Minus 3 Gully

Looking up at the start of Minus 3 Gully, with the icicle by the cave

Today Lena and I headed up the path towards CIC, with a plan to climb Minus 3 Gully (IV,5**). There were a few cars in the North Face car park, but nothing like the crowds of the weekend. There was another team planning to climb Minus 3 Gully, so I put on a spurt of speed to get there first, to avoid waiting and possible ice on our heads. As I headed up pitch 1, I didn't know if pitch 2 around the icicle would be possible, but it turned out to be great fun, but actually hard to get off the ground to start. Some unlikely moves and I found myself out of the cave and over the steepening - brilliant. Unfortunatley I didn't get to see Lena climb it. Pitch 3 was easier but still with interest, and Lena enjoyed the steep final pitch to the top of the gully - wow, that was great. On our way down we watched the heather fires spread over the hill towards town. The wind made the fires spread and move fast, and they're burning now as I type!

Pitch 1

The fun starts on pitch 2

A brilliant place for a rest

Getting out of the cave was 'awkward'

Brilliant hooks on the ice

This was a rest

Pitch 3. I took it on the RHS where I could find good protection even though the climbing was more awkward. On the LHS the climbing would have been easier, but the ice too thin for pro

Lena coming up to the end of pitch 3

Pitch 4, Lena leads to the top

I saw a team start on Orion Direct at the beginning of the day - but I could not see them now - did they retreat? Another team was on Minus 3 after us. There was also a team on NE Buttress, and several on Tower Ridge

Point 5 - nobody on it !

Walking down - with the start of the fire to watch as it headed towards Fort William

The view of the fire from our lounge window just a few minutes ago