Having been spoilt by a week of almost continually glorious weather on the West Coast in the run up to the Raeburn Hut meet I was in high hopes for some great climbing over in the Cairngorms. The hut is a great cosy little place and I spent Friday afternoon planning potential routes whilst the others battled their way up North. On Saturday unfortunately a strong wind had got up and the prospect of climbing looked less than appealing. Whilst full of admiration for Dave Bish and Colin Maddison who stuck it out and headed for the Northern Corries I decided to take the rather easier option of a relatively low level walk. Myself, Kate, Trish and John Evans walked up Creag Dhubh, a Cairngorm monster at 756 metres. To be fair I was glad we weren't going any higher and that we had picked to walk in an easterly direction as the wind was fierce. We dropped down to Newtonmore by early afternoon and the other three relaxed at the hut awaiting news from the climbers. I decided that 5 days climbing over 8 days wasn't a bad ratio and the final day of my school holidays might be better spent in Manchester. I may have made a bad decision there however as I believe Sunday saw much better climb conditions but I will leave others to tell the tale.

Members present: James Hoyle, Dave Bish Colin Maddison, Trish Cranston, Katie Horgan and John Evans.

Centrally situated in the Scottish Highlands this meet offers an ideal chance to make the most of the first snow, rain, wind, hail stone and lovely crisp clear sunny days in Scotland for the winter season.

Despite last years poor turn out (Due to the horrendous winds that week) we have 8 beds booked again for this weekend at £7.50 per night, what a bargain.

First to book will get priority.

The hut has all the usual facilities and is situated off the main A9 road through Dalwhinnie.

Close by are the Monadhliath Mountains, Creag Meagaidh and Aviemore and the Cairngorms are also within easy reach.

So if you fancy a bit of winter walking, skiing, climbing, malt whisky tasting, book soon to avoid disappointment.