So for the past few days Connor’s dad has been in town which
resulted in some rather large hangovers and some ace climbing. We managed to
get out and climb the first pitch of the curtain (wee clip to follow) as a four,
but bailed off after the first pitch due to the weather getting worse, Connor
having to get to work, Wills gammy hand opening up again (while changing his
ice axe picks he sliced his hand open which resulted in a trip to the hospital,
four stitches later…) and a large volume
of ice coming down from above. This pitch
of ice was thin… and I mean thin, no screws up until the bulge, crap gear at
the bulge , one shit screw after the bulge. When in doubt run it out! But combined
with the wild weather and ice from above made this a bloody wild lead !!!!!
On Tuesday we had a raid up the Ben before Connor was working again ! This time we climbed Harrison’s direct, a classic though rarely in condition route. This was not plan A, or plan B, or plan C but hey ho! It is a brilliant climb and was in superb condition with super axe placements and great climbing, totally convincing ice screws were hard to find but it was hard not to feel confident due to great conditions, even on the incredibly steep crux corner ( poky at IV?)
No comments:
Post a Comment