Esp. for climbers, geographers + Welsh, Gaelic speakers

[E G Logan]

Q1. Out of a collection of 10 ghost stories, five are currently set in different countries of Europe, one in unspecified modern Britain, one just the English side of the Sc-Eng border, one on the West coast of Scotland.
* Would it be unbalanced to have another one in the far North of Scotland? (The existing Scottish one is very different.)

Q2. However, the story in question could be re-set to Wales or Ireland, the mountains of both of which I know nothing about. These countries are not currently represented in the collection. For plot reasons it can't be in Europe. So not Switzerland.

This is (very roughly) how the text reads at the moment:
'...Where are they going, he asks. A ’Bheinn Dhubh, she says, the Black Mountain. Not the one by Loch Lomond, the much more difficult climb in the north of Sutherland...'

This mountain needs to be near, or part of, a range of mountains/really BIG hills extensive enough to be covered – for important plot reasons – by two (at least) mountain rescue teams based a good distance apart. And a tough climb.

* Is there somewhere in either Wales or Ireland that could be substituted?
Welsh, Gaelic names would add atmosphere. We could stick with a fictional Black Mountain, since there seem to be a few, together with a genuine mountain range.

Thank you for thinking about this.

 

[Emily]

Our Irish mountain ranges, in comparison to Scottish ones, are remarkably widdly, I'm afraid.

I don't think another one in Scotland would be unbalanced.

 

[CageSage]

Have a look at some of the places where rock-climbers go now: Where to go | Mountaineering Scotland
or so a search for rock climbing mountains in northern Scotland for Ben Nevis, Buachaille Etive Mor, Sgurr Dearg, etc. and see which one gives the most sauce for story.

I also don't think having two set in Scotland is unbalanced, mainly because the type of rockclimbing in Wales is very different (where can I climb in Wales gives Snowden as the toughest climb, but lots of people do it every year).

 

[Dorm Ant]

Welsh mountains are pretty wussy compared to Scottish. Until last week, I lived right by the Welsh Black Mountain, and you could drive all the way up.

 

[Hannah F]

The mountains in the far North of Scotland offer quite a different (and challenging) climbing experience to the Borders or the West. Rescue teams are kept very busy up there. There are also many, many Lochs between them.

 

[Jonny]

As Emily says, Irish mountains are quite benign, and many can be ascended using little more that walking boots.

The names though can be quite atmospheric. Here are a few links.

Irish Mountains More Irish Mountains (some duplicates)

 

[James Marinero]

There are the Black Mountains in S Wales which are the western edge of Mynydd Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons, where the SAS train). It's not Scotland, but it's a very tough area. Then there is Mt Snowdon (Y Wyddfa) in North Wales, a real mountain - the area is called Eryri (say erurri, doesn't that just roll off the tongue!) - Snowdonia. There is a lot of Welsh folklore attached to Snowdon.

 

[Dorm Ant]

There are the Black Mountains in S Wales which are the western edge of Mynydd Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons, where the SAS train). It's not Scotland, but it's a very tough area. Then there is Mt Snowdon (Y Wyddfa) in North Wales, a real mountain - the area is called Eryri (say erurri, doesn't that just roll off the tongue!) - Snowdonia. There is a lot of Welsh folklore attached to Snowdon.

Probably bleak in winter, though nothing compared to NW Scotland. I've been up Scottish mountains that take all day to walk up, and require climbing or scrambling to reach the summit. You can drive to a car park right near the summits of most of the Brecon Beacons. Last time I went up Black Mountain, there was an ice cream van and a load of bikers at the top. I can't imagine two or more mountain rescue teams covering any mountains in Wales, though someone strike me down if I am wrong...

 

[E G Logan]

Welsh mountains are pretty wussy compared to Scottish. Until last week, I lived right by the Welsh Black Mountain, and you could drive all the way up.

Thank you so much! I was thinking it sounded like a possible.
(I don't plan to go and check, as 1. I am in Italy and 2. I have NO head for heights.)

 

[E G Logan]

The mountains in the far North of Scotland offer quite a different (and challenging) climbing experience to the Borders or the West. Rescue teams are kept very busy up there. There are also many, many Lochs between them.

That's pretty much where I was thinking (I am Scots), till I realised the other one would need to be in Scotland, too. But I can put that one in my part, the south-west, Galloway or South Ayrshire – I only need a castle with a sea view for a sunset (imagine a smaller Culzean...)

 

[E G Logan]

There are the Black Mountains in S Wales which are the western edge of Mynydd Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons, where the SAS train). It's not Scotland, but it's a very tough area. Then there is Mt Snowdon (Y Wyddfa) in North Wales, a real mountain - the area is called Eryri (say erurri, doesn't that just roll off the tongue!) - Snowdonia. There is a lot of Welsh folklore attached to Snowdon.

That's where I was looking at (BM, BB), and thank you very much.

I'm coming round to thinking, since I've seen all this detailed input, that I probably do need to know a bit about the place myself or I risk saying something truly daft. I know with ghost stories the standards for accuracy are, by definition, a bit more fluid, but sense can't go totally out of the window. It can make readers wonder a bit, but I'd hate them to laugh rather than shudder.

 

[E G Logan]

I've been up Scottish mountains that take all day to walk up, and require climbing or scrambling to reach the summit.

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm imagining. There are two real (serious) mountaineers involved, but also two raw teenagers.

 

[E G Logan]

Thank you all lots and lots. That was great.
It never ceases to amaze me the things I can ask about here and someone always has worthwhile input. (I'm just going to post another question....)

Here, I think it's coming round to, not so much 'write about what you know' since I've never climbed and am very unlikely to start now, but 'don't write about what you know nothing about'. The only Wales I've ever seen is Cardiff for a weekend in January – and Chepstow Racecourse – though I had a Welsh-speaking flatmate years ago, who coached me through some interesting vocabulary.
So two stories set in Scotland it is.

I plan to just send my characters in the direction of the mountain (A ’Bheinn Dhubh most likely, since there are several of those), then, after a suitable interval, show them coming back down again, a bit battered and chewed. Hopefully readers can imagine for themselves what happens in between.