A video (taken by my wife) from the top of La Varella (3055m) in the Dolomites, last Monday.
That's me at the start, and an alpine chough at the end!
13.09.2025 18:26
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A video (taken by my wife) from the top of La Varella (3055m) in the Dolomites, last Monday.
That's me at the start, and an alpine chough at the end!
On the left - Col di Lana & Sief. Our route took us along the ridge from right to left. It felt very Scottish in character, but was equipped with ladders & bolted cables at some of the more exposed sections. In the background is the Marmolada - the highest peak in the Dolomites.
Austrian trenches at c. 2300m on Sief. The 'White War' cost the lives of as many as 180,000 men - the great majority of them from exposure.
Memorial plaque at the summit of Sief. It reads: βAustrian position Mont Sief. Remained until the end of the conflict '15-18. Always firmly in Austrian hands.β Col di Lana can be seen in the background. It was briefly taken by the Italians before being recaptured, and now features a small chapel on its summit.
Looking back to Sief from Col di Lana with more typical Dolomite peaks in the background - including the Piz de Lavarela (3055m), which we climbed the next day.
On Sunday we climbed the adjacent peaks of Sief (2424m) & Col di Lana (2452m), scene of bitter high-altitude fighting between Austria-Hungary & Italy during 1915-18.
(Details via Alt tabs.)
The hills are connected by a narrow rocky ridge &, very unusually for the Dolomites, are volcanic in origin.
Looking S towards the massif of Cima Conturines, from above the col between it and La Varella.
Looking SE from the summit ridge of La Varella.
Looking N towards the barren Fanes plateau. Photo by my wife!
My wife Liz (front) and our friend Ginny (rear) on way back across the exposed traverse to regain the col. Ginny's husband Alistair was already below us.
Just back from a week in the Dolomites.
Highlight was ascent of Piz La Varella (3055m) on Monday. 21km, 1300m ascent. In terms of effort, like a hard day in the Scottish mountains, but with a higher starting & finishing altitude. The scenery all around us, however, was from another planet.
Have you seen that Tweet by Douglas Carswell? They're finally feeling that it's OK to just come out and say what they've been thinking all these years. Genuinely turns the stomach.
What an absolute bin-fire U.K. politics has become. Scared to even look at the news...
Aviemore in the OS Map, surveyed c. 1866-1870.
maps.nls.uk/view/74490557
*Even* longer than the usual approach! :-)
This was one of the favourite walks of a very dear and now departed friend of ours, a native of Buchan, very well travelled, but for whom Braemar and the surrounding area was the centre of the world.
"Aviemore is a favourite starting point for the Cairngorms, the distance to Glenmore Lodge being only about 7 miles. Unfortunately it has at present no hotel, and there is little accommodation of any kind for passing tourists."
- A. I. McConnochie, Cairngorm Club Journal #6, 1896.
How times change!
Cheers!
Thanks; I know next to nothing about them but my interest has been piqued!
Fascinating too to read about the Cairngorm crystals that were found on Ben Avon. I'd heard about these, but hadn't appreciated their importance.
One found in 1788 weighed 22kg, and was 66cm wide by 50cm long. The laird paid the finder Β£40 (~Β£20k in today's money).
Some iPhone photos from Ben Avon on Sunday.
#1 The ruins of Slugain Lodge.
#2 Looking west to the Garbh Choire of Beinn a' BhΓΉird from above The Sneck.
#3 Looking north down An Slochd MΓ²r from above The Sneck.
#4 Looking across the plateau towards the summit tor, Leabaidh an Daimh Bhuidhe.
This from 1895, via the Cairngorm Club Journal online archive, is an interesting read from the historical perspective, to see how many hill & place-names (even that of Braemar!) have changed.
(FAO - @cairngormwanderer.bsky.social, in case you've not seen it.)
www.cairngormclub.org.uk/journals/PDF...
I find it mind boggling.
Unfortunately I don't expect much in our towns and cities these days, but the sort of person who makes the effort to go to a place like Corrour must at least appreciate the outdoors to some extent... and yet they are capable of doing this?!
Likewise, and same here! :-)
I am the bloke with the French wife who was with you on the way up today.
Thanks for everything you do!
@cairngormwanderer.bsky.social Just been reading your old blog post about the Smith-Winram Bivouac, and its history.
Should anyone be interested, the Jock Nimlin article referred to here (and entitled 'Mountain Howffs') can be accessed via:
simrich.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/SMCJ/Number%...
You people deserve bloody medals for this. Seriously.
My daughter takes parties of tourists around Glasgow - have sent this to her.
Another Munro ticked off today - Ben Vane, one of the Arrochar Alps. Great wee hill with tremendous views. This is looking SE towards Loch Lomond with Ben Lomond towering above it. To the SW, we could see the hills of Arran behind The Cobbler.
Last of the Monadhliath Munros for me today - CΓ rn Dearg. Barren landscapes but quite poignant in places - the ruins of a former township in lower Gleann Fionndrigh and then, in Gleann Ballach, loads of ancient tree remnants among the peat hags.
Photographed one in our house here in Aberdeenshire, back in 2023!
Really excellent article from @walkhighlands.co.uk - www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/lets-ke...
Geal ChΓ rn in the Monadh Liath this morning. Lovely wee half-day's walk. Up and down in 3h 30min from Garva Bridge - a spot I've never been to before, along a road that dates to General Wade in the early 18th century.
Back in the mountains today. π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ
Very early start to escape worst of the heat. 2 Munro summits, Stob aβ Choire Mheadhoin (photo 2) & Stob Coire Easain (photo 1). Plus me (photo 3)!
16.5km, 1200m ascent. Time for beer and pizza nowβ¦
On Tom a' ChΓ²inich in Glen Affric a few weekends ago:
Endless views yesterday, despite the haze. From the top of Chno Dearg: from Schiehallion to the SE, round over Loch Ossian and the Blackwater Reservoir towards the Bridge of Orchy & Glen Coe hills, then round over the Mamores, and then the Grey Corries & Easains on the other side of Loch Treig.
Shocked to see extent of smoke from wildfire to N of Grantown-on-Spey while driving back last night.
Been away & hadn't seen news. Were sat outside at restaurant in Boat of Garten (~15 miles away), & couldn't understand where the cinders falling out of the sky were coming from.
Campfire again....
Cracking weekend so far from our base at the camp site in Bunroy. Beinn aβ Chaorainn and Beinn Teallach yesterday (*very* windy but clear most of the time), Stob Coire Sgriodain just now (this is the view from the summit, looking SW across Loch Treig) and heading over to Chno Dearg next.
