Ledge Route – Great Ben Weather
Posted by Max Hunter on 04th May, 2014
A fast walk up to CIC
Coire na Ciste
On Friday we took a couple of days out of the 5 day Joint Services Rock Climbing Foundation Award, to make the most of the good weather over Friday/Saturday. We split the team of 6 into 2 teams – 2 with Lawrie and 4 with me. Lawrie took his 2 to Glen Nevis and climbed a series of classic multi pitch climbs including The Gutter, Right Wall and Three Pines (+ 1 other?) – he enjoyed sunny climbing on dry rock and no midges all day. I took my 4 to Ben Nevis and Ledge route.
The 4 with me are all incredibly fit, so we arrived at the CIC after 45 minutes from the top car park, with full bags of kit. We wandered up Number 5 gully to where the snow starts. I ran a winter skills session after which we made our way up the slope to the start of Ledge Route. Here, crampons and axes were no longer needed, so the winter kit was put away, and we continued on mostly dry rock, up a summer Ledge route. The conditions were perfect, and it was the first time the group had ever done anything like this, so the scenery was doubly impressive. Some of them quickly overcame their fear of exposure and heights, and all of a sudden we were summitting.
Another winter skills session complete and we moved onto the glissading. The group had to learn self belay, self arrest, glissading and arresting without axes before we safely (and quickly) slid down the snow to the lower zig-zag – an awesome fast finish.
Start of Ledge Route
Looking out over Ben Nevis
Happy Soldiers
The final scramble
Fist time on Ben Nevis
At the top of Carn Dearg
Walking off to the glissade finish
The top of No. 4 gully