Ballater Winter Meet – 15th February – 22nd February

[Richard Maclennan]

Message from Alex Shipp about the upcoming winter meet:

Winter meet based at the 5 star Ballater Hostel (https://www.ballater-hostel.com/).

There are 10 people signed up and 6 places remaining and the hostel to ourselves. Winter may well have done a drastic disappearing act recently, but the potential for a meaningful return is still there. All to play for here, with a month to go. Keep praying to those winter weather gods! Have faith!!

There are a significant number of routes, across different mountains and crags, that provide routes at a good sweep of grades, that come into condition “early season style” with frozen turf and dump of snow.

Moreover though, the venue for this year is probably one of the best for all round troubleshooting activities too. It’s way more than just Lachnager. I am really looking forward to getting up there and having a week of fun, with a great variety of things to do.

There are some really good scrambles and easy grade mountaineering climbs that will “go” in pretty much any condition, whether it’s unseasonable mid winter warmth or a surprise dump of snow. What’s more, out east on the coast, there are some lovely granite sea cliffs that are relatively “friendly” catching the sun and drying quickly.

Munros and hills abound! There are many Bothies to visit, including a very nice looking newly opened and renovated “Red House”. Many of these make a great stop off on a round of the hills, as well as a destination in themselves as a day trip or overnight.

Taking a bike to Ballater is highly recommended (despite what Andrew M might say). Accessing many of the non-technical estate tracks takes off anywhere between 1 and 3 hours of the effort, especially on the return leg of a day out walking or climbing. A bike provides more opportunity for a productive week for sure. Bikes can be hired locally here: https://www.bikestationballater.co.uk/
On at least two previous Mynydd trips to Ballater people have enjoyed the benefits of two wheels. On that theme, the immediate low lying hills around Ballater have a great network of mountain bike trails, from easy to technical. Sweet!

After whatever adventure you’ve had out there, we have a lovely hostel to return to, a great bunch of folks already signed up to enjoy it all with and the delights of Ballater to enjoy in between, Cafe, pub, curry… There’s a day out there already!

Get signed up before the last places go… See the latest journal for payment details and drop myself and Mike the treasurer a message when you do.

Looking forward to all and seeing you there
Cheers
Alex

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