A ridge too Forcan far today...

Discussions had taken place between myself, Michael Irvine and Chris Bain via Facebook for the past week on heading out this weekend. We had a few ideas between us as to where to head...one of which was the Saddle and Sgurr na Sgine, two highly rated Munro's to the north-west of the South Glen Shiel ridge. In ruling out all other destinations in favour of this I was fully aware that the chances of returning home on the Saturday night without a summit claimed were pretty high...but the chance to go up and have a bash at the Forcan ridge at any time of the year is pretty powerful (my last visit there was rained off the day after completing the Sister's ridge with Louise Miller last year). Now that the destination was decided we had to agree the day for going...Saturday was the mutual choice with Michael and me, with Chris not able to make it after all. So we arranged to meet in Inverness, eight o'clock at Tiso car park, where I could leave my car and Michael could take up the driving from there. I was up at 0450, taking great care not to waken Gibb (which I failed miserably at) and out the door by 0530. The drive to Inverness wasn't as bad as I had feared, all stories about poor driving conditions were greatly exaggerated thankfully, bar two places where the snow had drifted across the road. Having had cereal at 0500 I was starving by the time I reached the outskirts of Inverness, so stopped at tesco for a banana to tide me over till lunch time. I arrived at Tiso just after the agreed time of 0800 and transferred my gear to Michael's car. Michael knew a shortcut to get onto the A87, though I think he just got lost in the backstreets of Inverness actually, and we were on our way. The drive from Aberdeen to Inverness had mostly been in darkness , coupled with a few rain showers, so I hadn't been able to see any of the snowy tops on the way up...but now, as we weaved our way along the A87 I was able to appreciate what potentially lay ahead for us. The ranges of Munro's along this route were snow capped and not a little intimidating to say the least as the weather started to close in. We were treated to three heavy downpours of sleet as we left Drumnadrochit and headed along the twisting road towards the Cluanie Inn. Visibility dropped as we continued to follow the twisting road through Kintail, Munro's that I have previously climbed loomed high into the gloom on either side of the road...a heavy sinking feeling in my heart hit me as reality dawned that this trip could be over before we even get out of the car!!! Then, as if our prayers had been answered, the sleet stopped and the gloom lifted off the tops. We kept our fingers crossed that it would stay like that until we could at least get our gear on and start off walking. 0915, slightly later than scheduled, we left the car parked at a layby on the A87 and crossed the road to the start point of the walk in. There was a dead otter by the side of the road that clearly hadn't read the WH report which urged caution when crossing the road!!

We passed through an iron gate then headed south along a well defined track, before turning south-west along the winding path, eventually turning north-west as the track started to climb towards the bealach between Biod an Fhithich and Meallan Odhar at 500m.

The path had become increasingly icy on the ascent, turning to snow higher up, until everything was white by the time we arrived at the bealach. We had noticed at least two groups of walkers ahead of us on the route up...both of which we were rapidly making ground on. From the bealach we turned south once more and headed up the snowy slopes of Meallan Odhar, turning south-south-west before the summit and skirting around her steep sides.

The views all around us had been impressive on the climb up, improving with every metre of ascent, taking in the South Glen Shiel ridge, the Sister's ridge and eventually the Brother's ridge away in the distance. Ahead of us the slopes of Biod an Fhithich had been dominating our view, until we turned onto the bealach and caught sight of the Forcan ridge ahead...

Unfortunately the weather then took a turn for the worse, a sleet shower hit us, and hit us hard. Visibility disappeared within seconds, all the cracking views snatched from sight. Gloves and hat were required now to stave off the cold and wet conditions we were being battered by...until it cleared again as quickly as it had arrived...phew a passing shower!!

When the sleet passed we could start to see the ridge ahead of us once more, but equally impressive was the view along the A87 to Shiel bridge and Loch Duich.

