York MC fielded a full squad of 11 for a September trip north of the border, including visiting ace Baljit Kumar on loan from Notts Forest. The athletes village this time was the Grey Corries Lodge at Roy Bridge.

The main goal was .....errr.......the Grey Corries and, as always, sleeping through the symphony of snores in the dorm.

On a gloomy Saturday morning, the Grey Corries lived up to their name. Not so much because of the grey rocks (the usual reason) but because above 800 metres all was swathed in dull grey mist. It left us with neat & narrow rocky ridges, but robbed all the views and sense of scale.

First however, we had to get up there. The way in followed the old aluminium-hydro tramway, squelchy underfoot, passing a series of dramatic broken-down Indiana Jones style railway bridges. More bushwork followed, as we found the stream above the small reservoir in a steep gorge tricky to cross. Remembered this is why we ( well most of us!) wear gaiters.

Eventually however we gained the slopes of Beinn an Socaich (after a densely contoured slog requiring nifty footwork) and the summit of Stob Coire Easain (1080 metres) swathed in cool damp clag. Richard Harrison, supported by Brian & Baljit, ran out to play on the right wing to deal with unfinished business at Sgurr Chionneach Beag. Along the way Richard and his two minders found and explored a previously unclimbed ( and a mainly impassable) route variation alongside the main ridge which added to the excitement of the day. The remainder swung left over Stob Coire an Laoigh (1115) and Stob Coire Leith to Stob Coire Claurigh, (1177) and then north and down again to the car to be joined some two hours later by the remaining members of the team sore and bruised by their encounter with the route variation to Sgurr Chionneach Beag. Over 3km of delightful narrow rocky ribs, but oh what a grey day

Back at base, Frank and Rachel were soon at work on a hearty pasta concoction for all 11 of us. Hats off to the catering dept, definitely. Then there was cards and live music in the bar, so the Alcohol Intakes were switched to the fully open position, and the team settled down to absorb the culture of rural pub Scotland.

A somewhat subdued start was the consequence on Sunday, and expecting more dull weather, most of the team went a-Corbetting at Loch Leven, where we used 2 cars for an end-to-end traverse of Beinn na Caillich and Mam na Gualainn. Rachel with a number of severely bruised toes ( caused by waking up in a top bunk and not remembering where she was!) made a stirling effort and set a blistering pace which helped ease the heads of those who had partaken of too much Scottish culture the previous night.
Some slight irritation from midges was offset by watching three birds of prey (hawks?) wheeling and calling over Loch Lomond to the south - a Visit Scotland moment as we even saw some sunshine. The walk was an excellent grassy ridge of 3km or so, and as the weather cleared much better than the forecast, it gave a superb panorama of all the Glencoe summits, the Mamores, and (as always) Schiehallion doing its wee pointy thing away east beyond the shining Blackwater Reservoir. The Ben even cleared enough to give us a look in to the north.

Meanwhile Simon had taken his new motor with Kirsty and Tenk to do a spot of Cragging at Creag na h-eigh near Dunkeld.

Thanks to Andy, Brian and Amanda for the report.

A great weekend was had by all, looking forward to the next one!

Simon