[Trip Index] [Munro Index] [Home] 30th September 1999   Cairngorm Map Set off with Amber from the car park and ascended alongside the ski tows via a construction road to begin with, followed by a marked out path which a bit further up was actually fenced off by posts and blue tape! Very wild and free! Also 3/4 of the way up there was a diesel engine clattering away breaking rock or something... so much for the peaceful countryside. Past the Ptarmigan restaurant at the top of the ski slope we went up a paved, roped off path to the summit plateau where the ropes thankfully stopped and we were left with a short walk following the cairns and their marker posts until we got to the large summit cairn. It was an easy but ruined ascent, spoilt by the ski tows and the fenced paths, the engine noise and the over-sanitisation. The top was in cloud but dry - it was quite windy and cool. Well cold if you stayed up there for a while. Amber by the ski runs Father and daughter The cloud parted a bit now and then and gave us some good views of the plateau and the Cairngorms - I saw my old chum Ben McDui which is more than I did when I climbed it. There was an automatic weather station at the top which opened and sampled the wind while we were there. We spent about 25 mins wandering round the summit and then returned - the whole trip took us 3 hours up and down including the time at the top and we were back at the car park by 1.55. Then off to Callendar where we stayed the night (£16). 31/9/99 Returned home, pausing to look at the Sherrifmuir battlefield (1715) - not much there but a large monument by the roadside to the fallen of the McCrae clan. Also called in for a look round New Lanark.