This could be the last time,
maybe the last time, I don’t know…
Apologies to Mick Jagger, but Thursday on the Ben did have that feeling about it?
The sun shone through the faint clouds as David and I walked up the Alt a’Mhuilinn, everywhere above the CIC hut and in the higher gullies, looking terrific, glistening with ice and snow. Why a day we were going to have?
The hut was occupied, so a chance to show David the restoration works and to take a quick break before heading up to Indicator wall area, or even Smith’s Route.
Stories from the lads in the hut told a different picture. Two of them had been out all night on Observatory Ridge and tales of crashing ice blocks, booming throughout the night, dangerous pitches of thin ice, and snow, so soft it suggested some serious trail-breaking, all this combined to make us think again.
Right, what hasn’t got anything above it, I thought? Glovers Chimney (III). That would be a first for David and a return for me after maybe 30 years!
The trail-breaking was true to form. We slowly made our way up to the base of the route, and were soon roping up.
There was steep ice on the first pitch there but it was very wet. Still, it looked thick enough to stay fixed to the rock and it wasn’t that steep. Imagining the ice screw runner at three meters would hold, was a joke, but the climbing was easy and soon I was over the initial section and into the gully proper.
Plenty of side wall rock runners encouraged my continuing up and I soon reached a small, prepared stance. Although there were only faint tracks in the soft snow, it was true trail-breaking but if each pitch led to a stance, the climbing would be easier and quicker.
Five or six full pitches led to the final rocky chimney. Occasionally we would dodge a small lump of ice falling from the side walls high above us, and only once did a huge block come down, rattling and smashing into the main gully, however, we were luckily above it by then.
The final back and footing up into the Tower gap was great fun, plenty of protection, lots of rock handholds and soon I was moving through the final moves of the Gap to the upper and last part of Tower Ridge. There was no snow or ice in the Gap, but above, and all the way to the top, much more usual winter conditions and great fun.
The wind had reached us now on the ridge and the temperature dropped a few degrees. We were still reasonably warm though, and avoiding the summit meant we could escape the cool breeze, as we wandered down to No. 4 gully. Here, a total change in angle was now apparent. The previous Tuesday, the exit had been steep, even feeling slightly undercut, but not today. A simple slope took us into the wider gully and we coiled the rope and swam down through the deep soft snow back to the hut.
The day had been very enjoyable and our route, a consolation after bigger dreams had been quashed.
More still to come this winter? I’m becoming increasingly doubtful now.
On our way down, Centurion looked amazing in the sunshine, where did I put my rock shoes?
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