Trip Reports

Introductory Long Weekend, March 2014

On the Ballachulish Horseshoe
Trip Report

Written by Team Member Andrew Harper, March 2014

March 7th 14, I drove down to the hotel on the stunning roads with my brother for the evening briefing which included tea and biscuits and a check of our kit for the coming days. The hotel is in a beautiful spot on the lake surrounded by the snow covered mountains. The following morning we had full english breakfast (which went down very well) and then went through the safety briefing including weather forecast, avalanche report etc. Being completely new to winter mountaineering, in all honesty there was a small "what if" thought of something going wrong in the snow, however the team are very professional and soon lifted any concerns - they plan very precisely what they do, where they go and continuously reassess to make sure it is a safe as possible!

We had the pleasure of being led by Mungo Ross. We couldn't have had a better guide - clearly very experienced and switched on, we felt in the best possible hands. Mungo was brilliant throughout the weekend - teaching all the essential aspects as we went with extra inputs to those that wanted it (such as people planning future expeditions) whilst also ensuring flexibility and informality where required. All the staff really were a credit to Jagged Globe! After breakfast and briefing we then travelled by minibus to our first climb (stopping at a store on the way for those needing to get a few bits of kit they missed out). The climb was physically quite demanding as we had set a good pace but was well worth the effort as the incredibly deep snow and mountain views were amazing.

Each day followed a similar routine - a decent breakfast @ 07:15, collect your flasks (that the hotel kindly fill the night before) and packed lunch for the day (2 sandwhiches, chocolate bar and the famous brilliant brick of flapjack), morning briefing and gear up @ 08:00. Leave in minibus around 09:00, climb 09:30-15:00/16:00. Return back to hotel and de-kit around 16:45-18:00 (wet stuff into drying room etc). Shower and relax followed by dinner @ 19:30.

To anyone considering this course, experienced or not, I could not recommend it enough! The course itself is excellent value for money - the hotel is very comfortable, the food was great, the team were absolutely fab and the experience was one I will never forget. I also felt that the little extras that you don't even really consider when you are booking such as the packed lunches, the use of minibus, the tea and coffee with biscuits in the evenings, the helpfulness of the booking staff and everything else involved in the weekend all added a very nice and rather unique touch to the course and made the experience as whole very enjoyable.

I would certainly use Jagged Globe for any future trips or courses and could not rate the experience highly enough. I would like to say a massive thank you to all the staff involved and to all prospective climbers - you will only come away from this course feeling very satisfied!

Andrew« | »

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