Happy Easter Alan!

A multitude of car problems, 3 months of treating a supraspinatus
(shoulder) injury and a recurrence of metatasalgia (foot pain) had
combined to lessen my winter climbing this year although it's simply
allowed for some wonderful walking and bike rides in quieter areas
from Knoydart to Caithness. I went up to the Ben last week to test my
shoulder on The Cascade and all went well, so an Easter Sunday visit
was next. The early morning drive north was beautiful and I couldn't
help but stop frequently for photos!

The Ben was a sociable place with a real holiday atmosphere about it,
especially at the foot of the Orion Face, where one party was already
established on Zero, another on Orion Direct, and two teams behind
me, one of which also set off on Orion Direct with the other going
for the Directissima start. I was there to solo Slav Route, which at
420m long would provide a slightly different experience from my 50m
outing the week before! The lower crux icefall was certainly not in
the broad ramp-like shape of last year, forming as a steep icicle
instead. There was also a lot of abseil tat hanging around just below
it! Above this, good route-finding is needed although the quality of
the ice was superb throughout and lots of weaving up steep-ish steps
keeps it interesting. The final chimney was plastered in hoar and
provided a struggle suitable of an upper crux, as it was difficult to
find where the ice was. I managed to squeeze up the steep extreme
right hand corner where the ice was pretty continuous, all whilst
being drowned in spindrift. A fantastic route and thoroughly
recommended.

It was difficult to see over to the main Orion headwall routes due to
thick clag but it seemed that very little (?) was in condition with
the exception of Astral. The bow-shaped corner of the Directissima
also looked doubtful but this can only be speculation of course.
There were a lot of walkers on the summit enjoying the zero
visibility and I met a team who had just come up an icy Psychedelic
Wall. I dropped down Tower Gully which is in an easy access state as
I wanted a look at Le Nid d'Aigle. The steep slopes beneath Indicator
Wall felt pretty tenuous with a lot of fresh snow, and the whole area
was eerily quiet with just one team on Smith's. Kellett's Route is in
fatter condition than last year but it was difficult to judge whether
The Great Glen would be climbable at the moment. I had a bad feeling
about the possible condition of the upper slopes on Indicator Wall
(maybe unfounded?) so retreated back to the hut where I then had to
run back to the car park (35mins!) and make the 100+mile drive to
drop off the hire car - I managed it with 3mins to spare before the
depot closed! Phew!