The forecast was set fair and winter has definitely arrived in the upper corries. Sarah and I fancied a day out in the mountains, and couldn’t pass up a windless day so opted for Dorsal Arete, high up in Stob Coire nan Lochan. We managed to sort the dog a walk and made our way to Glen Coe, arriving relatively early so as to give ourselves as much time as we needed and not worry about being out after dark.
The thing with the SCNL path is it always seems to be worse than you remember! Maybe the fact you can see your destination (on a good day) from the carpark has something to do with it!? We walked up the path, taking our time and not wanting to arrive as sweaty messes, but also enjoying another stunning day.
We wound our way up to the Coire floor where we could hear a few teams already on various routes. We knew Dorsal Arete is a very popular winter route so had expected to find other folk on it but to our amazement it was completely empty as it came into view.
We geared up at the base of the ridge, just to the side of Broad gully, after assessing the snowpack and making sure we were still OK to continue. (In winter (perhaps more so than summer!?) it’s vital that everyone is comfortable with the conditions, the plan and what’s happening at any given moment. It’s therefore vital that constant “checking in” and a dialogue is kept up between partners. I really like this about winter climbing and feel it adds something to the day, the fact that its not just about the climb but getting there and back which all adds to the adventure.)
We soloed up the broad parts of the ridge and watched some of the other teams near us, enjoying their day. We had little to no wind which meant we could hear everyones conversations which was nice! We roped up at the base of the main Dorsal which gives about 30m of fairly exposed scrambling and brings you almost to the top of the Coire.
Sarah did her best “riding a horse” impression to overcome the final difficulties!
We reached the top and had a fantastic panoramic view of Glen Coe, Loch Linnhe and the Ben Nevis massive. A couple of walkers passed and we had a wee blether about the day but soon the cold came in so it was time to go.
We descended Broad Gully (grade I) back down to the base of the Coire and made our way out and down the path back to the Van, arriving before it got dark and as ever if you do anything in Glen Coe with the final test of ascending the hill on the far side of the Coe, just to make sure you’re still awake!
A great day and you can see why Dorsal Arete is such a classic.
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