One of the Galway Walking club about to descend the scree path on the side of Benbreen in the Twelve Bens mountain range in Connemara on June 27th. Bengower mountain is in the background.
Most of us in the Galway Walking Club dislike scree – ‘paths’ of loose gravel found in the Maamturks and the Twelve Bens. There is only one way to descend on scree – slowly. With every step, the gravel – and you – begins to slide down the hill. The trick is not to send large rocks rolling down ahead of you (and down on top of walkers below) and to try and stay upright even as your footing is giving way underneath. The scree path on the south face of Benbreen in the Twelve Bens drops about 120 meters at a very steep slope. Sliding down it gingerly -but safely – took only 9 minutes – faster than walking. I set my camera to record as we descended – it is very shaky and, at the very end, you can see where I took a spill. I’ve speeded up the recording just to make it shorter – Youtube only allows 10-minute videos.
Good shot. Great light. Think I’d have preferred it without the (distraction of the) walker.