Coire Na Ciste

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.

Decent nevé in Green Gully

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.

NE Buttress and Tower Ridge

No5 Gully and The Curtain