More antics on The Ben

Having missed all of this winter season in Scotland (and last season), Jon persuaded me to take advantage of the great conditions on the Ben with a late night dash northwards to grab a classic.

Jon leaves the snow basin

We parked at Torlundy at 11pm, grabbed a couple of hours kip in the car and walked up to the C I C hut, arriving there at 4.45am. The lads just getting up and hoping to be first on Orion Direct were a little disapointed to find us ahead of them!

Jon tackles the final steeper section.

We started up the route at 6am, finding in a few places that the heavy traffic in the last week or so was beginning to take its toll.

The route up and across the snow basin was straightforward enough, but the 5th and crux pitch was very thought provoking! But a couple of good wire placements and the angle eased. With only some steep sections higher up, we cruised through the final 4 pitches to top out at 12.45.

Jon, relaxed at the final belay

We’d only seen the lads behind us all day, and now on the summit found all the tourists that had come up from Fort William. Never mind, we left them at the half-way lochan and were back to the car at 4pm, after a very leisurely wander down. Home in the Lakes by 10pm! and another classic on the Ben filed in the memory under the heading “all time great routes”.