Stob Choire nan Lochan 1115m via Broad Gully

We start in the stunningly beautiful Glen Coe Valley our second day of Scottish Mountaneering. The colours are fantastic and the the route up Coire nan Lochan valley looks direct and leading to a summit shroud in cloud, typical for a Scottish Winter day. The Three Sisters loom above.

We start at 10am from the Allt-na-Ruigh carpark and first go down to the valley, traverse the bridge and follow the good summer path for ca. 30min. The path is steep and icy and so we crampon up. Most of the valley is in snow and there is an excellent track all the way up where we traverse the river and go up a steep flank of >35 degrees in hard snow until the small plateau. At the little plateau at 800m we take a small break and then start to climb up Broad Gully. The slope is immediately >30 degrees and rapidly gets to 40-45 degrees inside Broad Gully (PD, 250m). Ideal conditions with hard snow all the way up the impressive gully. The gully exit here is always easy (no cornish) onto a simple col from where the summit is reached in 15min. Descent via N ridge back to the plateau and down the path in Choire nan Lochan to the car park.

Visibility was ok for Scotland... a bit cloudy, but almost no wind.

Tour with Gary Hodgson - Tarmachan Mountaineering, Aviemore.