High Winds!

Back to Glencoe with HF Holidays again. This time I was leading two Munrobagging holidays. Munrobagging I, home for a week and then back for Munrobagging II. Munrobagging involves ascending mountains over 3,000 feet high in Scotland. You can find more details in a previous post.

Last year I had three weeks of amazing hot weather in the area. This was pay back time! During both weeks it rained quite a lot but more importantly it was very windy. This meant that we had to change or abandon several walks.

The Beaufort Scale is very useful for understanding a forecasted wind speed. The initial scale related qualitative wind conditions to effects on the sails of a frigate, then the main ship of the Royal Navy, from "just sufficient to give steerage" to "that which no canvas sails could withstand". In 1916, to accommodate the growth of steam power, the descriptions were changed to how the sea, not the sails, behaved and extended to land observations. Here is a summary:

Wind Speed (mph)	Effect on land
< 1	Smoke Rises Vertically
1 to 3	Direction shown by smoke drift but not by wind vanes.
4 to 7	Wind felt on face; leaves rustle; wind vane moved by wind.
8 to 12	Leaves and small twigs in constant motion; light flags extended.
13 to 18	Raises dust and loose paper; small branches moved.
19 to 24	Small trees in leaf begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters.
25 to 31	Large branches in motion; whistling heard in telegraph wires; umbrellas used with difficulty.
32 to 38	Whole trees in motion; inconvenience felt when walking against the wind.
39 to 46	Twigs break off trees; generally impedes progress.
47 to 54	Slight structural damage (chimney pots and slates removed).
55 to 63	Seldom experienced inland; trees uprooted; considerable structural damage.
64 to 72	Very rarely experienced; accompanied by widespread damage.
> 72	Devastation

For me, the maximum you can walk in is gusts of 40 mph. Once it gets above 40 mph you can't really make progress any more. You have to keep stopping and putting a hand on the ground or lean on a walking pole.

You definitely would not want to be on an exposed ridge or anywhere near a big drop if the wind is much above 30 mph. Especially if it is gusting. When you get gusts of wind it can suddenly unbalance you.

The problem we had though, is that you are reliant on a weather forecast. Wind speed can vary greatly from one mountain to the next. It is possible to get a specific mountain forecast. You can use the excellent MWUK Phone App or just enter the name of a summit on the Met Office Website. However, it is only a forecast and in the Scottish Highlands forecasting is difficult. I am therefore loath to tell people day after day that they won't be bagging any Munros but I don't want to end up in a dangerous situation.


If I didn't like the forecasted wind speed, I adopted the following policy: If we could go and see if it was possible and have a way back then we'd give it a try. Otherwise we'd just go somewhere else. However, the 'go and give it a try' option had to result in a descent walk if we had to turn back.


When it was dry, I did get some good photographs though:

The 'Lost Valley' and Glencoe from the ridge above

Andesite on Bidean nam Bian. It was once lava but it has shattered due to sudden cooling

Grey Corries from the slopes of Sgurr a' Bhuic

Tame Bucks

I also had the opportunity to visit the excellent West Highland Museum in Fort William where they have this incredible portrait of Bonny Prince Charlie.

Anamorphic picture of Bonny Prince Charlie

"After the the Battle of Culloden in 1746, it was treasonable to support the Stuart claim to the throne. When the ladies and servants had left the room after dinner, the loyal friends of Prince Charles would place the tray on the table and raise their glasses in a toast to his likeness reflected in the cylinder (or in a goblet of claret). If there was a danger of interruption and discovery, the device could quickly be dismantled and the tray would appear as a meaningless blur, or be replaced by a similar decoy tray.

The artist is unknown and there is no record of the portrait’s owners. It was discovered by chance in a London shop by the founders of the Museum and is one of [their] best known exhibits." From the WHM website.

The painting is an example of a technique called mirror anamorphosis. The most famous anamorphic painting is the skull in Holbein's "The Ambassadors".

The museum is free and is packed with all sorts of interesting things. The other place I would recommend in Fort William is the relatively new Highland Bookshop.