Nice day on Western Rib, Aonach Mor

Linton and I enjoyed a quiet day on the West Face of Aonach Mor today, where we climbed Western Rib. We started up the flying buttress on the left and gained the main rib after 4 pitches.

Conditions on the route were mixed. Some useful patches of frozen ground but there's a glazing of ice over the turf and rocks, which seems to be preventing it from freezing properly. Conditions improved with height.

There's was a bit of windslab on either side of the ridge higher up, as well as some mini-cornices. It's great that winter's back, but a mini-thaw and refreeze wouldn't go amiss. There's some amazing sastrugi on the summit plateau at the moment!