Wednesday 5 March 2014

The honeymoon suite...

Craig and I headed to the Northern Cairngorms on Friday night for an early start on the Mess. We were not the only ones and the early morning stampeded had us rethink the plan and head to Lurchers crag instead.

Having never climbed at this crag before we kicked up to K9 for a look see. The thaw had taken its toll on the lower slabs with water running under very thin ice. The first ice pitch looked good but getting to it looked dubious.

We retreated and soloed up North Gully (III).  Low down the snow was soft but it soon firmed up as we gained height. Chatting briefly with another party we climbed through and roped up for the ice pitch. This was short but nice and took screws. Once over we soloed again on bomber neve to the summit.

All in a great day with fantastic views


Chalamain Gap