8th February 2013 - Ledge Route

Walking in

Davie and his Mona Lisa's smile with Andy

Anna practicing her snow pack analysis

Coire na Ciste

Someone high on Indicator Wall. Amazing zoom on this camera

Anna looking less than impressed that there are other people on her route!!

The final section

At the summit cairn, 1344m

Chilling out by the Shelter

Anna and Me

The snow was still thick down low

Annas friend Aoifa was up visiting from Manchester, and Anna was keen to get her out enjoying the Scottish mountains. Last year we took her up the Ballachulish Horseshoe (I) and the Pap of Glen Coe, and this time Anna wanted to take her up something a little harder. We opted to take her up Ledge Route (II), a real all year round classic with enough excitement and jaw dropping views to get anyone hooked on the Ben.

We walked in with Davie and Andy, who were looking to get up something in the III/IV range, and the banter was excellent as usual. Unfortunately the joys of having a Ben key were a little lost on me as my exhaust fell apart part of the way up the track (apparently the new part hadn't been fitted properly...), but I was keen to not worry about it until later. Conditions were looking really nice, and loads of folk were heading to the North Face. Max was up working with a team from Jagged globe and had a good day on the SW Rib of the Douglas Boulder (III), Graham and Ben were aiming higher and got up Vanishing Gully (V, 5) and then the Curtain (V, 5). So all in all, loads of routes saw some traffic, which is fantastic, loads of smiling faces!

We kitted up at the CIC, and Anna, myself and Aoifa looked up towards the train of people heading up No. 5 to Ledge Route with a little disappointment. But we headed on up nonetheless, and very quickly over took several groupd who were moving slowly. Jamie B had some clients on the route and he let us sneak past early on. Aoifa was steady on her feet and more than capable. I let Anna lead most of the route to give her some confidence. Aoifas only (hilarious) wobble was downclimbing the short ledge. Draped over the rock, feet only 6 inches off the ground she chanted 'oh God, oh God, oh God' until Anna, laughing merrily, slipped her down to the safety of the ground!

We nestled in behind Di Gilbert and her client who were moving at a fine pace, and enjoyed ourselves taking photos, trying to avoid the nice guys behind us who were unfortunately giving a fine display of death roping....

We topped out in really good time, and made a b-line to the summit so that Aoifa could claim the top in winter conditions. Visibility was really poor so I took a wee bearing to get us on track and away from the edge. After what seemed an age, we made it to the summit, took some snaps, had a break and headed on down by the Red Burn and back to the car. We made really good time and had a thoroughly good time. Anna did really well leading Aoifa and giving loads of information while I acted as Safety Supervisor and photographer.


On the plus side, got the  (very loud) car to the garage before it closed and they fixed it free of charge - winner!