Sarah and I had wanted to do Tower Ridge in the winter for some time, and with a fairly decent forecast (no wind), coupled with the fact a number of teams had been on it over the previous couple of days made it a good plan for the day as gear should be easy to find and no need to trail break the whole way up, especially with the amount of snow around.
We cycled up the track and stashed the bikes, then walked on into the CIC hut. We could see some teams already high on the ridge nearing the great tower and thought they must have left very early! Sarah was suffering from blisters which was annoying for her as she really wanted to do the day. We stopped a few times on the walk in, to strap her heels up, then to unstrap them as she decided she was better off without the tape ultimately.
From the CIC hut we made our way into Observatory gully and gained the ridge via the walk across the easier angled snow slopes. We then soloed much of the easier ground, taking care as although the terrain is fairly easy, the consequence of a slip would be catastrophic.
We pitched sections we felt looked like they needed them and kept moving, making good time. The weather was still holding off and we had great views across the great glen.
We got to the eastern traverse and the weather came down, climbing in thick cloud, the temperatures were dropping as well. The eastern traverse itself was exciting, with a narrow ledge and down climb two thirds along but a good belays at either end made the moves OK.
From there its on around the corner, which in summer usually leads to a cave but this was well banked out by snow so we climbed over this and then took an interesting steeper line directly to the top of the great tower. From here its “just” Tower gap that separates you from the summit plateau. This was a great bit of awkward down climbing, not really knowing where the foot holds are and the snow was less than ideal for axes. Protecting your second across this is also tricky as you don’t want them exposed to a leader fall, be unprotected as they step out the other side or have massive amounts of drag.
We topped out of Tower Ridge into a lovely whiteout, quickly sorted equipment and then it was time to head off. With map and compass in hand, counting paces, we navigated safely off into the red burn before breaking off this to the main decent path as the angle and snow conditions were getting a but concerning, and in snow if there’s, there is no doubt!
Sarahs heels had been OK on the climb itself but the easier angled path proved pretty excruciating, so we took our time, returning back to the bikes, again extremely glad they were there. Then it was a short ride by torch light back to the van, tired but pleased, ready for a bath!
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