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The weather here in the West of Scotland hasn’t been too good for the past week, high winds low cloud and rain, so despite my freedom from the daily grind I haven’t got a lot of hill walking done. So when the forecast looked good for Friday myself and my friend Eileen decided to head up to Spean Bridge to climb Stob Ban. We decided to take Eileen’s car as far as possible up the track to minimize the long walkin. The only problem was the ruts on the track were so deep they almost took the exhaust off.


It had been a clear night and it was a cold clear morning with snow on the tops and patches of ice on the track. After about an hour and a half walkin we reached the bothy at the bottom of the hill. After a quick cuppa in the bothy we put on our winter boots and set off. We had talked about doing this hill in September but the weather and other commitments meant we never got round to it till now. I’m very glad we didn’t climb it during warmer weather because it appears it would have been a very boggy experience. We ascended at a good steady pace avoiding the patches of ice until we reached the snowline. Here we put on our crampons not because of the snow its self but because there were lots of patches of ice under the snow. It’s a steep final pull up to the summit and my legs were feeling the extra weight of the winter boots and crampons by the time we reached the top.


The views from the top were magnificent. Snow capped peaks all around us with visibility good enough to see Schiehallion to the south east. My friend Eileen is a Munro bagger and this hill leaves her with 100 to do so in celebration we had cake on the summit while trying not to freeze in the cold wind. Cake finished it was back down to the bothy for a bite to eat before the walkout. It was great to get out in winter conditions again and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a good lot of snow this winter.