Being abroad in New Zealand and Germany for extended periods did not help my bagging efforts very much. However, I snatched a reasonable weather window for the Fife hills and those north of the Firth of Tay in mid June, with my German pal Gesine; even meeting up with a couple we had met in New Zealand earlier in the year on top of Largo Law - a small world indeed. One incident remains well remembered: I tried to put my spare sweater on only to find out that I had mistakenly packed long-johns of the same colour.
At the end of August we struggled on some of the awkward hills east of Loch Lomond, Binnein nan Gobhar being particularly kind to us with heather and bogs, and Craig of Monievreckie proved hard to crack by its steep and vegetated southern cliffs.
The highlight of our year was, without a doubt, the ascent of the very remote Hochstetler Dome at the head of the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand's longest. It was Gesine's first glaciated mountain and for me it was a welcome return to such peaks after the enforced lay-off due to severe knee problems through 2008 and 2009. High Atacama volcanoes are on our wish list for March and April.
