Orion Direct
It was either a pre dawn start or a casual start. Fortunately I had the option and opted for a 7am meet time with Al (thats the casual start). The plan was to climb the uber classic Orion Direct (V,5) on Ben Nevis which we did after a little humming and hawing. I very very very rarely climb ice routes below other people because I don't want to be whacked in the face with ice. But we agreed that we would have a nice slow day following the crowds up the route. With 3 teams ahead of us we weren't going anywhere fast but amazingly didn't get hit by any substantial blocks of ice. It was a great route to do, really pleased we had a chilled out day, it did go on for a while though....
Its great to see the mountains alive with climbers. So many routes being climbed with about 50% of all the climbers on either Point 5 Gully or Orion Direct. Slav route had an ascent, Blair, Ian and Nona climbed Astronomy teams on Hadrian's, Zero, Minus 2 Gully and various other amazing routes. What a winter were having!
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| Al cold because he was waiting on a belay for a while |
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| Take what you can |
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| Ace exit groove! |
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| The mighty Tower Ridge |