Just recovering from a late night return from the Alps today and taking a look through the photo's.
I'd hoped to put a bit more into my camera work on this trip, but I was too tired to do anything but snap ! my climbing partner Rob, however, got some good shots.
We were very lucky with a three day weather window to give us reasonable conditions for our route on the big north face of the Grande Jorasses. We made good progress on the moon lit approach through the deep crevasses of the Mont Maller glacier to below the Petite Macintyre, and we were well established on the ice by the time the sun was picking out the summits.
The route was long and tiring with burning calf muscles after 8 hours of front pointing, and although I wanted to descend the Hirondelles Ridge to get back to the hut, we decided to abseil back down the route - a good decision in the end as we were able to follow our tracks back through the crevasses and avoid the stress of unknown ground after a long and tiring day.
The fresh snow on Thursday gave the Cuillins an Alpine feel for Steve and Jim's introduction to the ridge on Friday and led to a genuine feeling of excitement for their attempt on the traverse. After stocking the camp, we had an early start on Saturday to allow for a steady pace, and we made good progress until the Inn Pinn - given it was a Bank Holiday and good weather, we shouldn't of been surprised by the number of people wanting to climb it, so we joined the que and waited our turn. We managed to get to our bivvi site and to enjoy a well earned meal before the weather deteriorated and we were tucked up warm and cosy during the worst of it. Another early start was rewarded with some splendid views and a fantastic feeling of having the Cuillins to ourselves - it was only near the end before we saw anyone else on the ridge. Some things are worth the effort and it was with a real sense of achievement that the guys finally stepped onto the summit of Sgurr Nan Gillean and the end of the adventure - well done guys!
