The Plateau

The Cairngorm plateau is the biggest area of terrain above 1000m in Britain and has an accordingly grim reputation thanks to the severity of the weather it experiences. I've been up there a few times on feet and boards but I've always fancied it on the fatty. A couple of weeks before xmas I was thinking of what rides I wanted to do over the holiday. One day in particular was occupying most of my thoughts - my annual run up to my pals place in Speyside. On the way you pass through various mountain ranges and a high level fatbike ride seemed like just the thing to finish the year off. Since then the weather went all over the place - heavy snow, low temps, high temps, high winds, rain, more snow, more wind, finally with rain at all levels on the Monday 30th December. But the forecast for the Monday night was clear skies, lower temps and a clear forecast for the Tuesday. So, Glas Maol or Cairngorms......

A final check of the Mountain Weather Information Service (www.mwis.org.uk - a very useful resource if you are planning on going up high) clinched it - 90% plus chance of clear munroes all day, light winds, sub zeroes in the morning but a steady climb all day. I've twice been up Ben Macdui on shanks pony, both times in the pishing rain, high winds and zero viz. So today was the day. I cruised up the A9 in the early morning and was ready to go at 9am in the Cas car park.

My route would take me up a good path across the bottom of the northern corries and up the long ridge above Coire an Lochan. The biggest surprise was the number of walkers - literally dozens. I'm not used to such numbers on my rides so this came as a shock. Despite Aviemore being fat bike central and despite many people having ridden the plateau, I got many of the old 'check out the tyres on that' comments. In return I checked out what kit people were carrying. Many were carrying the full monty - axes, jaggy feet and plenty of gear. Others had minimal kit, jeans, cheap jackets and no sharp metal things. Given the reputation of this area, especially in winter, this seemed somewhat baffling. As usual I'd totally over thought it, with plenty of warm gear, plenty of food, a bivvy bag, GPS, phone, map and nous. I rode most of the way to the ridge on the path that was extensively upgraded a few years ago, the only cause for concern were the rime ice covered stepping stones across two burns. Eventually on the steady climb up the ridge above the coire, I ran out of leg and settled into a steady push up onto the shoulder at 1000m.

Coire an Lochan with a snow free 'Great Slab' This famous terrain feature typically gains a substantial covering of snow throughout the winter which often then avalanches spectacularly.

After this the riding was a joy - a nice easy gravel path climbing steadily. Soon after I hit my first snow patch. Thanks to the freeze / thaw cycles it was as hard as iron and thanks to the previous nights frost very grippy. I was passing walkers rapidly now and often diverting off the path to link up the snowfields for easy riding over a smooth, firm surface. On the final steep I rode most of it on another patch of snow which covered the boulder field that is the summit of Ben Macdui.

1309m, Britains second highest peak.

I stood a while checking out the views which were stunning with pretty much all of the Highlands visible. Redemption! I could even see my own hills (The Ochills) far to the south.
 

After photos and a snack I retraced my route but picked up further snow fields and was able to really let rip down some of the slopes, hitting 30 plus mph at one point. Large areas of hard water ice were of concern but it was still sub zero so these could be ridden with care. Turning off my outward route to head for Cairngorm, I finally left the crowds behind and was able to link several large patches of snow en-route.

Looking back to Ben Macdui, I noted many more snow patches which could have amused me for a couple of hours. I was on a bit of a deadline however as I wanted to get back in time to do some shopping and head to my pals place in plenty of time for the evenings drinking....
 

Following the route along the rim of the northern corries was the most demanding bit of the ride as its one big boulder field. Much riding of beach rock fields helped me here and I rode most of it to the summit cone of Cairngorm itself. Again, a bit of nosing around could have missed this section out and picked up some more snow. Next time..... One hard push got me to the top (more crowds) and then I faced over 600m of vertical descent.

Summit of Cairngorm and the (broken) weather station

I avoided the main drag up and instead descended by the Marquis Well route, bagging some more snow time before hitting the top of the ski area. I was able to stay mostly on snow to the ptarmigan and down the M2 piste until I had to pick up the path for the final section. This is a bit steppy but highly entertaining for all that. Total distance only 12 miles but with 1000m of climbing and some top class riding. I guess doing the circuit backwards would probably be better although the climb up would be hard work.....


As a year end route this ranks as one of my best of 2019. Hopefully next time I'm up here I'll be on the skis....