It’s hard to remember how many times I have climbed the Munro Beinn Ime in the Arrochar Alps. This weekend, I added some fun to an old walk by using snowshoes.
Last week, I had just returned from two days skiing on the slopes in St Anton in Austria when Scotland was also covered with snow. Highlands got a good dump of snow during the past week, and the central belt received a few more inches on Saturday.
Snowshoes are great for snow.
The plan for Sunday was to climb the Munro at Glen Etive in Glencoe. The road to the Munro was not passable for a normal car, so the plan had to be changed.
Instead, we agreed to meet in Arrochar. After a lovely dinner at Village Inn, we stayed in Fern the van on Loch Long’s side. This allowed us to start the day in a relaxed manner with the aim of climbing Beinn Ime.
Snow shoes and all of the necessary gear for winter hiking were also carried.
I used winter walking shoes, Asolo Ascender GT. Asolo boots are narrower to fit my thin and long feet. Also, I wore my Bergans Storen jacket as well as pants. The Bergans Storen Jacket and Pants is ideal for skiing, as well as for walking or snowshoeing.
The G-Force used their Decathlon Snowshoes while I used mine Women’s Lightning Ascent Snow Shoes.
The conditions are tiring from the moment the path leaves the roadside. It was a steep zigzagging trail that had already been walked the previous day. The ice and snow made it very difficult to hike.
The Asolos I have are stiff and rigid (which means they’re very grippy in many winter conditions, but less so for snow that has been compacted). As a result, I was slipping a lot. After a few minutes, I considered adding crampons. But after I got into a better rhythm I pushed forward.
We had to create a queue at some points on the narrow pathway. At this stage, we were still wearing walking boots.
We changed to snowshoes when we got to the bealach. From here, it’s possible to view the three summits: Ime (another Munro), Narnain, and Cobbler. It is easy to attach the snow shoes to your walking boots. The snow shoes are attached to hiking boots with two straps.
Snow shoes make it easy to walk and they create a larger surface so that you don’t sink into the soft snow. Snowshoes should be chosen according to your weight.
The bealach was a poor place to see because there were low clouds and occasional snow flurries. The footpath is normally clear and we chose to follow a compass direction instead of the usual route.
Snowshoeing is a great sport.
Although I’ve enjoyed snow before, I had never hiked as far as I did over the weekend. Yesterday’s walk was my first snowy Munro.
We were able to traverse the thick blanket of deep snow with ease thanks to our shoes. The snowshoes allowed us to move much faster than people on the trail. People stopped us to ask about snowshoes as we passed.
Snow shoeing may look easy, but it isn’t. Snow shoeing is faster because it is easier to walk up slopes.
We had to take frequent breaks to catch our breathe and remove layers of clothes. We found that even though the shoes were able to dig in the snow, and provided a good amount of grip, our legs still burned from the exertion.
The visibility was reduced to a mere few meters at the summit of Munro. The last 300 metres were snowshoed on a bearing based upon a compass. This meant we had to be extremely careful in order to avoid steep drops and rock crags.
We took a different route to follow the A-B path than we would have done on the more well-trodden Arrochar Alpine trail.
Light at the top
We suddenly found ourselves in the clouds as we made the final 50 metre ascent. It’s always a thrill when that happens. I do my normal “oohing, ahhing, and wowing”, as I catch glimpses of the breathtaking landscape through the holes in the cloud.
It’s more exciting to see the landscape through gaps between the clouds.
The G-Force set out for our return hike after a cup of coffee and some much-needed energy-boosting chocolate. Mark, who is a G-Force climbing buddy and member of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team was making the ascent with skis. It looked like the snow was perfect for skiing down, but poor visibility could have hindered my abilities. I like clear skies for skiing in Scotland!
The snowshoes made the journey down very simple. As I covered the snowy terrain quickly and effortlessly, I felt just like Man Mountain. We were soon back on the bealach despite hiking in thick clouds.
As we made our way back through the Glen, the temperature had dropped and the wind was picking up. My boots were fitted with crampons so that I wouldn’t slip and slide on the path.
Snowshoeing and walking in the winter is exhausting. By the time we reached the Arrochar road, the G-Force was also exhausted. It was only 40 minutes, but the drive seemed to take forever. After a large curry, the day ended with an early bedtime.
The snow in Scotland made my weekend adventure more exciting than it would otherwise have been.