I left the house at 07:50 am, stopped at McDonald's in Balloch on the way for my usual coffee and porridge.
I arrived at Inverglas Visitor Centre, which was already pretty busy, just before 9 am and started walking for 09:15 am.
I was pretty buzzing to get up a hill as my last climb was The Cobbler months earlier in October and hadn’t climbed a Munro since July 2019. I had just bought a new pair of winter boots and new crampons and was dying to make use of them.
As I left the car park clouds were wrapping around the summit of Ben Lomond while the sun was fighting through, this illuminated the summit of Ben Lomond - it looked fantastic.
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A few minutes after I left the car park, out of nowhere, it began lashing it of rain, I wrapped up and powered on with my head down.
The rain went off as I plodded along the road towards Loch Sloy with Ben Vane sitting dominant straight ahead.
The route I was taking up Ben Vorlich starts as a tiny path off the main road to Loch Sloy, it's easy to miss. I thought Ben Vane was steep for such a wee mountain but the initial climb up Ben Vorlich was as steep - my legs were burning pretty quickly. Not long after climbing you make good height and the views back over towards Loch Sloy are beautiful.
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As the path sweeps to the left It started snowing and low cloud was whirling below and around, it was the perfect excuse for a breather. I took a moment and snapped some shots.
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The snow gradually got thicker above 1500ft and by 2000ft it was covered, only a few footsteps ahead of me. I slipped an absolute belter face first, luckily into a pile of fresh fluffy snow. Nonetheless, I stopped and fired the crampons on.
I continued up with ease after the fall through the fresh snow and sheets of ice, reaching the summit about 11:45.
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On my way back down the was shining over Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, it looked like something out of a film.
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Overall, it was a great day with the typical mix of Scottish weather.
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