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| The Pumpkin |
Creag Meagaidh is in good condition. Lena and I set out to do Smith's Gully, but another team got there first. We chose not to follow them because we didn't want a day of queueing with snow and ice pieces falling on our heads - so we headed of to the deserted Inner Corrie and found The Pumpkin in good condition. We could have chosen almost any ice climb today - South Pipe Direct, The Wand and Diadem also looked great. Lots of other climbs looked good today, but my first Meagaidh climb years ago (with Rich), Staghorn Gully didn't look complete with snow.
Once on The Pumpkin, we found the ice to feel fresh (it wasn't stepped or full of hooks), and there were almost no ice screw holes (unlike lots of the ice climbs on the Ben at the moment). The ice was pretty brittle and a little care was needed on the first pitch. One particular axe placement turned the ice into a water fountain, so quickly Lena put her axe in again to plug the hole! The steepening at the end of the first long pitch had a few hooks and a couple of steps, but mostly it felt like fresh water ice. The steepening on pitch 2 felt a little more stepped. We did the climb in 7 pitches. A great climb.
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| The Wand and Diadem |
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| Lena setting off on pitch 1 of The Pumpkin |
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| Pitch 1 of The Pumpkin |
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| Lena finishing the first steep section of ice |
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| Looking up at the second steep section of ice |
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| After the steep ice, Lena about to set onto the snow slope, midway through the route |
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| Lena on the last steepening of ice |
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| Pitch 6 finished in the upper snow slope |
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