MEALL NAN TARMACHAN (1043M), BEINN NAN EACHAN

Sunday 29th April        Meall nan Tarmachan and Beinn nan Eachan

Leaders Glip, Robbie Mochrie and Mr. Sinclair

APLs Kenny Blair, James Gatherer

Scouts Mark Sinclair, Adiran Simpson, Colin Beaton, Richard Terry, Douglas McCrorie, Alistair Blair

Weather

Cloudy in glens all morning, clearing up in afternoon. Sunny day and breezy on summits

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Report

Ally Blair started off the day in the same way as he finished off yesterday – pestering me to climb enough ‘funny wee things’ so that he could reach the Kilimanjaro stage. I was not to be drawn though. Since the clouds were low and the weather seemed unpredictable, I decided on Meall nan Tarmachan.  Whether Ally got his Kilimanjaro or not, depended on what we did after that (if anything).

Robbie was navigating today as we set off from the dam on a compass bearing for the northern shoulder of the mountain. It was an eerie day  and conversations centred on such topics as the Auld Grey Man of Ben Macdui. Sally Forth made her first appearance in conversation when I explained she was the ghost of a long-lost mountaineer who haunted mountain tops watching climbers approach, then disappearing just before they reached the summit. Mountaineers could be heard frequently calling her name, ‘Sally Forth’. It was decided that Frodo was related to Sally, since ‘Forth’ is related to ‘Firth’, which is related to ‘Clyde’ , which is related Euan Blair, which is related to Frodo Blair. Simple enough.

There was an interesting quartz fault which we came across and which we later discovered was visible from the dam. This shows the line we took up the mountain – quite a steep one! We got fooled by top (probably GR 590391) which some took to be the real summit and I assumed wrongly to be the top at grid reference 588386. In the end, we reached the summit from the north so Robbie’s compass bearing was proved accurate in the end. We only got up above the clouds at about 2500 feet or so, to be rewarded with a good view of Ben Lawers and masses of cloud everywhere else.

There was a mini revolt at this summit because of the lack of funny wee things and the ‘piffling’ number which would be given for going over to Ben Nan Eachan. Objections were overruled and we set off again to the summit at grid reference 579384 where we stopped for lunch.

Beinn nan Eachan was reached fairly easily and we stopped again for rest/snacks in the sun. Here, we discussed various options for the return:

A) A softy softy route northwards to Meall Fin Eich and beyond to the road then back to the campsite

B) A hard hard route going back the way we had come

C) A soft hard route going back to Tarmachan and descending north to the north end of the reservoir to avoid the steep descent.

Peasant, Richard, Frodo and Colin elected to go on route A. The rest of us went back to Tarmachan, by which time the clouds had dispersed option B became realistic for everybody. The descent of Tarmachan proved great fun with good boot skiing. I took Ally in hand down a big snow coire at the 3000-3250’ level, while the rest took a safer line, but after that everybody was able to have a go on less steep slopes. Ally proved the most proficient at this.

Back at the minibus, we were surprised at how steep a line we had taken – we probably would not have followed that line if we had seen the mountain that morning.

Ally was awarded his Kilimanjaro to great rejoicing.

The route A-group had an equally enjoyable descent on Bivvy bags and we picked them up on the road about a mile short of the campsite.

The tents were struck dry and we sped into Killin to catch the ice cream van once again, before making the homeward journey.

Highly enjoyable weekend, highlighted by excellent weather and a very good ‘Everest’ spirit. Campfire and singing in the bus proved greatly popular as well. The weekend was raved about all the next week– so I was informed by Kenny Paton.

The Race to Everest

Great excitement as several runners step up the pace dramatically. BooBoo and Merry are caught napping and slip back badly. Ally takes a significant lead with Peasant, stung by being overtaken at the last hurdle, hangs on to keep within striking distance. Mark and BooBoo are now testing third place but have still a good chance. Richard wakes up at last, but appears to have allowed too big a gap to develop. Roderick and Derek, tired by their sustained burst through the field, lose ground again as Adrian and Frodo improve their positions in the middle of the field. Colin continues his dramatic run moving up another two places into the main pack while Douglas, a late starter, climbsd high and fast through the back numbers.

Ally Blair now appears as a good odds on favourite with Peasant, Mark and Booboo still in there.

The awards this weekend were the following

Ben Nevis stage:  Douglas McCrorie

Eiger stage: Ally Blair, James Gatherer, Richard Terry and Mark Sinclair

Kilimanjaro stage: Ally Blair

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