Mountain Diary and Conditions

Ken: Another brilliant day on Ben Nevis today. With the sun shining this morning, Ben Nevis felt very alpine. Hazel and I retraced our steps back into Coire na Ciste, but then veered off towards No. 2 Gully. This part of the mountain was quite quiet, with only a couple of teams on the White Line and a team on Glover’s Chimney, and so with a clear run ahead, we decided to climb the classic Comb Gully.

The ice in Comb Gully was excellent, with good first time axe placements and good screws where needed. The ice was noticeably better than Thompson’s Route. Hazel did well, particularly on the crux pitch, which is fairly sustained, and requires good technique.

Plenty of teams on Tower Ridge today, and amazingly, we saw a team who managed to sneak their way up The Curtain. They weren’t overly enthused by the quality of the ice they encountered, particularly as it was catching the sun from quite early on! There’s also plenty of enticing looking ice on Goodeve’s Buttress and Raeburn’s Wall which has seen very little action this winter.

Iain was also out today, with Abigail and Tom. They were climbing around the Ruth area on the West Face of Aonach Mor, looking at various belays and different types of protection.

Like many ice routes on Ben Nevis, Waterfall Gully is in great condition at the moment. Chewy ice, good screws and good rock belays. Ken recommended climbing the route in its entirety which I hadn’t done before. It’s very atmospheric with the huge big walls towering over the route. A perfect intro to winter climbing on Ben Nevis and Mick’s first Scottish winter route!

Ken: With winter climbing conditions still being excellent, and work quietening down a bit, Steve and I thought that we would make the most of it, and get some ice climbing done for ourselves. With the lure of a gondola assisted approach, we made our way to the North Face of Aonach Beag, where we climbed the brilliant Royal Pardon.

Stand and Deliver looked excellent as we passed beneath it (a team climbed it today). Steve led the first pitch of variable ice, up to a large block belay, to the left of the main ice smear. I then led the crux pitch, which was thick enough, and better on the steeper sections. I don’t think that the weather gods were looking down on me too favourably today, for I seemed to spend much of the pitch getting pummelled by spindrift, which then amazingly cleared as Steve led the final couple of pitches, which included an excellent pitch of good quality ice before the ground eased off.

Nice to get out and make the most of what is fast becoming a season to remember!

Ken: Today was my second and final day with Wesley, and with tired legs from yesterday, we thought we would have a slightly shorter day than yesterday. As it turned out, we ended up climbing a similar length, but just started a little lower on the mountain.

We found ourselves at the foot of Waterfall Gully, a route that neither of us had climbed before. The first pitch was good, if a little damp, and with curiosity getting the better of us, we found ourselves heading further up the gully, in amongst some of the finest rock architecture on Ben Nevis. Part the way up, we were distracted by a fine looking pitch of steeper ice on the left, that we took in, before returning back into the gully, and continuing up to the huge cul-de-sac at the head of the gully. From here, a thin, but climbable slab out to the right brought us onto the upper ridge, from where a couple of rope lengths brought us onto Ledge Route.

Amazingly, no one had been up Ledge Route by that point today, so we broke trail up the upper ridge and onto Carn Dearg. We picked up the stream bed which runs parallel to the Red Burn, which gave us a quick and easy descent to Halfway Lochan. What Waterfall Gully lacks in technical climbing, it more than makes up for in its journey through amazing scenery.

A busy day on the mountain, with teams on Zero Gully, Hadrian’s Wall, Observatory Buttress, Indicator Wall, Tower Ridge, The White Line, Comb Gully and Green Gully (and many others I’m sure).

Ken: Fortunately, it was quite a dry day today, and so as a result, the thaw took far less of a toll on the snow than yesterday.

Caspar enjoyed a day of classic Ben Nevis ice climbing with Shaun today. they climbed Comb Gully, which whilst a bit damp, was in good condition.

I was back out with our Winter Mountaineering team. We climbed School House Ridge, above Ballachulish, with Giles and Dave taking turns on the sharp end. The ridge was almost split right down the middle, with the right hand (north) side offering a snowy winter ascent, and the left hand side offering a rocky summer ascent. We were treated to a brilliant and direct descent, on soft snow, down Coire Riabhach.

We’re due a welcome return to wintry conditions tomorrow, which looks to stay with us throughout next week, with things ramping up a notch on Tuesday. The never ending winter?

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