The slope continued to rise beyond Meallan Odhar, then dip, before rising again to reach the start of the Forcan ridge. When we arrived at the bottom of the ridge one of the other groups were there, donning helmets and crampons for the ascent of the ridge. I knew then, in my heart of hearts, that there was no way we would manage to traverse the ridge today!! I knew from reading various reports on it just how hard it would be to attempt in summer, never mind layered in ice and snow, so to see it now so close to touch yet well out of my capabilities in winter conditions, hit home how much more skills I require to attain before attempting anything of this magnitude in future.

We discussed our options at the foot of the ridge, I eventually persuaded Michael that we were in no way prepared for a safe assault on the ridge today...I am happy to indulge in scrambling in summer conditions but don't have the necessary skills with an ice axe to feel comfortable in this (I know how to self arrest if I slip but that's as far as my knowledge goes). I also regretted not having purchased a helmet as yet, and only having micro-spikes instead of crampons was not ideal today. There is an alternative route around the ridge, taking us up to Bealach Coire Mhalagain, following a drystone dyke (if it were visible), which we decided we would attempt instead. As we set off along this alternative route we could hear the group ahead of us stop and get roped up for the ridge above us. There was still no sign of the second group we had spotted earlier...

We continued along the bypass route, heading west, beneath the ridge, and could hear voices ahead of us...the second group perchance?? There were adequate footsteps in the snow to suggest a party had recently traversed ahead anyway. The drystone dyke was buried in the snow and we were relying on the GPS to guide the way. We could eventually see the other party ahead of us, heading for the Bealach also. We appeared to be catching them up but as they were being guided we didn't wish to intrude, so headed off south-west to go around them as we cut towards the Bealach Coire Mhalagain. They were also getting roped up for an ascent on the lower slopes of Sgurr na Forcan. As we arrived on the bealach the wind increased to blow spindrift in our faces. As we became more exposed to the elements the wind chill increased and then the visibility dropped once more as another blizzard headed in our way.

The bealach was now the only thing we could safely see...the Forcan ridge had disappeared to our right and the ridge of Faochag to our left was also obscured from view. We had a decision to make now...there was no way we could safely ascend to the north-west to tackle the Saddle...and the climb to Sgurr na Sgine looked anything but appealing in these conditions. I explained to Michael that we were looking at approximately an hour to get up onto the ridge of Sgurr na Sgine, then a further half hour at least to traverse along her rocky spine, before having to head off along Faochag, which would take at least another hour...that wasn't even including the descent off the steep slopes of Faochag back to the car!! It was almost one o'clock now...we had been walking for almost four hours already to get to this stage...there was not enough daylight left to safely complete this today. Sometimes you have to accept that the right decision isn't the one that you want to have to make, but you do it anyway because the hill will still be there when you decide to come back again in better conditions. So we agreed to descend and head home.

It is amazing how quickly the conditions can change on a Munro, one minute you are in a blizzard, then drop a hundred feet or so and clear skies can return, wind drops and you think about turning around again. But I have learnt from previous trips that once you have made your mind up to go down then you stick to that. The bonus of descending in daylight was the view that greeted our journey down the slopes...

We were able to, mostly, follow our own footsteps back down the slope to the bealach and then took a short break to remove some of our layers and finish our lunch...warm custard and gingerbread melted in my flask was almost like a soup by the time I consumed it...yummy!!

One last shot of Biod an Fhithich in the background before descending the frozen path back to the car.

It took us almost two hours to get down from the Bealach Coire Mhalagain to the car...a round trip of just under six hours. No summits claimed this time, no Jelly McBaby pics either, but a knowledge that we made the right decision and could return another time to bag one of the hardest ridges in Britain when we felt more prepared for it.

Until next time folks, stay safe in them hills.

 

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Update; upon arriving home on Saturday night I learnt that a young man had fallen off the Ben and died...another two walkers (one of whom I have walked with) had to be rescued off Stob Coire Essain in a blizzard. It puts our decision to descend when we did into perspective...better safe than sorry.