Ben Nevis

Castle Gully area

Jagged Globe - Intro to Winter Mountaineering

Today was wet! The rain was persistant - and tested everybody's waterproofing system. Some people went for the double waterproof jacket solution, some people the hard shell / soft shell option, and some people the Paramo option. I went for the soft shell, soft shell, hard shell option, and was dry, but my hard trousers need replacing! We took the course to Ben Nevis and planned to go up to Coire Leis to look at snow anchors and ropework.

CIC, looking up past the Douglas Boulder

The Allt a' Mhuilinn was massive today and I would not have wanted to cross it anywhere except at the bridge, just below the top car park. It also rose through the day, but equally I'm sure it'll fall in height quickly in the next few days. There was running water everywhere. I didn't see any climbers (the top car park was empty), but saw 4 Germans, with ropes out who seemed keen, but after a short chat, they headed down again.

Looking up Observatory Gully

The snow patches are reducing, but the thicker ice lines hopefully will survive. Above you can see Zero, which is no longer complete, but the Point still looked complete from where I stood.

Douglas Gap and Observatory Gully

Dora

Spencer

We actually had a really fun day playing in the snow. It was surprising hard to dig out the hard snow for the buried axes and bucket seats. The snow is saturated but firm, and we couldn't make any snow anchors or seats fail. Well done Dora and Spencer for your hard work and fun company.