Saturday 2 January 2010

An Steall Ban again





The name means 'The White Spout' and after the fun I had yesterday who was I to deny Gareth and Ed the same today. Despite a pre-dawn start we could see a dozen head torches on and below the first pitch as we approached (that'll be my fault for posting conditions reports then ;-). Fortunately I seemed to know many of them (even the paddlers more used to being on a waterfall with a boat strapped to their bum and a paddle in their hands) and everyone was being considerate and taking great care to dislodge a minimum of ice on each other. We chose a line well to the right of the other parties and despite it being their first time on ice the lads romped up. We chose an abseil tree well clear of the other descending climbers and then walked off. Although conditions on the climb seemed pretty similar today to yesterday the ice on the pool at the base showed evidence of the thaw during the morning. A second wave of climbers were on there way up as we packed and a third wave was arriving! A good freeze is forecast tonight though so I reckon the route has a few days left yet.

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