With such a good forecast and a day free in the diary I was keen to make the most of it and go back to Ben Nevis to do some climbing. Hannah was keen, so we made a beeline for the short and sharp Jacknife (V,6) on the Douglas Boulder. The main pitch required a significant amount of clearing but luckily the snow was soft and brushed off readily without too much hacking with the axe. Its a hard route to grade, I thought it lies between IV & V but what matters is the climbing is superb and the position looking into the Ciste and Trident Crags is amazing. We finished up a busy SW Ridge, which felt very continental with all the ropes snaking everywhere. All parties managed to keep on moving without incident which was ideal.

Happy Hannah!

Starting up the second pitch

Hannah emerging from the corner

Hannah leading off up SW Ridge

Busy busy….

Quick descent down West Gully

James and Richard were next to us climbing Cutlass, a team climbed SW Ride, another did Faulty Towers. Dave A and Dave B climbed a very snowy Green Gully and lots of others looked to be enjoying the cracking weather. It looks like the settled cold spell will last into next week!