The highlight of 2013 was completing the Corbetts on Ben Vrackie in April in the company of 16 friends and three gatecrashers. My group has a tradition of celebrating with a single malt from the nearest distillery, which was Edradour in Pitlochry. We have a number of connoisseurs of single-malt Scotch whisky amongst us, so I brought both the ten and twelve-year-old expressions. They were considerably different, not least because the twelve-year-old version had spent its last four years in sherry casks.
Most of the party then called it a day but Graham Jackson, Alan Dawson and I enlivened the return by bagging some Sims. Meall Uaine has two summit candidates 270m apart and Graham and I spent some time lying on our sides while we tried to resolve the height difference with our Abney levels. This seemed to amuse Alan - see photo. We were not yet done, as Graham had a Highland Five on his agenda. On returning to the Moulin Inn, a few members of the party had got tired of waiting and left, while others were wondering how much longer they could eke out their third pint. Of course, I blamed Graham's Highland Five.
Equally memorable was a second ascent of The Cobbler in September. This was Peter Cottam's final Corbett, and as it happens, my first. I found the summit block considerably more difficult than 19 years ago. I am not sure whether the wet rock or my advancing years was responsible.
Meall Uaine - after drinking single malt (photo: Alan Dawson)
