Indicator Wall (V,4), Ben Nevis

Temperatures were warming up but there was still good freeze-thaw conditions reported high on the Ben. Florian and me headed for Indicator Wall. White-out conditions prevailed as we blindly bashed up Observatory Gully. We couldn't see any crag features and even Tower Scoop went unnoticed. High in the gully we spotted some climbers to our left where we anticipated Indicator Wall to be. We shouted out what route they were on. Satanic Versus came the reply so we were in the right area. We bore left from their stance and soon found our route.

Both the regular and right-hand versions of Indicator wall looked in good nick. We opted for the classic regular line. We swung leads up the ice with me leading pitches two and four. The first pitch felt steady for V. Difficulty increased during the second pitch, which involved a short traverse right in order to gain a weakness through steep ground. The ice was brittle but easy to protect. The difficulties eased back on the third and fourth pitches. The top-out on the summit of Ben Nevis offered a grand finale with me belaying Florian off the summit cairn.

Climbing the final pitch of Indicator Wall
Belaying off the summit cairn

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