The forge

An Teallach (The Forge) is arguably the greatest of all Scotland’s mountains and one which, in winter conditions, requires no small degree of commitment if the ridge is to be traversed in full.

Two weeks prior to heading north, I’d taken a bad fall descending from Bannerdale Crags. I didn’t realise at the time but I’d fractured my fibia. Life got in the way of running for a week or so after that, and so it was that I started out on An Teallach, feeling a little sore but thinking little of it. I’d run it off on the way up…

The wind was howling and by the time I’d reached Sgùrr Fiona, it was had to stay upright. Huge clouds of spindrift were being blasted across the ridge and it was clear the Corrag Bhuide pinnacles were out of the question. Returning to Bidein a’ Glas Thuill was one of the most demanding passages I have ever completed - visibility was nil, the wind gusting at approx 70mph and the névé hard enough that I had to cut steps in places on the way down to the col. Conditions eased after that but it was with relief that I dropped eventually to Ardessie where I realised I’d forgotten all about my fibia.

I was back on the ridge twice more that week as the weather improved, taking the images featured here, and was glad of it, for those were the last few runs that were possible for some time.