Munro- Beinn a'Chroin

Lindsay said:

Munro Bagging

I needed to climb Beinn a'Chroin and on previous occasions I had done
so from the A82 south of Crianlarich. On this occasion I decided to
climb it from Inverlochlarig.

It was a lovely sunny morning, albeit a bit cold, when I set off from
the car park at Inverlochlarig and walked along the Right of Way beside
the River Larig as far as Ishag Glen.
Once over the stream and through a gate I headed up to the crags,
traversed below them, climbed through some steep snow filled gullies to
a knoll east of Beinna'Chroin. The whole area up here was covered
snow, a lot of it wind swept.

Quoted message said:

From the knoll I headed onto the east ridge of Beinn a'Chroin where the

snow conditions were very unstable with lots of soft drifting snow on
top of a hard packed base. However it had not bonded and there was a
very high avalanche risk with some evidence of minor snow falls. It
was difficult finding a route onto the summit as the rocks were
concealed by the snow and I made several attempts before I discovered a
save and suitable route.

Once on the east summit I had to put on crampons as the surface was
very icy. I headed across to the west top. Manuals and maps differ
on which is the highest point on this ridge but according to my map a
knoll in the middle of the summit ridge is the highest point at 942
metres. However I walked over all tops lest there be another change.

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From the west end of this ridge I descended south towards Carn Liath.

The snow here was again very deep and there were lots of rocky outcrops
to avoid but the snow filled gullies made for an easy descent into the
corrie. A young chap passed me here. He had ascended the hill from
the near the south corrie and had heard the noise of an avalanche. He
had been happy to follow my descent as it meant he didn't have to study
the route down through the rocks before descending the gullies.

I crossed over the corrie, being careful at streams as they were full
of soft snow, and headed to below the snow line. The return to the
track and the walk back along the Right of Way was easy compared to
climbing through the snow.

Quoted message said:

Nice choice of route. I did this in a large group a few years back.
There was zero visibility and it took some time for us to agree on
whether or not we'd found the correct summit. As you say - best to walk
them all!

druidh