Glenshee. Near Braemar. The Eastern Cairngorms of Scotland.
I first came here some 65 years ago, sitting enthralled in the back seat of my dad’s venerable 848cc Morris Minor as we headed up the steep A93 road from our home on the Angus coast and over the fearsome - although now long bypassed - Devil’s Elbow hairpin bends:-
Almost 50 years ago, I learned to ski here, taught patiently by my wonderful girlfriend - an expert skier and hillwalking enthusiast - who I had the good sense to marry 45 years ago.
Some 30 years ago, we scaled six Munros on this side of the A93 on one memorable late-autumn Saturday, including Glas Maol which we were grateful to locate in the low cloud:-.
We soon climbed all the Munros in this immediate area. But in 1995, while working with the emergency services, I was closely involved in a dramatic mountain rescue on these very slopes when a lone cross-country skier slid off-piste in poor visibility one afternoon, became disorientated and hopelessly lost and was amazingly fortunate to survive three nights in the bitter and foul winter weather by sheltering in snow holes before being rescued and airlifted to hospital. Yes, these hills can be benign and beautiful, but they can be killers in waiting, too, when you least expect it.
(See postscript below….)
Health hasn’t always been kind to me since then and in my two and a half years of SOTA activating, I haven’t been back to these hills, 60 miles from my home QTH. I was determined to put that right, though, so when the weather forecast promised a decent day on Friday, we headed to the Glenshee Ski Centre on Thursday evening to tackle Glas Maol (pronounced Glaz Mool), a popular 1,068-metre eight-pointer which has a reputation of being one of the easier “big” hills in the area. On a good day, that is…!
My aim was to activate it on three different modes, principally using my Elecraft KX2 and the tiny AX1 antenna. Few topics generate more heat on the Reflector than arguments over compromised versus resonant antennas, and especially regarding the huge compromise required by the pricey AX1 on 40m, 30m, 20m and 17m. Logic suggests it’s no better than a dummy load, but I was determined to test it for myself. To be fair, I’d done one brief CW activation with it on a local two-pointer last year (my only CW one so far) which yielded four QSOs, although all relatively short distances from England.
We parked overnight at the Ski Centre itself which offers a cafe/restaurant during the day, toilets open all night, and five electric hook-up spaces for campervans at just £12 for the night. When we awoke early, ready for the off, it wasn’t quite the glorious blue sky that was promised. In fact, we couldn’t see any hills at all - or even the adjacent toilet block…!:-
No matter, we got organised quickly knowing that such irritations can be short-lived and so by 8am we were on the path to the summit. It’s stony and wide to accommodate the many tracked ski-vehicles which ply their trade up and down here during the winter.
We headed up the track over Meall Odhar and soon were in warm sunshine and light winds. Looking back to the Ski Centre below, they’d have a while to wait before they’d see the sun:-
From the top of Meall Odhar, the steeper climb up to the summit of Glas Maol lay ahead:-
It’s a slow steep ziz-zag but not too long and although we’re now slower at ascending, it was perfectly doable without requiring the frequent use of a defibrillator… 
And so to the activation. To make sure of getting my first four, I fixed my RH770 whip to my Yaesu FT-4xe (is there a better inexpensive, decently-built, dual-band, reliable and basic 5w h/h available?) and soon there were four in the log from across southern and eastern Scotland. I clearly heard some chatter from guys activating in the Lake District but unfortunately they didn’t hear my call and so didn’t respond.
There was one pleasant S2S on 2m FM with Paul @GM4IBP/P who was activating GM/SS-099 near Killin. My ever-present hill mascot, Ben the Bear - in addition to constant companions wife Ann and SOTA dog Sula - was with me to enjoy the fun…
Time to set up the rig. I chose to put the AX1 antenna on a small tripod as it makes things easier than having it wobbling around on one’s knee. The counterpoise for 20/18m was stretched out and CW selected.
I used my excellent “reborn” Pico Paddle from Hannes @DL9SCO on a hill for the first time. It is a delight to use but as soon as I sent my CQ call, I faced my first ever CW pile-up. Struggling to pick any callsigns out of the many strong signals, I instantly fell apart - not literally, but figuratively - as though I’d never used CW before. My brain fried and all my previous CW experience in the shack seemed to count for nothing as I bungled my replies, got callsigns wrong and frankly sounded like I was sending while wearing boxing gloves. It was hugely disappointing for me, and for the enthusiastic chasers who must have wondered who was this clown pretending to be a CW activator. Unsurprisingly, the pile-up soon fizzled out … 
However, my determination to test the AX1 in the field meant I did my best and was hugely grateful to Jose @EA7GV; Vrat @OK1KT; Frid @DL1FU; Lucas @ON3YB and Jack @OH3GZ for putting up with my appalling CW and giving me excellent reports as a decent test for the antenna. From Southern Spain to Finland - I was happy with that for starters.
However, would the AX1 do anything on SSB? It seemed unlikely given its compromised nature but a CQ on 20m brought an immediate welcome response from Senor Reliable - Manuel @EA2DT - and a 4/3 report from him was an encouraging opener. A few QSO’s with Germany and Poland followed, all with very reasonable signal reports.
My intention was to try the AX1 next on 40m, but to be honest, my brain was still wobbling after my 20m CW performance so I decided to call it a day and hopefully do better next time. I wandered off to admire the view instead.
My conclusion was that while the AX1 can never compete with a resonant dipole, or the decent EFHW on the Carbon6 pole I usually use, it certainly performs impressively, esp on CW, for something that takes up little more space in my bag than a couple of ballpoint pens. I am well impressed and will try it again soon, perhaps at a time of day when DX might be possible.
Our descent back to the van didn’t take long - in CW terms, a couple of dots and a quick dash - but with glorious panoramas in full view now that the mist had lifted.
Looking back in my hill photo archive, I couldn’t resist recalling how much has changed since this picture was taken of Ann and our collie, Corrie, on the adjacent summit of Tom Buidhe during that epic six-Munro day 30 years ago:-
Photographing Ann and SOTAdog Sula at the summit of Glas Maol today, it seems nothing much has changed… 
73 es tu. Mike
“Postscript re mountain rescue story:.The chap who was rescued confessed afterwards that on the second night of his ordeal, he craved a bottle of Barr’s Irn Bru, the legendary Scottish fizzy beverage. Seizing the considerable publicity value of such a statement in such a high-profile story, Barr’s immediately presented him with a sizeable supply. Thereafter, I resolved that if I was ever lost then rescued and asked about what I’d craved overnight, I would answer “Raquel Welch” in the hope of the delivery of similar good fortune….
(other more modern film stars are now available!)*
Glad you had some success with the AX1.