Thrawn
2nd February 2024
Thrawn: adjective. (Of people) obstinate, intractable.
(Above) The snowy, open maw of Easy Gully, flanked by partly obscured Pinnacle Buttress and the Post Face of Coire Ardair. Poor visibility in wild, stormy weather today. Wet snow at all altitudes.
(Above) The Inner Coire of Coire Ardair with the bealach known as The Window prominent. Old snow down to approx 800m with some ribbons decending a little lower in some gully lines.
(Above) The NNE-facing crags in the Inner Coire.
(Above) Looking up into ‘Cinderella’, the low grade gully route in the Inner Coire. The avalanche debris visible at the bottom of the photo is almost certainly more than a week old.
Local Aviemore Olympian, Lesley McKenna, featured in an interesting YouTube video a couple of weeks ago titled ‘Thrawn: a stubbornly Scottish snow film’. If you’ve not already seen it it’s an enjoyable watch which celebrates Lesley’s love for most things to do with snow in Scotland. It approaches the climate change issue head on – which is depressing, of course – but you are left feeling positive about Scottish winter hill-going folk’s indominatable spirit, fortitude and that very Scottish characteristic, thrawness.
Another local in the news. Our very own King-ussie Kong – the Japanese macaque known as Honshu and usually resident in our nearby zoo – made a bid for freedom and lived off the land for 5 days before succumbing to the lure of a Yorkshire pudding in my village. The zoo SWAT team, assisted by aerial reconnaissance, ended his sojourn with a tranquilliser dart in a nearby garden.
Perhaps of Japanese extraction but without doubt proper thrawn.
(Above) Never underestimate the power of thrawn.
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Keith Horner
2nd February 2024 5:03 pm
Honshu clearly had a preference for Western cuisine rather than his native sushie which unfortunately led to his downfall – the Ronnie Biggs of the Highland Wildlife Park? I was expecting Meggie and Northern Cairngorms SAIS forecasters to report sightings of the elusive primate nonchalantly soloing classic winter routes whilst being pursued by hapless HWP snipers…….
meagaidhadmin
2nd February 2024 6:00 pm
Apparently, nearby Loch Insh Watersports tried to press-gang him into doing a summer gig there as an outdoor instructor.
…just a rumour
Keith Horner
2nd February 2024 6:30 pm
Surely not – the water temperature would be too cold there, he’s used to the hot springs of Japan……