Charlie uses nose as ice axe on Winter Skills!
Having been fed all sorts of snow based horror stories in a gruelling ten hour trip up to Glenborrodale, I was pleasantly surprised on the first morning to find the sun shining and the skies clear!
We set out on the first day for a moderate hike with the intention of learning all the skills that we would be using on the trip. Being entirely new to the Scottish Mountains, and having been scared silly by Martin and Steve’s fear-mongering, I naturally assumed it would be cold! So having waddled the first 50m wrapped in every fleece and jumper I own, I soon began peeling off layers like an onion!
We were blessed with similar weather for the next two days as well which was perfect since it gave us a chance to learn the skills in acceptable conditions. During these first couple of days I had one little episode climbing a gully, 6ft from the top, when I suddenly remembered why I’m terrified of heights. After trying in vain to use my nose as an ice axe I was finally able to climb/be dragged over the lip.
After this terrifying experience (terrifying for me that is, just comical for everyone else!), we were set against another similar gully the next day. With slightly better snow conditions I got up this one without incident.
The real test came on the last 2 days when we went snow-holing. In a cruel twist of fate, the weather decided that now would be a good time for it to get worse, a lot worse! With visibility severely restricted we eventually reached the snow-holing sight with the blizzard in full swing. After several hours of arduous digging, my partner, Sam, and I fashioned a somewhat inadequate snow-hole and proceeded with the exceedingly difficult task of getting out of our waterproofs and into our sleeping bags without soaking everything! Once we had achieved this impressive feat we were actually quite comfortable and slept well despite one of us getting up every hour to dig out our entrance so we didn’t suffocate!
We woke up in good spirits and managed to crawl out of the snow-hole, which had become alarmingly small after the four foot of snow that fell caused a mini avalanche in our doorway which filled up half the snow-hole! Anyway after saving Martin’s life by digging him out of his hole (he will strenuously deny this fact!), we began the long hike back to the minibus with the conditions even worse than the day before.
Although there were some moments when I was concerned for my survival, the trip was a great success. I was proud to have overcome my fears and climbed a snow-gully (at the second time of asking!) and the experience of snow-holing was a once in a lifetime opportunity which I will never forget.
Charlie Douglas Hughes
