Indicator Wall with Intermediate Start, Ben Nevis
Today was my last scheduled day of winter work, which is rather convenient, as the weather is turning as of tomorrow. I was working for Abacus Mountain Guides, and out with Peter, who was keen for a classic ice climb on Ben Nevis. We walked in with an open plan, but knowing that there was a fair amount of awkward crust on a lot of the steeper ice, and on entering Observatory Gully, and seeing teams veer off to Hadrian’s Wall, Point 5, Tower Scoop and Smith’s Route, an ascent of Indicator Wall seemed to make perfect sense.
I did have in the back of my mind that having a look at one of the ice pitches directly below Indicator Wall (Lower Indicator Wall) would be a nice start, however, only the Intermediate Start (as per Godefroy Perroux’s excellent guidebook) was thick enough to climb. It gave a nice, and quite steep, pitch of ice (a bit cruddy on the surface in places) for starters.
We then crossed the snow slopes to gain Indicator Wall itself, which was in reasonable condition, if again, a bit cruddy on the surface in places, and just required a bit more work to secure tools and feet. It sounded like folk were experiencing similar conditions on Smith’s Route too. One of the things I love about Indicator Wall is that it is the highest route in the UK, and tops out metres away from the summit cairn, which is then used as the final belay, much to the intrigue of folk who have walked up the mountain track.
Quite a few folk out making the most of the last good day for a while, with people on Smith’s Route, Tower Scoop, Hadrian’s Wall, Point 5 Gully (not sure what conditions it’s in), Tower Ridge and a fair few heading into Coire na Ciste too.
Do I think winter is over? I doubt it, the upcoming milder air and rain will strip a lot of the loose snow, of which there is lots, and start to erode the ice, but there are hints of cooler air sneaking in for the following weekend (http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/avnpanel1.html)… Temperatures will still remain reasonably low, with the freezing levels hovering just above the summits, so the ice (where thicker) should survive until it cools down again… Time will tell!
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- NW Face Route, Direct Start & Intermediate Start on Lower Indicator Wall
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- Indicator Wall, the highest route in the UK.
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- Peter enjoying the climbing
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- Climbers on the Eastern Traverse on Tower Ridge.
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- Looking up the final pitch of Indicator Wall
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- Highest belay in the UK!
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- On the summit of Ben Nevis
I think we spoke to you on the way up – looks like a great day! We found point five to be brilliant, had to dig out the final metre of the rogue pitch from unconsolidated icy powder though. Hadrians seemed a bit of a nightmare – the team on it had to back off, not sure how the leader got down as he couldnt get a decent anchor.
Hi, nice to chat to you both. Well done on getting up Point 5 Gully, it’s not seen many ascents this season. Someone also took a little slither on Smith’s Route too, again, possibly due to cruddy conditions. Not the easiest of conditions on the higher ice routes, but this thaw should help, and conditions could be very good once it cools back down again.