Raeburn's Gully - A grade 1 Scottish winter climb on Creag Meghaidh - Climb & Fly

In this episode of my Mountain Days Vlog series I climb Raeburn's Gully, a grade 1 Scottish winter route on Creag Meghaidh, hoping to then fly from the summit back to the car on my lightweight paraglider.
Considered one of Scotland’s greatest-ever climbers and mountaineers, Harold Raeburn has left a wealth of first ascents across the Highlands. Raeburn’s Route and Crowberry Gully in Glencoe remain prized winter lines, almost a century after his sad death, and his breathtaking ascent of Green Gully, cutting steps up near-vertical ice with a single ice axe, was almost certainly the hardest ice climb in the world at the time and not superseded in difficulty in Scotland for nearly 30 years.
His gully on Creag Meghaidh is at the amenable end of the grade scale but is more sustained than the other obvious choice - Easy Gully - also grade one. It gives continually interesting climbing for the grade and requires good decision making to avoid avalanche danger and good footwork to avoid the inherent risks of a fall.
Climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.
Music licensed courtesy of Artlist.
This KZbin channel is where I record my adventures in the mountains. I make films professionally for a wide range of outdoor clients and you can see that work on my website www.filmuphigh.com
I also run courses and guiding as a professional Mountaineering Instructor with my good friend Huw and you can find out more at www.expeditionguide.com
For mountain images follow me on Instagram @Filmuphigh.
For the full Mountain Days Vlogs series visit: filmuphigh.com/mountain-days-...
#hikeandfly #climbandfly #paralpinism #scottishwinterclimbing #climbing #mountains

[@chrisegan9581]

That was great Rob; particularly like the advice on avalanche safety. Nice one.

[@RobJohnson]

Thanks very much matey - what a day 🙂

[@thomasmitchell8002]

Breathtaking footage Rob.Your patience ,flexibility and experience culminating in a successful day .Thanks for sharing.

[@RobJohnson]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@mozzano]

Awesome video Rob, was looking forward to seeing it!

[@RobJohnson]

Thanks very much Mozz 😀👍

[@smurf9857]

A grand day out! Nicely integrated words of wisdom and a mention of your excellent courses (4 times a customer). I need to get back to Scotland!

[@RobJohnson]

Thanks Smurf and yes we all need Scotland in our lives 😀

[@Ecoroof1986]

Brilliant Rob. Really enjoyed that.

[@philipburke1708]

Thank you for a great video.

[@ScottishSummiteer]

Unreal video mate, looks like a great route

[@RobJohnson]

Thanks very much 😀👍

[@TheLmfaodyl]

amazing

[@ianevans7110]

Brilliant - really enjoyed this, Rob. Totally get your comment about the Met Office forecast being incorrect - I have completely lost faith in them these days - particularly their timings which are very unreliable here in the Highlands. I am particularly fascinated on how you control the drone and camera whilst at the same time as you are climbing. The drone gives you some brilliant footage of the wider setting in which you are working.

[@RobJohnson]

Thanks Ian - yes the drone bit takes some practice. I just go for simple shots Shen I need to use my hands on a route like this so I generally frame the shot and then move through it or occasionally add a bit of simple movement. The main issue on this one was the cold as it really juiced the batteries.

[@chrischambers6069]

Just brilliant. 👍🪂

[@RobJohnson]

Many thanks!

[@24934637]

Great vid! I'd be fairly happy on that sort of ground roped, but NOT a chance soloing!

[@KM-uo2ne]

"So apologies if the footage won't be quite as pretty" - continues to show amazing footage of the climb. Well done mate! Looks like you had an awesome advantage and thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.

[@RobJohnson]

Thank you, it was a great day and the 360 cam was fine for the snippets in the end 🙂

[@LPRuse]

and thank you for sharing these extraordinarily brilliant videos. How you can film all this is as unbelieveble as what you can achieve in the mountains.

[@RobJohnson]

Thanks very much, that’s much appreciated.

[@gcsScotland]

Superb 👌 The consequences of a slip were clear to see. That really does look like an excellent way to get off the hill - amazed at how small/light paraglider wings must be these days.

