Stuc a' Chroin and Ben Vorich

Stuc a' Chroin and Ben Vorich

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Tuesday 27 March - Ben Vorlich and Stuc a’ Chroin


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Early morning at Loch Earn

We were early and only one other car was parked at Ardvorlich on this perfect morning. I can never come here without momentarily recalling the tragedy that occurred back in 1977 or thereabouts. Camped by the loch we were jolted awake by screams but by the time we’d got out of the tent all was quiet. Someone had drowned.

Nor will I ever forget the fiasco on this hill one awful winter’s day in 1976 with Lynne, my then boss John and his friend Sandy. My boss’s wife didn’t walk so he was restricted to one day a month, maybe two, on the hill and this day was one of them foul weather or not. Sandy had forgotten his gloves and wasn't worried about that (he ought to have been) but half way up the hill he discovered he’d forgotten/lost his hat, left all his food, hot drinks and extra clothes in the car. The conditions were now appalling and he looked a sorry state – and a potential exposure victim for certain. My boss was unhappy at 'losing' his day out and muttered that he "hadn’t suffered enough” to allow him to retreat feeling satisfied with the day's effort. Down we came nonetheless.

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Ben Vorlich from Ardvorlich

Lynne and I climbed Vorlich and Stuc a’ Chroin later that summer.

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The track makes for fast progress and we gained height quickly today. Sheep in lamb were undisturbed by our presence, no doubt used to the hundreds that pass this way. I love sheep. True hill-goers.
I was slightly ahead of Lynne - we often walk in 'companionable silence'- but waited a short distance below the trig point so that we could go to the summit together.



A cairn lies some 100m along the ridge and we wandered across, chatted briefly to a solitary walker then left him to his peace and quiet after gazing in anger at the Braes o’ Doune windfarm in the distance. Poor Scotland.

 A 'cheeky wind', as Lynne put it, had us donning tops before having a hot drink, the scene dominated by our next objective Stuc a’ Chroin.

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I’d be about seventeen when my brother invited me to climb what I've always known as 'Y-Gully' with him one winter. He drove up from Ayrshire and I took the bus from home and met him in Callander. It was the most wonderful winter’s day and why his wife wasn’t with us I can’t remember for she was also a keen climber. As I recall,we approached the hill via Keltie Water and enjoyed a fine climb – my first proper winter route - and after we were back on reasonable ground put on short skis that we’d carried up (I had his wife’s!). These were very light affairs with no metal edges and I’d never worn skis before, so it’s fair to say that my brother skied back down the glen while I did the best I could, slowing down by the skilful technique of falling over – sometimes on purpose, more often unplanned. I was already hooked on climbing, but I could now see just how useful skis could be in the winter mountains and as soon as cash allowed (many years later unfortunately) took the plunge (as it were). A good decision [Edit: at that time skiers were regarded by climbers as being well down the food chain. Thankfully all that has changed]

Reminiscing over, we descended to the bealach.

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At the Bealach an Dubh Choirein we pondered whether to go straight up the rocky prow, our previous line of ascent, or follow the path which I knew would lead us into the 'Y-Gully' area. Staying in the sun won the day. Goodness knows we've spent enough time without it this year.

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.... and after a steep little climb we emerged on the ridge a short distance from the summit. A large-ish lump of snow from the old cornice broke off and hit me as I stood beneath it sagely advising Lynne, who was some way below taking photographs, to "move out of the line of this snow, it might be a bit unstable".  It was soft and no harm was done but lest the whole lot should go, I took my own advice. "For once", Lynne might add.





A short walk along this delightful ridge took us to the cairn and much lazing around.








Returning to the bealach the way we'd come (the sun won again) we took the path which leads to Coire Buidhe and rejoined the main route but, although this is a pleasant enough way to go and new to us, we agreed that a re-ascent of Ben Vorlich would have been preferable and a finer finish to a quite magnificent day on the hills. I hope to return next winter and maybe repeat 'Y-Gully' with Lynne (a doddle with modern ice tools), traverse the hill and go back over Ben Vorlich. It would be a great day.

Here are some stats and a map of the route. All images can be enlarged by 'clicking'. More photographs of this day out and of the Ben Chonzie day can be found here and can be viewed as a slideshow or individually.


Two sets because I'd failed to clear previous data and I was getting a warning about memory being low so saved this first before clearing.

Ardvorlich to Ben Vorlich

Ben Vorlich to Stuc a' Chroin and return to Ardvorlich

11 comments:

AlanR said...

Good read, good walking and lovely photo's (Lynne).
Its making me very envious.

afootinthehills said...

Thanks - and sorry Alan!. We were planning another trip tomorrow but we're low on fuel and not sure what the situation is up here. Life never seems to get any simpler.

afootinthehills said...

Alan - I note that there is something far wrong with the 'Total Ascent' in the second Satmap box so I must have done something wrong when clearing the data. That figure will be the total ascent for the day. Oh dear, must do better.

Phreerunner said...

Excellent, Gibson. No need to be too bothered by 'stats' on such a fine excursion. Ben Vorlich sticks in my mind as one place (on 31/1/93) that my old foot crampons were beaten by the hard ice. I had to hold hands with Nick, who had sharper points, in order to reach the top. I've never managed to do both summits in one walk! Hope you find some petrol...

afootinthehills said...

Thanks Martin. Exciting, precarious time you had on Ben Vorlich. I love tales like that - I can picture the scene. A strong wind and you'd have had even more of an epic!

Phreerunner said...

Well, not really an epic Gibson, just a bit of really hard ice that we could probably have found our way around. But it was fun at the time and we were well practised with our axes in those days. Shouldn't you be out 'playing' today?

afootinthehills said...

We're probably going north soon with the motorvan so decided to get organised today, fill up the car and maybe get a day out tomorrow.

Phreerunner said...

Enjoy the 'north', you two. Our original plan was Skye, but we are having a restful trip 'south' instead, so definitely won't see you on this occasion.

afootinthehills said...

Enjoy the 'south'. I tend to use the vague term 'north' since when we use the motorvan our intended destination is often,...... vague

FootprintsAcrossScotland said...

Looks like you enjoyed a good day on two fine hills.
Just been up the once, from Glen Ample, just after the bad weather that saw the landslipe in Glen Ogle and also took away the bridge at Edinample.
Cheers,
Paul

afootinthehills said...

Hi Paul

Thanks for dropping in. They are indeed fine hills and we couldn't have had a finer day for them.