Gulvain in winter conditions

This superb mountain was quite a surprise for us. After three days of staring up at the peaks in the clear winter air, but unable to climb them because of the high winds, the conditions finally calmed down enough for us to make a break for it. We had not intended to climb this one, but with the heavy snow accumulations on west & northwest facing slopes this looked like the best bet.

We cycled in the first 6k along the estate track and hauled up to the snow line at about 500m and it was not looking at all good. The snow flurries were unremitting, but with the occasional break to let us check our progress. We were all set to turn around at the first top at 855m but the cloud lifted a little and the wind, though bitingly cold, was just a constant 15-25mph.

Gulvain has two peaks, the south one at 961m is really a Munro in its own right with a 1.5km ridge between the two that was well corniced and quite sharp and airy. This picture is of E working her way down the sharpest bit from the north summit (987m). Fortunately, the remaining flurries of the day avoided us and we even had the pleasure of a few patches of sunshine. It was really hard choosing from the vast collection of photographs for this blip - hence the time taken to put his shot up.

A great day, but a big mountain in these conditions.