Golden Oldy on Aonach Mor

Posted by Sam Harrison on March 12, 2014 at 17:21.

 Mountaineering and climbing

aonach mor roy bridge western highlands winter climbing

If ever we needed a stark reminder of the complexities, challenges and dynamicity that Scottish winter presents, then our recent ascent of Golden Oldy onto Aonach Mor was just that.

Firstly, some context: Two weekends ago, the Hiking Club headed up to Roy Bridge for a weekend of winter fun on the mountains east of Ben Nevis. With the avalanche forecast ruling out northern and eastern aspects - and hence the north face of the Ben - we turned our attention to the western face of Aonach Mor, which boasts a number of grade II/III ridges and ribs. The most famous of these is arguably Golden Oldy, a technically easy but committing and long grade II line straight onto the summit plateau, and Richard, Jim, Calum, Ben and I set out with the plan of doing this on the Saturday morning.

The guidebook recommends catching the climber's gondola at 8am to save on the long walk in and lessen the ascent. We decided not to do this for a number of reasons: Firstly, whilst this kind of cheating might be acceptable out in the Alps, it goes against the ethos of Scottish winter mountaineering; Secondly, and probably most importantly, the £11.25 return is a bit expensive!

Calum about to set off on pitch 1. My camera decided the new batteries I'd just put in were flat after this point, so no more photos of the climb I'm afraid!


The gondola-gondola guidebook time is five hours, so we gave ourselves an extra three to do the route and get down before dark. We were just behind the last of the gondola climbers on the ascent, who were all heading for the neighbouring climbs of Daim Buttress (III) and Western Rib (III). The walk in was long and arduous and it was a relief to be gearing up at the base of the route to start climbing. Jim and Ben, lead by Calum, went first, whilst me and Richard alt-lead behind them.

I took the first pitch and was pleased to find myself having overcome the first crux of the route with little difficulty. Gear placements were plentiful (mainly slings and big hexes) and belays ample and numerous. Richard lead the next, and as the weather started to worsen I dispatched the third, which included the other crux of the climb, again posing little difficulty. Gear had become a little more sparse by now, but I still managed to find enough placements to be comfortable. These three pitches saw us to the top of the actual pitched climbing, in good spirits after some fantastically enjoyable climbing.

The aforementioned stark reminder came on the next "easier" section of ridge, which is usually a rocky and exposed ridge with little or no technical problems. The previous evening's snowfall, however, had left us with an altogether different proposition; a soft powdery knife-edge snow arete that looked simply stunning but was delicate, untrustworthy and distinctly lacking in belay opportunities. We were all "moving together" on two ropes between the five of us by this point, and it was Jim that broke trail.

In honesty, I can't really comment on the state of the ridge, as Jim, Ben and Calum passing over it had left me and Richard with nice trustworthy footholds and it wasn't that bad for us. Of course, care had to be taken and it was time consuming, but by all accounts it was a much easier experience than that suffered by Jim upfront.

It was getting dark when we finally topped out and so we quickly shoved the climbing gear in our bags, had a bite to eat and worked our way leg-by-leg across the plateau, taking bearings and pacing out distances, until we reached the ski tows and handrailed these to the mountain bike track for a quick and tiring descent back to the car park. Thanks to Imogen and Lorna who had been waiting in the minibus for us for a good couple of hours!

Being in the mountains, especially in winter, is an ever-learning process and one must habitually analyse days out to ensure both safety and enjoyment on future trips. Only the most foolish believe they know all there is to know. Our ascent of Golden Oldy taught me a lot and reinforced many more things. It reinforced the fact that Scottish winter is a demanding and dynamic environment with little margin for error, and it taught me that although ridges are often seen as the "safe" option in heavy snow, it isn't always the case.


On the Sunday, Imogen, Lorna and I did some winter ML consolidation in Coire Ardair on the way up to Creag Megaidh. Much nicer weather than the previous day!
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