Ledge Route and No 4 Gully, 2nd January 2011.

Myself, Mark and Stevie had an early start today and drove up to Ben Nevis. We headed up to No 5 Gully in order to do The Ledge Route. Not the most snow we've seen in the coire, but most of the gully lines seemed complete (numbers 2 and 3 in the picture). Even so, there were plenty of teams out enjoying the break in the weather before the forecast change later in the day.

The steep plod up to No 5 Gully is much easier on snow, but on the scree and rock it's a bit of a pain!
The three guys in front were heading across to No 2 Gully (out of shot).

 

Looking up No 5 Gully from the top of the scree. The overnight freeze made for excellent conditions and there were various ice falls and cascades that teams were using for practicing ice climbing techniques.

Faffing about with knots and stuff before setting off!

The first "ledge" as you turn right out of No 5 Gully was in great nick with some ice and really grippy snow so we didn't bother using any gear although we lugged it along just in case!

Looking back down to Stevie and Mark just exiting No 5 Gully.

Higher up on the route the snow was a little leaner in places, especially around by the "wall" section and the little blocky section just after it. This added to the route as there were various easy rock steps in a choice of lines so add interest - sometimes just walking up a snow trench is too easy!

An eerire deserted Ben Nevis summit.

A quick cuppa in the observatory ruins before heading back across to No 4 Gully just as the mist came in and the temperature dropped.

Stevie and Mark making their way down a very stepped out No 4 Gully.

No 4 Gully looking a little bare in the middle. Bumsliding out of the question!

Remember folks, it gets dark early in the winter so don't forget your headtorch!