Sgor Gaoith - GM/ES-009 SOTA (2023)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Saturday 18th February, 2023.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Sgor Gaoith, Eastern Scotland, Scotland.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GM/ES-009 (10+3 points).
Summit Height: 1118m elevation, 242m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 57.06856, -3.81086. Maidenhead Grid IO87cb.
Distance: 13.9km travelled with 880m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T3 (Winter).^(?)
Elapsed Time: 5hr 10m (including operating).
Weather: -1°C, moderate breeze, sunny.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: MM1HAX/P.
Contacts: 6 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

Sgor Gaoith, meaning “Peak of the Wind” in Gaelic, is a magnificent Munro standing at 1,118 metres in the Cairngorms National Park. This impressive mountain is renowned for its dramatic eastern face, where near-vertical cliffs plunge dramatically into the waters of Loch Einich. Despite being less frequented than some of the Cairngorms' more accessible peaks, it offers some of the most spectacular views in the region when conditions permit.

For this winter activation, I began my journey from a small car park near Feshiebridge, just past the Cairngorm Gliding Club. Arriving around half past ten in the morning, I found the free parking area nearly full.

The route commenced immediately from the rear of the car park, following a well-defined footpath that runs parallel to the Allt Ruadh burn. The initial 2 kilometres led through picturesque Caledonian pine woodland, providing a sheltered start to the day’s expedition.

Emerging from the forest onto the lower slopes of Meall Tionail, the character of the landscape changed dramatically. The path crossed a ford at Allt Coire na Cloiche before turning south towards another water crossing at Allt a' Crom-alltain. From approximately 550 metres altitude, a light covering of snow blanketed the terrain, though it was melting in the February sunshine, creating slushy conditions underfoot. The soft nature of the snow meant crampons and ice axe remained unnecessary - a relatively benign winter day by Cairngorm standards.

After navigating the final ford, I opted for a direct and fairly steep ascent line up to the summit plateau, veering northeast for the final 750 metres of the hike. While the mountain is renowned for its spectacular cliff-top views eastward across Loch Einich to Braeriach, unfortunately, low cloud obscured these vistas during this visit.

At the summit, I set up my portable station for the SOTA activation, deploying the Yaesu FTM100D with MFJ-1714 antenna. VHF propagation proved excellent, likely enhanced by the steep eastern cliff face. In just five minutes, I completed six contacts on 2 metres FM, including two enjoyable summit-to-summit exchanges. I managed to speak with Graham 2M1GPR on Meall an Doirein (GM/WS-324) and, pleasingly, with fellow SOTA enthusiast and ham radio YouTuber Fraser MM0EFI/P who was activating The Coyles of Muick (GM/ES-050).

For the descent, I largely retraced my outbound route, with slight modifications to the line taken down the western flank of the mountain. As I descended below the cloud base, the views opened up across the Upper Spey Valley, providing compensation for the limited visibility encountered at the summit.

This Munro offers an excellent winter SOTA opportunity, combining good accessibility from the A9 corridor with a significant summit that carries both 10 points and the winter bonus. The terrain, while demanding in places, remains within the capabilities of experienced hillwalkers, particularly in the moderate conditions I encountered. The name “Peak of the Wind” suggests caution might be needed in more challenging weather, but on this February day, Sgor Gaoith provided a thoroughly enjoyable mountain experience.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Sgor Gaoith on Saturday 18th February, 2023.

Walking Route for Sgor Gaoith

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Sgor Gaoith. The GM/ES-009 summit area is marked on the map with a blue pin icon.

You can download the route shown above as a GPX file suitable for use with most GPS devices. This file is provided for information only, to support your own walk planning and research (it may contain navigation errors, detours and/or safety hazards). The route downloads provided here are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

Station Log

I logged the following 6 amateur radio contacts operating as MM1HAX/P from GM/ES-009 Sgor Gaoith on Saturday 18th February, 2023 (all times shown are UTC):

In the notes field I will usually log the other operator’s name and the signal report they provided. In accordance with the Summits on the Air rules, I do not make a log entry where a complete exchange of callsigns and signal reports was unsuccessful.

Additional Information

The following resources may be helpful to walkers, mountaineers and SOTA activators interested in Sgor Gaoith:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for GM/ES-009 Sgor Gaoith.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Sgor Gaoith.
• Google Maps Page for Sgor Gaoith.
• Wikipedia entry for Sgor Gaoith.

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