Rubicon Wall

Wade

Murdoch on the first pitch

Me on 4th pitch

Thin climbing with no gear

Hard work on the snow

We had loads of snow over night which meant getting to the routes was a bit harder than its been for quite a few weeks.  Murdoch and I headed up Observatory Gully and made our detour off to the base of Rubicon Wall (V,5).  Waves of spindrift were coming down the face, filling our ledges and swamping our feet.  After one substantial wave we did look at each other and thought the same.... this is grim!  But we pressed on and were rewarded with a great thin face route.  The ice was brilliant all the way up, thin in places and with limited gear but it always felt of as axes and crampons went in well.  Plumes of spin drift kept attacking us but we were able to wade through it and make our way to the summit of Ben Nevis.  Despite there being lots of snow around we found the slope we waded up to be pretty stable, just hard work.  A great day and a great route.  Back up tomorrow for a bit more ice climbing.  Other teams were on Vade Mecum, Hadrians, Observatory Buttress, Ledge Route, Green Gully and teams went into Zero Gully area but not sure what route they got on.