Orion Face Direct

Ken: Yesterday, we had our final day of our Winter Mountaineering Course, and headed to Beinn a’Chaorainn, where we climbed the East Ridge, which still has an unbelievable quantity of snow on it.

Today, I was out with Wesley. Wes and I have been out at least once a season for the past few years, and it’s been great seeing his progress, from the first time we met, where we climbed North Gully and Ledge Route, through to today, where we climbed Orion Direct, which Wes enjoyed and found challenging in pretty much equal measure!

The route was a little on the thin side, but very much climbable, and this will only improve over the next few days, as winter continues. The day started off fairly settled, but the higher we climbed, the more the spindrift poured down the route, adding a little ‘atmosphere’ to the day!

Other teams on Minus One Gully, Hadrians Wall, Point 5 Gully (which will have been fairly full-on with spindrift), Morton’s Neuroma and Compression Cracks. Observatory Buttress also looked good.

Winter is set to stay with us, and with the clocks going forward tonight, the days will be longer, the ice will remain excellent, and the mountains are generally much quieter than mid-season, so if you fancy getting out this ‘winter’, get in touch: info@51.38.64.114.