find that the usually cycle-friendly path to the base of the Cleirich stone was in fact very much impassable. With the daylight hours now ticking away and with only half the approach distance done, we abandoned the bikes and started break trail through knee deep snow. The going was initial tough, but as we passed the Cleirich stone and moved up into the coire below the Sneck, new snow turned to bullet hard neve and the going got a little easier.
Conditions at the Sneck however were anything but. With a cold wind blasting overhead, finding shelter in this bleach beleach was close to impossible. By the time we'd changed clothes, arranged gear and doned crampons there was serious bouts of shivering and hot aches for both of us. Thankfully, as we avoided fresh drifts of snow in favor of some (arguably) safer 45 degree neve as descended into Garbh Choire, the wind dropped and the cloud base lifted just high enough for us to see the way.
The huge granite bastion of Mitre Ridge is a very impressive sight. Being nearly 300 m high, and projecting straight out of the side of the Choire it felt very intimidating, not helped by the top being obscured by darting clouds and the nagging thought that the nearest road was now 20 km away. Being compact, steep and almost entirely vegetation free on one side, it is a popular destination in summer and winter however on the dull and grey day we'd decided to visit it felt anything but. The namesake route of Mitre Ridge (V,6) climbs the prow of the buttress fairly directly, with a few detours around the really steep stuff towards the top. The lack of ice lower down meant we opted for the newer (and generally more popular) alternative chimney start on the west face.
This first pitch was certainly a good introduction to what was to come, with a very steep and thin (but well protected) pull through the narrowing and almost overhanging chimney. After that it was Ben's lead up through another small chimney and a belay on the arete below the crux pitch. Rather reassuringly by this point, ice was more abundant, and the potential for a hard mixed grovel was diminished and a few tricky steps landed us at a belay just short of the Splintered Chimney (summer crux), which Ben lead up brilliantly. The rest of his pitch involved some quite tenuous mixed climbing up blind corners with a fair bit of ledge shuffling and was another great lead.
The last few pitches passed in a blur of strengthening wind and approaching darkness and it wasn't long before we'd topped out and started making our way back to the Sneck. A quick sort of gear and we were on our way back to the bikes. Whilst the temperature had remained cold in Garbh Choire, the same could not be said for the glen below the Cleirich, and by early evening the snow had turned to mush adding to the fatigue already building in legs that had been going for 14 hours. Eventually we made it to the bikes, pushed them a bit through the sketchiest and steepest part of upper Gleann an t-Slugain, and then free wheeled back to the cars. We started at 5:30 and had finished by 21:00. A long, but satisfying day in one of the wildest corners of Scotland.
Unfortunately I didn't take many photos, but have a few which I've shared below.
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| Cycling through fresh snow in Gleann an t-Slugain |
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| After abandoning the bikes the only alternative was to walk the remaining approach on foot, breaking trail through the fresh snow |
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| Appraoching the intimidating Mitre Ridge (V,6) in Garbh Choire |
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| Ben leading through on the second pitch, just before reaching the main prow of Mitre Ridge |
