As a quick intro, the Inter-Semester Break trip is a weeklong trip to the Cairngorms in Scotland with the primary aim being to teach winter skills to those who wish to obtain them, as well as developing the winter skills that some may already have. The courses are run by professional guides, catering for multiple levels of experience, such as beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
After a surprisingly smooth 7:30 am start from campus on Saturday morning, we hit the road to begin the long eleven-hour journey to the lodge. Along the journey, a number of things happened, including counting home bargains lorries (we lost count), having a good laugh at a certain sleepy fresher and discussing hairstyles that would suit otters. After a little bit of shopping chaos, we arrived and got unpacked. We rounded off the night by handing out kit for the week and looking at the weather and avalanche forecast together.
Day 2 began very early for some due to fear of a phantom sleepwalker (spoiler: there wasn’t one). Breakfast was pretty standard with mountains of porridge and our chair, Adam, feeding our media secretary, Luc, as per usual. We then split into our groups and met with the guides for a chat about the coming week and heading out into the snow.
The beginners drove out to Coire na Ciste for some low-level wandering. They kicked off the day with basic ice axe walking skills and some crampon practice. The first of many laughs came when one of our members’ bottles escaped from his bag and started sliding down the slope, promptly followed by his gloves blowing in the other direction! Things then got a bit more exciting with a bit of daggering up a 40° incline and a good snowball fight at the top. The highlight of the day came when another member, having just been asked to take the lead, took two steps and disappeared waist-deep into a stream.
The intermediates tackled Fiacaill a’ Choire Chais, starting with a couple hours of ice axe arrests on the lower slopes - where they stumbled upon some suspicious brown marks from Luc’s “trail”. They then pushed a bit higher in the afternoon to get some crampons on and practice some whiteout navigation.
Adam forgot his map and saw some reindeer.
We regrouped back at the hut that evening for mac and cheese wraps with haggis and watching Into the Void before collapsing into bed.
Day 3 began with the intermediate group leaving “blisteringly early” to drive out to Fort William. The group got a long hike in logging 1200m of elevation gain before 60mph winds forced them to turn back. Unfortunately no Summit this time but Ellis Brigham sports outdoors provided “excellent retail therapy” on the way home.
The story was much the same for the beginner group, with them attempting to reach Cairn 1141 before having to bail as well. They then went down onto some lower slopes for some ice axe arrests, snow buckets and body belays.
The advanced group were back to Coire an Sneachda this time for some climbing. They began with a small group teaching the others how to place nuts in cracks (haha) and followed up with some trad climbing. After a snowball fight on the descent, they squeezed back into a car (with many, many layers on) and headed back to the lodge and attempted to break back into the lodge before going and getting a spare key.
On this day, Adam forgot his phone!
Day 4 was cold and windy, and I mean WINDY (the weather station on Cairn Gorm clocked 133mph wind!!!!). Due to this, all three groups headed towards Aviemore for some rope skills and dry tooling sessions until some trees and boulders decided we weren’t allowed to climb there anymore. We wrapped up the day with a quick shopping trip and a fantastic BBQ in the evening!
Day 5 saw the advanced group have a fantastic day. With the snow barriers closed, they began their day with a hike up towards the ski resort. Luckily, a Glenmore lodge van spotted them and kindly ferried them most of the way up. They then hiked out onto Two Ribs in Sneachda, where some smashed a grade 3 climb while others learnt Trad leading. Then up Fiacaill Ridge in pitches and Simuls, topping out around 4 pm. Looping around Sneachda to hit Cairn 1141 for sunset, the group then had a moonlit descent and hike back to the lodge. “Mega, mega day” – One of the summitters.
Unfortunately, the weather turned again for our last day on the mountain, which was also our unguided day. The beginners guided by Adam attempted to push for Cairn Gorm summit, but once again, 60mph winds and whiteout conditions forced a bailout. At the bottom, they linked up with our gear secretary, Alfie, and some graduated ex-members for 3 hours of slide-building and snowball fights, which included a hunt through the snow for an unlucky member’s phone (small miracle we found that!). Small excitement on the way back to the lodge with the van needing a push out of the car park.
The intermediates headed out towards Sgor Gaoith and, after successfully summiting Carn Ban Mor, were also forced to turn back with a lovely muddy descent through several kilometres of boggy heather.
Adam didn’t forget anything this day, which was quite handy considering the beginners forgot a map despite discussing the fact that none of them had one packed before leaving the lodge.
The evening’s activities included a polar dip in the lake and Adam’s underwear (clean) getting thrown around the room.
The trip home went smoothly with lots of naps. An unfortunate surprise awaited one of our members who got to Bath and realised his room key and library card were still in his bedside table in Scotland…
All in all, a fantastic trip with some crazy weather, lots of snowball fights and laughing, and unbreakable spirits. Massive thank you to the guides, drivers and organisers. Till next year!