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A quick raid on the Ben to make use of the promising forecast saw Rich having a pleasant day soloing Green Gully and returning down Ledge Route. What I hoped to be an early-ish start (5:30 get up and in the car park for 7:15) proved not early enough, only one proper space left in a very keen multi-lingual North Face car park! I overtook a few teams, including a German foursome, on the dark walk-in but there were plenty of people who’d obviously set off earlier and were heading up to routes by the time I arrived at the CIC. I opted for Green Gully as a low stress solo which was in excellent nick with three good ice steps and reasonable nevé, thanks to Tom and Neil for letting me past at the belays.
There was a blue sky summit and inversion to greet folk as they topped out and I wandered to the shelter for a spot of early lunch before descending. Both Number 3 and Number 4 gully looked a bit too corniced for me and I couldn’t see any evidence of people descending or ascending that morning so I opted for a stroll down Ledge Route to round off a beautiful day. Other teams could be seen on Tower Ridge, Central Gully, Ledge Route, No3 Gully Buttress and a lot of people heading for routes round in the Minus Face/Point 5/Zero areas.
