14 Saturday EXtra SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015 M.E.N.

travEl

I now know what it must feel like to have a thousand pins pushed into your legs

Now its 55 down... only another 227 Munros to go

WE pulled up in a lay-by on the shores of

beautiful Loch Awe, got out of the car and felt the warmth from the sun which was peeking over the rugged mountains.

It was a beautiful spring day on the west coast of Scotland by the Falls of Cruachan on the long and winding road to Oban.

It seemed hard to believe as we packed up our kit wearing sunglasses and slapping on factor 20, that a few thousand feet above there was a frozen wonderland still in the midst of winter.

We were heading into hostile territory, the fearsome mountains of the Scottish Highlands and there was certainly plenty of snow glistening on the tops.

My pals and I are Munroists, a Munro being a mountain in Scotland with a total height of 3,000ft or more.

There are five mountains which exceed this height in England but a mighty 282 north of the border. To climb them all often takes a lifetime. Ive bagged 53 summits so far in ten years, so Ill have to get a move on if Im going to complete my round before my knees decide to say no more please.

We were aiming to bag two on this adventure, the mighty Ben Cruachan and its sister peak Stob Diamh, which lies further along a narrow, airy ridge.

The walk began with a stiff climb up the northern shore of Loch Awe above the salmon farm through a wooded area before emerging beneath the impressive Cruachan Dam. A quick climb up a ladder followed before we headed above the snow line beneath Ben Cruachan. This was mid-April but we were soon up to our knees in snow, searching for a line up the snowfield for the ridge which would enable us to hit the summit. The going became tough and dangerous. At this point its worth noting that this sort of activity in winter should only be attempted by experienced mountaineers!

We were aware of the

threat of an avalanche following an overnight dump of snow and we were constantly analysing the angle of the slope and looking at the layers of snow to assess the risk.

Ice axes in hands and crampons on boots we made slow progress, traversing across the face of a steep snowfield, taking it in turns to break trail before we eventually reached the ridge where we were welcomed by a fierce blizzard of hailstones. I now know what it must feel like to

have a thousand pins pushed into your legs in rapid succession.

The warmth we had felt two hours earlier seemed a distant memory.

Thankfully this blizzard quickly subsided and as we got to our feet the clouds parted and we could see the summit of Ben Cruachan in all its glory, all we had to do was clamber up a steep sea of boulders covered in snow and ice to get there.

It took us an hour to climb just 150m to the summit of Ben Cruachan

davE laffErty heads to Scotland for another chapter in his 10-year quest to climb as many 3,000ft-plus mountains as he can...

Comfortable bedrooms (left) with impressive views of the surrounding countryside, and the excellent food, are something to savour at the Taynuilt Hotel