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| Strolling on the Corridor Route near our snow holes... | ...and overlooking Wastwater far below. |
1978
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Eileen was taking her youth group to Wasdale for a long weekend, as training for their two-month expedition to Baffin Island later in the year. Ian was invited along to make up the number of adults and minibus drivers.
Day One - Digging snowholes.
Up from Wasdale Head to the Corridor Route below Scafell. Here, the party dug snow-holes to sleep in that night.
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| Strolling on the Corridor Route near our snow holes... | ...and overlooking Wastwater far below. |
Day Two - Snow training
After cooking breakfast in the snow-holes, the party continued along the Corridor Route, stopping for practice with ice-axes and other snow tools and techniques. Only Gavin was equipped with crampons, progress was slow, and it was clear by late afternoon we would not get down before dark. We were equipped with food and emergency tent, so while Gavin went down to say all was well, Ian and the others built a snow-block shelter and prepared dinner. However Eileen, down in the valley, had informed the Wasdale Mountain Rescue that we were overdue, and despite knowing we were ok they decided to come and get us. They were very apologetic when they arrived at our camp, but had a cup of tea and some of our chicken casserole before leading us safely down to Wasdale Head.
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| Belay practice with a buried "dead man". Gavin at the head of a gully ensures everyone crosses safely. | Inside our carefully constructed snow-block wind-break, ready for a night in the emergency tent. |
Fort William, Skye.
It was not a good day, and we set off in drizzle and low cloud for the summit of Ben Nevis by the tourist route. The weather didn't improve, and we had a wet lunch on the summit. Our intended return by the CMD arrete was soon aborted when we found the difficulty of route-finding in the cloud, and we returned the way we had come.
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| Clay pipe and salami sandwiches, Ben Nevis summit. | The route to CMD; too claggy to continue. |
30.8.78 Cuillin Ridge. Sgurr nan Eag (924m), Sgurr Dubh Mor (944m), Sgurr Alasdair (993m)
The plan was to set off early from our camp in Glen Brittle for one end of the Cuillin ridge at Sgurr nan Eag, and traverse the entire ridge in one day. This proved to be more than a little optimistic. The walk in across the moorland was wet after a month of rain and was much slower than expected. Progress on the ridge was also slow, as our packs were bigger than was necessary and we were not used to the rough terrain of the Cuillin ridge. Finally, we spent several hours negotiating the Tearlach-Dubh gap, not because of any great technical difficulty but because the impressive exposure made it seem much worse than it is.
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| Above Glen Brittle | On Sgurr Dubh na Da Bheinn. | In the Tearlach-Dubh gap. |
We thereore called it a day at Sgurr Alastair, about a third of the way round, and decided to come back another time. It was a good day out though, and we learnt a lot!
Updated 09-05-03