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| Ben Nevis this morning. |
Back up Ben Nevis again today, and what a difference to yesterday! Again working for
Abacus Mountaineering, the same two pairings as yesterday, Phil with Mike and Dominic with myself all decided to head up to have a look at something long and icy. It doesn't really get as long and icey as 'Astral Highway VI,5', which Mike and Phil headed for, and 'Orion Direct V,5', which we had in mind. There had been a hard freeze through the night, which helped with the walk-in to the CIC Hut, and with clear blue skies, things were looking excellent!
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| Mike heading up the second pitch |
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| Spindrift coming down the second pitch |
On route, we followed a French team, and Richard Bentley with his client, but despite there being three teams, we rarely had to wait long. With clear skies, amazing views, little wind and great climbing, the waiting really wasn't an issue either. The crux, the traverse on pitch five, was a bit thin today and not particularly well protected, but the climbing at that point is never too hard, and once the traverse was over, there was ample opportunity to get an ice screw in. We topped out to magnificent vistas in every direction, and could easily make out Skye, The Cairngorms, Schiehallion, Glencoe and Rhum. There was a lot of spindrift pouring down Point 5 Gully when the winds picked up in the afternoon. The descent from the Halfway Lochain to the North Face Car Park is hard going at the moment, with very deep snow in places.
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| The team walking over towards the summit of Ben Nevis this afternoon |
All in all, a great couple of days, with two very different routes. Other teams out on Hadrian's Wall Direct, Tower Ridge, Upper Tower Cascades, and again numerous teams heading up to Vanishing Gully. One team backed away from Observatory Ridge, no doubt due to the amount of loose snow on it. Unfortunately, an avalanche came down Garadh Gully and injured a French team in the vicinity.
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