Published by Cicerone 2023.£25.
This is a very attractive guidebook and it bucks the trend of modern guidebooks by being pocket sized. However, at £25 you wouldn’t want to expose it to typical Scottish Winter weather.
This is a selective guide to the Cairngorms and Creag Meagaidh. It includes all the important crags from The Northern Corries to Lochnagar and out East to Glen Clova.
Although it is selected it probably includes all the climbs that the majority of winter climbers are likely to be interested in.
It has good photo-diagrams, useful maps based on OS mapping and all the details you need for planning and to match your choice to the weather and current conditions. These include starting point for walk-in, walk in time, altitude of crag base, aspect, route lengths and style of climbing. There are useful introductions for each crag that display the wealth of knowledge and years of experience that both the authors have. A lot of useful tips and hints can be picked up from reading these introductions.
The guide tries to be as helpful as possible from a planning point of view, there is a system of icons which reveal the style of each route. These are snow, snow-ice, cascade ice and mixed. In a further step, that possibly goes a bit far, the mixed climbs are further sub-divided into general mixed, turfy mixed, rocky mixed and icy mixed. Sounds like a menu, take your pick! An appendix has a table summarising the routes by area and crag, with every possible detail included.
The authors have certainly worked hard on this slim volume, which is about the size that rock climbing guidebooks were in the 1970/80s. The cover is stiff card with a shiny surface that should shed snow well.
The authors are both local to the area and have been keen activists for many years. They have extensive winter climbing experience across Scotland and around the world. John Lyall has been a member of The Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team for 40 years. A quick look at the SMCs excellent Routes Database reveals plenty of entries with the authors names mentioned in the first ascent column.
The Cairngorms has a huge variety of winter climbing to offer from the sociable winter cragging venues of The Northern Corries to remote destinations that can be as remote as you like. Garbh Choire, 4.5 hours walk in anyone? That makes for a nine hour day even if no climbing is done! Luckily the guidebook mentions two bothies nearby and that, in the right conditions, bicycles can help.
Creag Meagaidh is a bonus being one of the iconic Scottish winter Climbing venues and what’s more, west of the A9, which often seems to be a weather boundary.
There are a few nice photos but really climbers will be buying this guide for the information and on that score it delivers. I really cannot think of anything that is missing.
I have not had a chance to use this book yet but leafing through I have already started making plans for later in the season. The argument goes that climbers like the larger guidebooks for leafing through at home and for inspiration. To me, with it’s attractive layout and take with you anywhere portability, this is a greate guidebook to leaf through and get inspired by or make plans and dreams.
Anything I don’t like? Well £25, but that just represents how the cost of printing has gone up in recent times. Last year £25 bought you the Cicerone two volume definitive guides set to Glencoe and Ben Nevis, it I still this price.
Really though where else can you get so much valuable information in a convenient size package that can be read anywhere for £25?