25th May 2012 - Ledge Route and the CMD

Castle Ridge and the Castle

Looking up Number 5 Gully

Tower Ridge and North East Buttress in the distance

The CMD Arete with Carn Mor Dearg in the distance

Coire Leis and North East Buttress opening to the North Face

Panoramic view of the North Face in all its glory

A close up of Number 5 Gully, with Ledge Route clearly visible on the right

Leaving the north Face, a cloudless sky

Given the weather we have had recently, I was itching to get out and soak up some of the rays. Unfortunately last night on our way to Poll Dubh for a quick hit on the rock, we managed to get a puncture and so today I couldn't really travel far. Solution? A jaunt up Ledge Route and round and down the CMD. Parking at the North Face car park at Torlundy, I travelled light and fast, feeling the early morning sun begin to bite. Once I got up to the upper car park, and was out of the woodland shade, The heat really began to crank up, but I was revelling in it having been stuck in an office all week! I quickly made my way up to the CIC hut, and didn't even bother to stop for a breather before trooping up towards the bottle neck of Number 5 Gully. There was still a fair amount of snow spouting out of the gully, and I was a little apprehensive about travelling up it without an axe. I also had not been up Ledge Route since coming down it with Al Halewood back in August, so hoped the route finding would not be difficult.

Making my way up into Number 5, I was aware of some partially melted avalanche debris, and took a few minutes to look at the snow and make sure I was happy travelling up it. Given that a few days ago there was a lot of fresh avalanche debris witnessed during a rescue in Point 5 Gully, I didn't want to take any chances. Happy that I was not travelling very far into the gully, and that the pack was solid enough, I moved quickly up and across right to the foot of the starting slab of Ledge Route. I made my way up easily, enjoying the warm rock and the beating sun. The views began to open out as I got higher, giving superb views up to Tower Ridge and into the Douglas Gap, and out and over to the CMD. I eventually came to the highlight of the route, the Ledge, and took a moment to get some photos and grab a drink. Moving on, I soon found myself plodding onto the summit plateaux, perhaps a km from the summit itself.

I made my way up to the summit, somewhat surprised at how few people were actually up there given the droves I had seen heading up in recent days. The snow is still a few feet deep on the summit, wet and slippy, and I was glad that as I moved down towards the CMD arete the snow line came to an abrupt end. The arete was in glorious condition, with only a little cross wind cooling me down but not risking my balance. Again I opted to ignore the well worn path on the ridge, and stuck to the craggy rock line. The haul back up at the other end to Carn Mor Dearg was very hot, very sweaty and seemed to take ages. In reality it was very quick, and I was soon on my way down to join the North Face path and back towards the car park and the end of my day. All in all it took 5 hours 15 minutes which I think is a pretty respectable time.

I had a great day out on the hills again, hoping that this weather prevails over the weekend for the MRC of S Level 1 Rigging Course!