Meet Report

7th to 9th February 2020 - Corran Outdoors Bunkhouse , Onich by Fort William

Friday saw everyone arriving at the Corran Bunkhouse. As the threat of storm Ciara with forecasted high winds and heavy rain was looming over us, everyone came up with a plan B for their weekend walks - staying lowish, starting earlyish.

Kate, Gillian, Allan S, David T and Sean went up Sgorr a'Choise from the carpark on the A82 near Signal Rock. On the way down they bumped into Tim and Chris W who had been up Meall Lighiche already and were heading on to Meall Mor.

The Renvilles were also into Graham bagging and went up Druim Fada and managed to get back to the car before the rain started.

Chris R, Emma C, Shireen and Martha went up Garbh Bheinn at Loch Leven and had fabulous views over the Aonach Eagach and the Marmores. They had planned to go for a low level walk in Ardgour in the afternoon, but the arrival of storm Ciara with heavy rain and even heavier winds made an afternoon in the bunkhouse playing cards and drinking tea much more appealing.

The Tortoises (Mike W and Fiona R) and the Hares (Claire, Neil and Alex W) opted to run from the bunkhouse to Fort William. The hares included a Graham (Beinn na Gucaig) and part of the West Highland Way. The tortoises took the shortest possible route to Fort William. They reconvened at the Black Isle Brewery for beers and pizza.

Alison and Kenny went up a Marilyn in morning. Kenny then headed to the leisure centre and Alison to the Three Wise Monkeys for a bouldering session and was later joined by Claire, Neil and Alex.

As the Corran ferry had been suspended due to the storm the original plan of a pub dinner in Ardgour needed to be redrafted too. A big group of us ended up in the 4 Seasons Pub in Inchree for some delicious pub grub and rugby watching on Alan’s phone.

Sunday’s weather was utterly disgusting. Shireen and Tim directly headed back to Edinburgh.

The Renvilles had two cafe stops with a 6km walk around the Bracklinn Falls at Callendar in between times which were very impressive.

Mike, Fiona, Claire, Alison, Kenny and Neil continued their climbing wall bagging and went to the Ice Factor in Kinlochleven. They left after soup and coffee to ensure to leave some climbs for the upcoming Kinlochleven meet (Alison seems to be a weather-pessimist!).

Kate, Allan and Gillian decided to drive south and east until the weather improved a bit, which surprisingly turned out to be just past St Fillans not Athens. They then ascended the Graham of Mor Bheinn. It was quite windy on the top (and everywhere else on the hill) so they took turns to crawl to the summit and cling to the OS column before slithering behind a crag for a surprisingly pleasant tea break and a hot cross bun. They had nice views with a few squalls blowing in.

Sean and David T climbed Meall Buidhe from Glen Ogle where they had very strong winds on the col and summit and had to resort to ski goggles for hailstones for 15 minutes.

Emma, Chris R and Martha had a stroll around Glencoe Lochan, Signal Rock and an Torr, admiring waterfalls on Bidean nam Bian going upwards, getting soaked and when spotting all those branches which had fallen off trees slightly wondering if a woodland walk was a good choice in a strong storm.

Alex W wandered around Fort William and Aviemore, hoping for better weather for his upcoming winter climbing course.

Not a single Munro was bagged this weekend – is this a first for an EMC meet?