What a day! Under deep powder made for slow progress. The upper ridge was as time consuming as the guide description made out but we were keen to stay out of the gullies. Led all pitches. Turned into a pseudo epic as you'll read....
Met Luis and Siobhan a little later than planned, walked in a bit slow than hoped. Approach to Observatory Ridge more of a wade than anticipated.
Technical pitches went down pretty well, a bit of clearing needed but climbed steady and smoothly. The others were doing well. Finished the difficulties happily with a good bit of daylight left given the late start.
Upper ridge was absolutely buried! Where it was sharp and defined in places the snow was scarily sugary so resorted to full on "a cheval" technique. Climbed for a rope length like this, spent ages digging for gear to then bring the others up. Darkness ensues....
One member of the team has forgotten their head torch, another has only got a Petzl E Lite! I take the Petzl E Lite and the others share my good torch. Tie the ropes together to speed things up. Solo for a good length then spend a while gradually digging and clearing until I find a piece of gear and bring them up to me. Repeat this for approx 300m? Weather had closed in, I must have gotten wildly off course somehow as end up finishing through a pretty much vertical tight ice chimney before popping out on the summit ridge.
We tag the summit at 23.47! Long walk down, I navigate the team down the Red Burn, to the lochain and then back down to the North Face Car Park.
Area :
Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg
Ben Nevis is certainly the biggest and most famous winter climbing ground in Scotland, with something for everyone from the debutante to the most experienced and skilled. The almost alpine grandeur of the north face can, in a good winter, transform into a world where climbable snow-ice forms at almost every angle. It provides climbs suitable for any stage of the winter, from early season snowed-up rock climbs to late season ice wall specials. Also included here are the small number of winter climbing opportunities on the neighbouring Carn Mor Dearg.
