Date:	3rd April 1997
Mountains:	Maol Chinn-dearg (981m), Aonach air Chrith (1021m), Druim Shionnach (987m), Creag a'Mhaim (947m)
Group:	Edinburgh Academy Spring Meet (Kintail)
Conditions:	Cold. Fresh snowfall overnight above ca. 700m, with some icing on Northern slopes. Overcast, with occasional glimpses of sunshine earlier. Wind gusts causing significant spindrift on ridge.

The final day of the Kintail Meet was very different to the previous three. Instead of cloud, rain or howling gales, we had fresh snowfall and, certainly earlier in the day, even a spot of sunshine. It was decided to climb the four easternmost hills of the Cluanie ridge - none of us were too keen to attempt the whole ridge that day.

From Glen Shiel, leaving one car up by the end of Loch Cluanie, we took the well formed path up Druim Coire nan Eirecheanach, which quickly became lightly dusted with snow. The ascent was fast (blisters of the past two days suitably bandaged up), and it did not take long to reach the first summit, Maol Chinn-dearg, in strong breezes and quite a lot of spindrift - rather a feature along the ridge.

The ridge is fine and has probably been described in many journals before. I just remember fighting spindrift from top to top, and very little about what it was actually like.

The descent was more interesting however - somehow, the high northern slopes of Creag a'Mhaim had got covered in hard ice, and so we all tied on crampons (repaired and now working properly, unlike on Stob Binnein, where they had fallen off! The icing didn't last long, and in fact soon we were out of snow completely, and negotiating deer fences to find the track that took us back to the side of Loch Cluanie, past Cluanie Lodge and, conveniently, finishing off at the Cluanie Inn.

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