Ben Nevis, 14-01-13
There was a reasonable amount of fresh snow on the Ben today and things were looking fairly white even low down. There were plenty of options for mixed climbing and some good looking ice still about. Getting about wasn’t too bad actually as the snow is fairly evenly spread and hasn’t been pushed about by the wind too much. There wasn’t too many out climbing but teams were on Ledge route and there were a few heading around into the Coire Leis area. We climbed the SW ridge on the Douglas Boulder which was in good condition and adding the direct start from the toe of the buttress made it good value. Lots of harder mixed routes looking good, the No.3 Gully Buttress area was totally white but I’d guess there would be a good bit of snow clearing required on most routes. No.4 Gully was used as a descent by various teams also.
Looking good
Coire na Ciste
Direct start on the SW ridge
Abb back into the Douglas Gap