This is a catalogue of my son Ben's Munro Bagging with me. We did a few around Ben's 6th birthday, but only really started ticking them off the following year, often as part of multi-day backpacks and sometimes in the winter. On 28 August 2011 we finished on Ben More with Ben having reached the ripe old age of 10 years and 3 months. Its been a great experience.
Friday, 27 November 2009
Ben Lui, Beinn a Chleidh, Ben Oss, Ben Dubhcraig
16.5 miles, 1780m ascent, 12 hours 5 mins
Ben Lui
A memorable day starting with a crisp march up the track in the fog which soon cleared to reveal snow plastered hills. We had the corrie to ourselves and after testing the snow I decided that Central Gully would make a good objective as the snow was soft enough to make it safe for Ben in his instep crampons. This made it hard work for me as I broke trail through knee deep snow, but after a while the snow firmed a bit and it became easier. Once in the narrower gully, things began to look a bit more interesting, since the steep steps were clearly ice. I hadn't put my crampons on, as it had looked like I wouldn't need them, and in any case Ben only had insteps. I gave him a quick lesson on how to swing the ice hammer which he could just about lift, but fortunately he picked it up immediately and by cutting steps, we made our way up the ice, linked by a long sling. Every now and then I would stop to take a secure stance, before easing Ben up. At one place he most definately couldn't climb up because he couldn't get any traction with his insteps, so I hauled him up one handed whilst I held on to my axe with the other. We wouldn't win any prizes for style but climbing 50-60 degree ice steps in instep crampons or no crampons with one tool doesn't make for the most stylish of ascents.
The cornice was similarly testing with steeply banked soft snow overlying the ice. Understandably Ben wasn't too keen on this, but it wasn't far and I thrashed forward, with Ben slip-sliding his way up the furrow behind. I have to say I was glad on breaching the cornice, and I'm sure that Ben shared my feelings on bellyflopping over the rim.
What a sight greeted us: sun-kissed snow as far as the eye could see, with rime covered rocks glittering in the sun's rays. After a quick bite, we proceeded to the top of Ben Lui, then spent the rest of the day on top of the world - or so it seemed. The mists had rolled up the valleys yet we were above them and the dying sun made for deep blue shadows in the snow, turning to orange and red as it set. We just about made the final summit before dark in the growing cold, then descended in to the pit of the glen.
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