First Winter Climb of the Year

Having just arrived in Scotland yesterday I was super keen to get out on the hill to see how things were looking before my first course of the season started on Wednesday. I managed to bump into John who was also keen for a look up on the Ben. After a few hours trudging up to CIC and then into Observatory Gully we noticed Hadrians Wall Direct was looking in good shape. This provided a few pitches of sustained steep ice followed by easy snow slopes and then a surprisingly steep finish which felt even more so with tired arms.