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I have never been so cold, tired and wet in my life. It was great!

Brass Monkeys in Glencoe

Nickjenkins
2003-11-20 14:45:17

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The final day was a bit more restful than the other two. With the inclement weather continuing to drive the snow further up the mountains the decision was taken to retreat to a more sheltered glen and practise some fundamentals. Some of the party elected to revise their navigation skills while the rest of us went off to practise some rope-work.

This was particularly interesting for me since I was used to the more formal, organised form of rope-work present in rock climbing. In rock climbing you are usually festooned with gear and rope-work usually consists of choosing the right piece of gear for the right situation. In alpine rope-work the emphasis is much more on improvisation and flexibility.

While you might use just as much gear as your rock climbing contemporary you more probably are faced with a situation in which you have nothing but a rope to rescue yourself or your team with. I learnt how to fashion a harness from a rope, the Munter hitch, waist belays and the South African abseil (I also found out how to tie a bow-line which has eluded me for ages).

We finished the day off with some more rope work, technical lectures, a slide show and about six pints of Guiness in the pub.

As I said I have never been so cold, tired and wet in my life. It was great!

Apparently compared to this the Alps are a doddle. There you have to be off the snow by about 2pm due to the risk of plunging down a crevasse brought on by melting snow in the warm alpine sun. This means that you have to start before first light but can spend your afternoon basking outside your chosen climbing lodge, cappuccino in hand.

(Oh and yes, there are risks. While I was in Scotland two people plunged off Ben Nevis and went splat in separate incidents. One woman coming down the tourist path stopped overnight with her friends but rolled out of bed during the night and ended up 2000ft below. Another professional climber apparently slipped off the back of a rope at the top of a climb. Cautionary tales indeed!)

08 March 2000 16:34:34

[Pictures by Rachel Lynch]

My travels