A recess at the spiring scene, for nought was visible save the heathery foreground leading to snow wastes which might lead anywhere. The true climbing disciple follows the stream into the corrie, and there with halloes and echoes is guided to the foot of the great ridge; but we, a party of sceptics, my wife, son, and self, preferred to walk by sight rather than by faith. At last a break in the clouds and a ghostly pinnacle of startling steepness presented itself, only to be withdrawn. Again, higher up, another pinnacle and steep buttresses to the right. What are these? Never mind! these must be our goal; and so up over rocks and moss till we sat at the foot of our pinnacle. Then the clouds lifted, and across the corrie the ridge tempted us to come. But, faithful to our first love, we put on the rope at 1,700 feet, and essayed the ascent. On the left the wall rose sheer and I presume inaccessible. To the right the angle tapered off and access might be easy, but in front the possible routes were few and doubtful. left-hand corner led easily up for 20 feet, and showed splendid rocks and good holds but at a high angle. A ledge with apparently solid hitch of 4 feet high led to the right, the rope being put behind for security. The hitch, however, toppled over ere the corner was reached, and retreat was deemed wise. A few feet to the right a long chimney was entered, closed above with jammed blocks. Hitches were absent, so bringing up my son to the cul-desac, after some attempts an escape was made on the right hand (true) wall, and the party was soon merrily progressing on easier ground. Keeping always on the ridge to the left, sporting work was frequent, and even dangerous situations cropped up. Later the slope eases and the pinnacle concentrates itself in a Pic Robbieson, very steep and very narrow, but with just sufficient holds to justify the ascent. Loose rocks were frequent, and the dismissal of many tons at one point reduced the available holds somewhat. snow now became replaced by frozen turf or ice, and the afternoon wearing on, we thought to avoid the upper pinnacle rising to the left of the attenuated ridge, and hurry back ere night fell. A steep icy slope was below on the right, but our course to the cornice of the main ridge The seemed easy, and we spent some precious minutes in enjoying the superb views over to Glencoe. On now making for the summit, it was found that the way was barred by the icy holdless slabs of the upper pinnacle, and we must either descend the icy slope or include the pinnacle in our route. We had only brought a single ice-axe as the climb was intended to be a rock one, so we turned to the pinnacle itself, where only one possible route was visible, and elected to try our chances on the rocks rather than risk the steep slope below. In front a bulging cliff, and on the right a long steep slab, limited the ice and snow, and upwards in the soft snow was easy. Progress stopped, however, as one step and another revealed no bottom, and looking down a bergschrund, narrow but very deep, disclosed the snow bridge to which we must trust. Working along to the left where the bridge was still intact, careful holds were made above the crevasse, and slowly the body was wormed across and up till anchorage could be made. Above, the angle steepened greatly, and the snow merged into ice, which for the upper 6 feet reigned supreme. Below the bulging cliff a crevice existed between rock and ice, and served for safe anchorage of the party. Extensive clearing operations on the ice overlapping the rocks revealed no holds, and our hopes rested entirely on a finger grip about 5 feet above the ice. The top of the ice was cut for a toe-hold, and the ice-axe being left in the crevice as a hitch, the leader, not without difficulty, balanced on the ice, reached the finger grip, and was soon on a safe if narrow ledge. Thence ten minutes sufficed to land us on the top close to the main ridge. The hour was late, and rain threatened, so hastening to the head of the safe and easy gully to the east, we glissaded 950 feet without a break into the corrie, and were soon trudging down the boggy valley to our trap. This we reached at 7 P.M., arriving at Ardgour 8.15 P.M., and Fort-William at 9.25 P.M. To lovers of the beautiful this charming route may be recommended. Not only is the mountain itself of beautiful proportions, but the exquisite views of mountain and loch to the east tempt one to linger too long on the climb. The North-East Ridge of Aonach Beag had for years |