On Sunday, Ralph and I set out to climb Beinn a'Chleibh, having missed doing it earlier in the year with the club, after doing Ben Lui. When we left Oban, the weather was dull, but OK. Towards Taynuilt, we could see what I thought was cloud, but when we got nearer, it turned out to be snow. However, the roads were clear, so we carried on.
Not wanting to get our feet wet on such a cold day, we decided to use the foot-bridge to cross the River Lochy. The snow was several centimetres deep and was still coming down. After an unplanned tour of the forest, and an awkward burn crossing, we emerged on to the hill and headed up Fionn Choirein to the col between Beinn a'Chleibh and Ben Lui. Although the snow was soft, there were patches of ice, so we donned crampons. Going up the coire, we could see what looked like sand storms swirling around, but of course were snow not sand. It was impossible to avoid them, and when in them it was not very nice. The snow was coming and going, but the wind was getting stronger.
After the col, we just made a bee-line for the summit, from where we could only see snow. Coming back the same way, the wind was ferocious and nearly blew us off our feet at one point. And together with the snow made for intermittent white-outs.
But apart from snow stinging our eyes, the descent was uneventful.
Back at the car, the snow had added about five centimetres to the roof and road-side. So a very slow start to the return journey was made, but as we came nearer to Oban, the snow eased and the roads became completely clear.
John
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