Ben Nevis Conditions
Posted by Max Hunter on 02nd January, 2017
With a good weather forecast many keen climbers headed for the hills – many on the North Face of Ben Nevis. There was often good visibility as we walked up. We could see that many climbs were incomplete or incredibly thin. All of the option around No.2 Gully area / Raeburn’s Wall didn’t look complete, so we stuck to Coire na Ciste. We checked out No. 3 Gully Buttress – it was incomplete and looked like a frozen scree slope for much of the way. North Gully pitch 1 was black – later we saw it has a thin ice smear, Wendigo was incomplete and almost completely black. Central RH was incomplete (but almost a white line!). South Gully was mostly black in the lower half. Thompson’s was black.
We drifted up No.3 Gully, and in the end climbed a line on the LHS, which is a variation exit for No.3 Gully, finishing on El Nino. We walked down an easy No.4 Gully.
At least 1 team headed into Observatory Gully. Many teams went up towards No.2 Gully and Raeburn’s Wall. 2 teams were on No.3 Gully Buttress. 1 team on Hobgoblin, and a team on El Nino. Many teams went up No.3+No.4 Gullies.
We enjoyed our day burning off some Christmas fat, although we mostly took our rope/rack for a walk.
View from near the CIC
Number 5 Gully area
The Comb and Number 3 Gully Buttress
Number 3 Gully and the Ciste Crag
South end of the Ciste Crag
The start of No. 3 Gully Buttress – incomplete
Thompson’s Route area
Lena belayed by our left exit variation
Great scenery
Lena on some final steps