[@RobJohnson]

Incredible isn't it - the one I am flying (Nova Doubleskin) weighs just 2KG. It's a golden age :-)

[@ashthovex1882]

So how late into spring do these snow couloirs hold there snow ? Like the ones in Glencoe as well. Here in Colorado the snow consolidates and it’s safe to climb in June into early July. Absolutely love your videos. Educational and fun.

[@RobJohnson]

It depends how aged the winter is really and varies massively from year to year. I have skied grade one gullies in May but that is unusual.

[@johnyoung6498]

Hi there, in H MacInnes, Scottish climbs 2, Raeburns is described as Vdiff** up or down depending on the amount of snow, seem to remember using it as a descent route when there was lots of snow in the 70's. The cornices above Ritchies Gully and Smiths Gully are often spectacular later in the winter not so much Raeburns itself, you need to be careful if those warm westerlies blow in. Enjoyed your video and would have liked your 'wing' in the '70s to ease achy limbs, cheers man

[@flippy66]

Vdiff is not a Scottish winter grade. You may be thinking of a different Raeburns (there are several). It is a grade 1 gully.

[@johnyoung6498]

There's only one Raeburns Gully on the 'Meggie'. The description is on page 112 of the book I mentioned. Climbing experiences and memories are based on the conditions of the day, grades can be up or down depending on the amount of snow and ice. These are different times now from when the book was published and when I climbed it, so maybe a 'straightforward vdiff' is your grade 1 nowadays. Scottish Climbs Hamish MacInnes,, ISBN 0 09 457ISBN 0 09 457450 2 @@flippy66

[@brucecurtis6281]

Scary to watch; and I used to climb to grade III…40 years ago. Not sure hooking the axe round your neck was the best example when walking?

[@chrisradcliffe6706]

Thanks for a supurb video. Very impressed with the drone footage. What are they please?

[@RobJohnson]

Thank you, I used a DJI Mini 3 Pro.

[@dunstanorchard]

Just amazing. The two camera views really gave a sense of how steep things were. I appreciated all your safety-conscious talk. No drama or bravado, just honesty and realism. What was the second camera you swapped to?

[@RobJohnson]

Thank you, it's really hard to know where to pitch it so I appreciate that. I switched to an Insta 360 X3 which I normally use just for the flying bits. There were bits where it felt steep for the grade and looked steep in the camera but equally some bits where the camera angle over does it and then some bits where it makes it look flat 🙂 - overall though I think it gives a reasonable impression of the route on the day.

[@IanTupmanOutdoors]

Climb and fly!! 💪That was great to watch Rob and I'm pleased for you that it all came together. I guess this was a few weeks ago as I was in the Cairngorms this week and conditions are very lean now. As a matter of interest, where did you stash your axe on the fly down?

[@RobJohnson]

Thanks Ian. It was Sunday 11th Feb and I made it down for Sunday lunch 😀 I put the axe on the outside of my pack in the usual way, it’s not a long one so didn’t interfere.

[@phillipseaman5493]

Enjoyed that vid . I’m old now and used to climb winter in Scotland . You are Experianced , but surely some climbers will wonder why you only had one axe with you especially as you really should have needed another on the wind slab/ice ?.

[@RobJohnson]

Yes I thought the same thing on that buttress 😀 I didn’t take two because normally one ace is fine on the lower grade routes, indeed Raeburn climbed loads of significantly harder routes in his day with one wooden axe. When I packed my bag I pared down as much as possible to keep the weight down and my second axe was part of the weight loss. Hope that helps. 😀👍

[@tobyarcher7623]

I got a Petzl Gully hammer a couple of winters back, love that it's so light - and being a wuss I tend to like two tools where many would be happy with just one. But, one thing I love about it is the discovery that your spare hand stays much warmer when you're swinging a tool with it, not jabbing it into the snow and trying to find some glove grip. 😂

[@wackybacky6624]

When was this rob

[@RobJohnson]

It was Sunday the 11th Feb, this year.

[@gediminasgribauskas4714]

Is it 1 or grade 2??

[@RobJohnson]

The gully is given grade one but my choice to climb the buttress probably pushed it into grade two ground. The route has a reputation for being steep at the grade.

[@peterneumann7145]

Isn’t grade 1 the easiest in theory ?

[@RobJohnson]

Yes that’s right.