A supposedly straightforward day in the Scottish hills (26 January 2013) turned out to be anything but easy. Two car loads of us left Glasgow at 7am but the road was blocked at Spittal of Glenshee so we had to wait and we didn't get on the hill until after 11am. The Glenshee Ski Centre staff went ballistic when we chose an inappropriate parking spot. We headed up to the Carn Aosda hut by ascending immediately behind the ski centre and soon caught up with a large group of snowholers who were floundering in immense powder-snow drifts. The hut looked impressive, plastered with snow inside and definitely not attractive for a night out. Lashing spindrift greeted our arrival at the broad ridge and it was continuously extreme hard going despite there being six of us! It took over two hours to reach the top - the normal time is only 45 minutes. Views were excellent, with the main Cairngorms clearing to the north and Lochnagar visible to the east. Despite the sunshine it was a bit nippy in the biting wind.

We decided to return to the car park via the Cairnwell. This turned out to be a mistake for those of us without snowshoes. Skiers stopped to chat to half-buried walkers in the snow but we doggedly kept going into the mist and spindrift. The masts at the top of the Cairnwell were caked in ice half-a-metre thick and visibility was virtually nil. Fortunately, the descent via the line of a chairlift wasn't too bad but we had a final hazard, a steep snow slope dropping directly to the road! Getting squashed at the last hurdle wasn't part of the script so the last few metres required care. It was a bit of a rough day - I still haven't fully recovered three weeks later! Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/B438/comment/14927/

Carn Aosda from East - from banks of Allt a' Gharbh-choire Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/B438/comment/20437/