by Mike Jackson

An annual highlight in the early days of the CMC was the winter visit to the Cairngorms. For many members this was their first experience of the magnificent snowscapes and near arctic conditions to be enjoyed or endured in Scotland during the winter months. A particular outing on these hills in February 1970 proved to be one of the outstanding days of an early CMC Cairngorm Meet and at the same time illustrates very well the conditions one may reasonably expect to meet in winter in the Highlands. Our party consisted of Mike Anderson, Jack Ashcroft, Chris Taylor, Paul Goodlad, Dick Arnold and myself and our objective was to traverse the great plateau from Cairngorm to Ben Macdui and back.

The early morning was beautifully clear under a blue sky and with deep snow everywhere. I regret to record that certain members were aided in varying degrees by the chairlift in their initial ascent of Cairngorm. I myself had to endure an uncomfortable “stitch” but the glorious views were ample compensation. As we descended to the west from the summit, we could pick out a column of walkers on the plateau below, resembling a trail of ants and giving a wonderful sense of scale to the scene. The vista ahead of Cairn Toul, Braeriach and Sgoran Dubh Mor was particularly splendid and there was a magnificent view across to Fiacaill Ridge and the neighbouring cliffs plastered in brilliant white snow with huge cornices. The going was fairly arduous as the snow was not sufficiently frozen to take our weight and we were constantly sinking in up to our knees and beyond. We made our way to the Corran Bothy near Feith Buidhe a bothy later demolished following a tragedy hereabouts when a number of children perished in the snows only to find it completely covered by snowdrifts except for the yellow chimney cowl which stuck out grotesquely from the snow. There was a really breathtaking view across to Braeriach with its great coires gouged out of the plateau, all completely snow covered under a cloudless pale blue sky. The summit of Ben Macdui gave further wonderful views, particularly across to Cairn Toul and the peaks beyond it, down to Carn a’Mhaim and the great snow filled trench of the Dee and far away to Beinn a’Ghlo well to the south. The Devil’s Point, a spectacular peak when seen from the Lairig Ghru track coming in from the south, appeared far below our elevated position as a minor protuberance in this great winter landscape.

It was then that my personal troubles really started as I became very ill and had to retire urgently behind snow covered boulders. The “stitch” which had afflicted me most of the way to Macdui suddenly became much worse and on the return journey it was impossible for me to walk any distance without stopping for breath. To make matters worse, the wind began to increase and great black clouds were approaching from the north west. The weather closed in rapidly and the spindrift, combined with falling snow in the mist, soon created near “white out” conditions. Before long I was reduced to walking a few yards at a time and later on I was able to think only as far as the next step in the deep snow. Most of the party had gone ahead but fortunately for me, Paul and Dick stayed behind and were able to give much needed assistance. I had never before felt so weak and ill on any mountain trip and I was deeply and genuinely grateful to my good friends for their assistance without them, my predicament would have been very serious indeed. The last small ascent to the top of Fiacaill a’Choire Chais seemed never ending, but we could at last descend the ridge, suddenly emerging from the mist and snow to look down on a hive of activity on the ski slopes below. Within a few yards the howling winds and generally adverse conditions on the plateau had been left behind and after descending only a few hundred feet it was impossible to imagine the violence of the wind and lashing snow which had made our return so difficult. It remained only for us to stagger down to the ski lift and safety.

All walkers undertaking this traverse would do well to bear in mind the remoteness of Ben Macdui even in these days of chairlifts on Cairngorm and the sudden changes of weather often experienced in these great hills. I have never forgotten the great contrast between our glorious sunny walk to Ben Macdui in such wonderfully clear conditions and that return journey on which my personal discomforts and the adverse weather conditions combined to create a real nightmare. The views we had enjoyed throughout the morning of these great snow covered mountains had been outstanding under a clear winter blue sky, but the day ended with gales, spindrift, dense mist and snowfall a combination of the elements among the most difficult and dangerous we learn to face on our beautiful yet challenging mountains.