Red Rope Trip Report, Aviemore, 15-22 March 2025

This was my first ever trip to Scotland in winter, apart from the previous week at the Red Rope trip in Killin, and I did not know what to expect. In the run-up to both trips, there had been talk of winter skills training, ice climbing, and lists of extra gear we would need to head into the mountains in winter conditions. I packed some extra warm layers of clothes and thought I might be spending days walking in the valleys and reading in the cottage. But in the end the weather was warm, the extra clothes remained in the bottom of my backpack in the case of emergency, and I went walking every day.

It snowed before we arrived but while we were there the sun came out and apart from the last day there was not much wind. The Cairngorms were stunning, covered in a foot of snow above 800m. We did some lowland walks in several incredibly beautiful remnants of the ancient Caledonian forest, with majestic old Scots pines, large areas of younger pines, and patches of birch glinting with purple new growth. My fellow trippers also went on some cycle rides along the valleys and in the forests, taking advantage of the many kilometres of fantastic off-road cycle track in the area.

These forests were impressive, but my abiding memories will be of the two summit ascents I did, Ben MacDui (1309m) and Braeriach (1296m). This was, at the age of 62, and having walked a lot in different environments, my first ever serious winter walking in the snow! The sky was blue as we trekked up through pristine white snow and it was glorious. I only had mini crampons but given the conditions this was sufficient to get to both summits safely. I felt so grateful to be in the company of friendly experienced Red Rope members, as I would not have attempted this myself otherwise. Aviemore itself is not very attractive, but it did have all the shops we needed, and Glen Casnip cottage was very comfortable.

Report by Claire Marris