No plan survives first contact - Eagle Ridge
Approach to Lochnagar 2 years ago, we were dreaming of choosing between the Alps and Dolomites for a 40th birthday climbing trip. By this spring it was a week in Scotland. With a week to go it was looking like a “wherever the weather is best in the UK”. And the night before, it was still a toss up between Scotland or Cornwall, the weather forecast changing by the hour for the whole of the UK and the only certainty seemingly that we would be rained on at some point, wherever we chose. Happy to have seen Eagle Ridge Should we postpone another couple of days to let the worst of it pass? No, we’d booked time off and I confidently asserted that I’d rather be hillwalking in the rain than sat at home waiting. With 4 people’s ideas and preferences to consider, a committee of friends wasn’t coming to a consensus, but it was John’s birthday trip and willing to take the blame for a poor call, he declared, “Scotland or bust”. A week of weather-avoiding began. It seemed the East wo...