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Report on The Cobbler
13 December 2008
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Today's roll call:- Robin, Mark, Irene, Michael B and Kevin from Craggy with family and friends Scott, Jock, Janice and Sean.
We met at Succoth carpark at 9:30hrs and after introductions we headed up the zig zag path soon after.
Part of the path was treacherous with ice so wondered what lay ahead. As there was snow on the hills we decided to play it safe and considered going up the back of the Cobbler. So we continued along the path past the weir until our first stop at the Narnain Boulders for an early lunch. The summit had been clear but we noticed the clouds rolling in from all directions and soon we were in mist.
So onward we went along the new path till we reached where it breaks for Narnain, Ime and the Cobbler. As the path was covered in snow we just headed directly up the hillside which wasn't a problem as the snow wasn't iced up and soft enough to get good footholds.
Soon we reached the summit which was rather icy and far too dangerous to attempt the eye of the needle. I feel I need to mention Michael as this was such a personal achievement for him. He is recovering from quadruple bypass surgery two months ago. He is certainly back to his old self as he seemed to be racing to the top! He also said The Cobbler was special to him as the last time he climbed it was 19 years ago on the very day he met Lydia. So where was Lydia today....you guesssed it....Xmas shopping!!!!
There wasn't any wind today so no wind chill factor making it a great day for walking. Unfortunately no views but we had seen it all before. We were able to spend some time on the summit where we met a 76 year old gentleman who had spent most of his life in the mountain rescue. After a chat he decided it was time for him to go. He was wearing his crampons and decided to decend down the gully to the left hand side of the eye of the needle. So off he goes digging into the snow with his crampons and holding his ice axe across his chest digging it into the snow as he began stepping down like climbing down a ladder. We were amazed watching him as we had never seen anyone decend this route before and especially someone of his years.
We decended the same route we had come up and in no time we were back at the path between Narnain and the Cobbler. As it was still early Mark and I decided to practise ice axe arrests on a lower slope in safety. Everyone else walked on and even Robin gave up waiting on us after taking some photos! We caught up with everyone again at the Narnain Boulders where Jock was entertaining them all with his jokes. We were back at the cars by 4:15pm just as it was getting dark.
Great day out for everyone. It was nice meeting Scott (Kevin's brother), Janice and Jock who work with Kevin. I thought a Duff Decorators Xmas Night Out might have been in a fancy hotel and not a cheap day out up a mountain!!! Also good to see Sean (Mark's friend) out again and he is still laughing about the day Bryan Smee got caught up in an electric fence and no-one would help him! Hope you all come back out with us again soon.
Irene Cahill
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