Finishing in the sunshine.

It was slightly drier today so a few more teams headed up Ben Nevis in search of ice to climb. With the options becoming a bit limited now after steady slow thaw Paul and I found quite a few people at the foot of Hadrian's Wall Direct and Sickle. So we went for plan B which was to climb Tower Scoop so Paul could lead a pitch and try out his new DMM Pivot belay device (handy for my new skinny ropes). The freezing level was higher than forecast and there was water dripping off all the ice but it was still very good fun to climb.

The traverse over to Indicator Wall from Tower Scoop is steep and serious but we made it across and climbed the left side of Indicator Wall which was stepped and a little broken to start but just got better and better the higher we climbed. It was nice to climb next to Guy and Alan on the right hand version. As we stepped over the cornice the cloud sank to just below the summit of Ben Nevis and we were blessed with warm sunshine and staggering views. This might be the last ice climb for me this winter (hopefully not but I've got a couple of weeks holiday coming up over Easter) so it was very nice to finish on such a high note with the highest belay in the country and in the sunshine too.