Winter in Cairngorms National Park, Scotland

The Cairngorm Plateau consists of bare, stony undulating terrain and can seem benign in clear, summer weather. However it's edged with cliffs and steep slopes, and poor visibility is common as clouds sweep across the slopes. Join Chris Townsend as he crosses the Plateau on a freezing winter day.

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The Cairngorm Plateau lies between the summits of Cairn Gorm (blue hill) and Ben Macdui (Macduff's hill), the second highest mountain in Britain, in the northeast Scottish Highlands. The plateau covers over eight square miles, the largest area over 3,000 feet elevation in Britain. The Plateau consists of bare, stony undulating terrain and can seem benign in clear, summer weather. However it's edged with cliffs and steep slopes, and poor visibility is common as clouds sweep across the slopes. Good navigation skills are essential to find a safe descent route in such conditions. The Plateau is also subject to extreme weather. Heavy snow is common in the winter, often brought on strong winds. From October to May, winds over 100 mph occur every month and 173 mph, the highest wind speed ever recorded in Britain, was registered by the weather station on the summit of Cairn Gorm in March, 1986.

This means that hiking on the Plateau in winter is always a challenging adventure, especially as there are only seven or eight hours of daylight. On this occasion, late in 2008, I set out on a freezing but sunny day intent on crossing the Plateau to Ben Macdui.

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# WORDS: 780
# PHOTOS: 12

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Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)

Author

Posts
Jan 20, 2009 at 7:39 pm #1233404

Addie Bedford
BPL Member

@addiebedford
Locale: Montana

Companion forum thread to:

Winter in Cairngorms National Park, Scotland

Jan 21, 2009 at 2:57 pm #1471831

John Haley
Member

@quoddy
Locale: New York/Vermont Border

Great photos, Chris. I never had the opportunity to hike that area except in the summer. It looks as good in the winter as it did in the summer greenery.

Jan 22, 2009 at 1:01 am #1471950

Peter Atkinson
BPL Member

@peterbob
Locale: Yorkshire, England

Yeh, it's a great part of the world; Chris capture's it really well with his imagary and words. I've had some fantastic times in the Cairngorms:

Jan 22, 2009 at 4:11 am #1471959

Chris Townsend
BPL Member

@christownsend
Locale: Cairngorms National Park

Thanks for the comments John and Peter. Peter, that's a good photo – it really captures the vastness of the high Cairngorms.

Jan 22, 2009 at 2:45 pm #1472111

Joe Westing
Member

@pedro87

Wow, gorgeous photos. You are lucky to be near such amazing terrain.

Jan 23, 2009 at 7:24 am #1472278

John Manning
BPL Member

@pctjohnbadger
Locale: Stainforth

Splendid photos Chris – what a contrast between these and your autumn Cairngorm photo essay. Could be different planets. I've been through the 'Gorms many times but never enjoyed that much snow – how fortunate you are to be on the doorstep.

Jan 25, 2009 at 9:30 am #1472771

Marianne van Ginhoven
Member

@mvanginhoven
Locale: The Netherlands

They are wonderful photos, but might it be possible to show as a slide show together with the commentary? That would be nicer to watch.

Jan 26, 2009 at 2:47 pm #1473085

George Matthews
BPL Member

@gmatthews

Nice photos. They're more inspiration to me, and I'm sure others, to get out in the cold!

Your description speaks of 100+ mph winds and cliffs hidden by clouds not to mention not much daytime hours. Ironically, such adverse conditions produced really beautiful pictures.

I'd believe that this series combined with your Fall article has the potential to increase Scotland's tourism. Beam me up, Scotty!

Jan 26, 2009 at 7:24 pm #1473179

Norman Bradley
Member

@normanb
Locale: New York

Chris, great photos.
I thought it was a pretty desolate place in the summer. Some of these pics make it look a bit like the South Pole.

Jan 27, 2009 at 9:30 am #1473270

Chris Townsend
BPL Member

@christownsend
Locale: Cairngorms National Park

Thanks for all your comments, everybody.

I think the Cairngorm Plateau does look more desolate in summer than winter. I think it's beautiful in both seasons.

At present there is more snow on the plateau than in the pictures and I am hoping to be ski touring up there later this week.

Jan 31, 2009 at 8:13 am #1474278

Jonas Bodenäs
BPL Member

@greenjuice
Locale: Göteborg

Woow, what beautiful photos over the landscapes in Scotland. I've been once in Scotland where I walked at the West Highland Way.

I wonder one thing, according to your blog. You used Sigma DP1, right? What did you think about it? Is the camera suitable for nature photography generally?

Jan 31, 2009 at 9:32 am #1474285

Chris Townsend
BPL Member

@christownsend
Locale: Cairngorms National Park

Th DP1 produces great results – the best from any compact – but is slow so it's very much a landscape camera and not an action one. It also has a fixed focal length lens rather than a zoom. My review of the DP1 should appear on BPL soon.
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