Man of Steall

Knees. They’re quite important when it comes to our pastime of choice. About ten years ago I traversed the ring of Steall with a group of mates. We spent the day in thick clag and made a minor nav error on the way off Sgurr a’Mhaim which resulted in us descending an unrelentingly steep tussocky slope. After a day of that length it was a tough descent with many grown men making some very unhappy noises. What I left with that day was a need to return to see the views and a knackered right knee.

It’s been groaning on and off for the years since. Prolonged steep descents are the trigger. I’ve done strength training to keep it a bay but if I’m honest I’m pretty lax when it comes to stretching, but who isn’t? It had a flare up after the Coigach trip and I spent a while hobbling around before I got the physio involved. Pes anserine bursitis he said. Rest, elevation and Ibuprofen he said, I did at least one of those. It’s been fine over the last few weeks and had handled a 25 miler in the Cairngorms with only minor twinging, so why not go back to where it all started?

It was early afternoon when I stopped at Fort William for supplies. I dodged through the throng of  3 peak challenge t-shirts to get in and out as quickly as possible. Suitable equipped with sugary and lardy foodstuffs, I scooted away up Glen Nevis, marveling at the sheer numbers of WHWers that were heading down towards town; the pubs would be packed tonight.  I pulled in at the falls car park , it had been a while since I’d been up Stob Ban. It was time to remedy that.

Stob Ban north ridge

The north ridge is very popular in winter, a scenic Grade I which doesn’t have a long walk in, ideal for learning winter climbing. In summer it’s an easy scramble. It was warm and muggy as I headed upwards, and it was short sleeves for the first half. Once I hit the midpoint of the ridge, the wind really picked up. The MWIS guys had said it would be blustery and they weren’t kidding. The windproof top went on, and so did I. The poles were then stowed for the scrambly bit. It was over all too quickly but there were some entertaining sections and tons of crampon marks showing where people had been scraping up only a couple of months before. It was good to get hands on rock in the mountains again.

Stob Ban north ridgeStob Ban north ridge

The route pops up onto the ridge from Mullach nan Coirean just a wee trot from the top of Stob Ban. The view opened up to the south and I could see massive black cloud over Bidean nam Bian that was heading my way, fast. The wind had really picked up and was buffeting me around. The rain arrived at the summit at the same time as me, freezing needles being thrown in my face at high speed. It was no place to linger. I cast a look to the east and my planned camp spot, the summit of Sgurr an Iubhair and then bombed off down the east ridge to get out of the teeth of the gale.

Stob Ban north ridge

I passed a wee group on the way up, clad in shorts and waterproof jackets, the combination of the blue-legged.  The seemed about as thrilled as I was. By the time I reached the lochan in Coire na Miseach it was at little after 5pm and the wind was gusting hard and it was absolutely lashing down. Summit camping would not be fun. I dropped down slightly below the loch to buy some respite from the relentless gale and stuck the tent up, initially to have shelter to make a cuppa and review my options, I could always relocate if it improved. Cuppa and biscuit consumed and the tent was getting buffeted hard and raked with rain.  I zipped up and settled down with a book. I’d been keeping Alex Roddie’s The Only Genuine Jones for tent trips, so it was about 40% read according to the Kindle app. I managed to get through the remaining sixty, along with a bag of freeze dried curry and sundry cuppas while the tempest raged. I’d just enjoyed the Eigerwand denouement when the rain let up and the wind eased a little.

I stuck my head out of the tent door to see the twinkling lights of the Fort below, it was a little after midnight. Maybe I’d have more luck in the morning.

Stob Ban north ridge

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