With a team of three already climbing Point Five Gully and the debris being so hard and heavy, Rintje and I decided to climb Sickle today so that we did not get hit and hurt by falling ice. We started up the first pitch of Hadrian's Wall Direct (on the right side to keep clear of the team on this route) and went across to the impressive cascade of the crux on the third pitch. With a bit of deviousness this can be reduced to a single pull over a wee bulge but it is difficult not to hold on too tight with the drop beneath your feet at this point.
Ali and Rob climbed Tower Ridge which has filled in very well and has some lovely wee runnels of neve in the grooves. Douglas Gap East Gully is very full of soft snow and does not have a track so it might be best to leave this until after the slightly warmer conditions later this week. The west Gully makes a fine approach to Douglas Gap. Ali had to do a bit of improvised rescuing today after someone fell off the Eastern Traverse. Now there is a place I do not want to fall off!
We have two more really cold days before it goes back to a more normal temperature with freezing level at about 1000m. This is about the base of most of the big classic ice climbs so we will still have very good climbing to enjoy.
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