I’ve been crazily busy the past few weeks, so I had intended having a lazyish day and catching up on everything as well as getting ready for my holiday, but on Friday driving to work in the morning I caught a glimpse of the mountains in the distance dusted with snow.
So when I woke up on Saturday to lovely weather, it was just too much of a temptation to head out into the hills in search of snow….
I absolutely love snow, the sight of it gets me all giddy and excited like a little child. Maybe it’s all those memories of days off school and tobogganing in the fields, or the promise of winter climbing adventures ahead, either way I just find snowy mountains really magical.
So after a quick trip to Tiso to buy some new kit for my upcoming trip to the deserts of Jordan and a map, I headed to Glen Lednock in search of snow to run up Ben Chonzie.
The route up Ben Chonzie starts out up a very runnable track, and it didn’t take long for me to reach the snowline. I was enjoying being out running in the hills again and excited about running through the snow. The track just keeps on going up for some distance, but I was having so much fun that I found myself on the plateau in what felt like no time at all.
From the map I’d thought it would be a flat and easy run from the top of the track across the plateau to the summit. But as soon as I reached the plateau the clag came in and the snow deepened to my knees, so it was really hard going. After what felt like hours of high knee stepping through the snow and into the murk, it started snowing, the wind picked up and I started to get chilly. I was just questioning the wisdom of my plan and contemplating retreating, when I bumped into a couple of friendly walkers returning the other way, who after making a few jokes about my craziness, told me that I was only 5 mins from the summit.
So I picked up my pace a bit to keep warm and continued on, I didn’t linger at the summit. Apparently Ben Chonzie has really lovely views, but certainly not today!
On the way back I had to run into the wind, so I now had the added bonus of free exfoliation from all the snow and hail being blown into my face, but descending through the snow is always epic fun, and I was much quicker on the way back than on the way out. I was even treated to a glimpse of sunshine and some really beautiful light on my descent.
Now off to the desert for some sunshine and sand, but I am looking forward to getting out in the snow again once I get back.
One year and one week ago we were in that area for the OMM (Rachel and I didn’t go up Ben Chonzie, but there was a control (with a marshal) on the summit, and we were well over 800m altitude west of there). There was no snow at all then, and a good thing too ❗ :freeze:
Lovely area for a mountain marathon! I can’t imagine doing an omm in those conditions though, it would be almost as crazy as 2008!