The often eyed but rarely tried (except by one or two very strong teams) crack on the right wall of Number 3 Gully, Ben Nevis had it's first ascent today. The strong team - Turnemater, Ashworth and Scott timed their raid from the South to perfection and experienced superb frosty conditions and great weather for the ascent.Ashworth described the "approach" pitch as harder than Sioux Wall and the main pitch, led by Andy, as much, much harder than Knuckleduster. The main pitch involved a mind-boggling array of axe techniques from double can openers to wacky arm hooks around tools to effect some kind of rest. This brutally sustained 35m crack pitch ranged from fist to finger width and was fully iced inside meaning the payload of large cams carried was for ballast only!The route was led entirely on-sight and in perfect style. A fantastic example of the traditional Scottish winter ethic and perhaps the hardest winter route in the UK led in this style. Discuss!
The main pitch involved a mind-boggling array of axe techniques from double can openers to wacky arm hooks around tools to effect some kind of rest.
I don't mind boggling; anyone fancy a game?
Up on Ben Nevis Ian Parnell, Guy Robertson and Mark Garthwaite did a very quick second ascent of The Secret (Andy Turner's line in Number Three Gully)
