Post Box Gully -Sgorr Ruadh

On Saturday the waether forecast was amazing and with the snowy and cold conditions of the last week it was decided to head to the North West as the more usual stomping grounds would be heaving. At Achnaschellach the ground was crisp and frozen and the snow line was about 600m. Everything looked very white and imposing against a picture postcard sky. The walk-in the Sgorr Ruadh was straight-forward on a well-made path, but thin smears of ice were present even at low levels. When we finally reached the snow we found it was not quite as good as expected, sometimes bearing your weight whilst a few steps later depositing you into several feet of powder. Under the insulating layer of snow the turf was unfrozen and we soon decided to back off Academy Ridge, our objective, in favour of something easier. Pox Box Gully, just round the corner seemed to fit the bill and I was soon engrossed in the first pitch, which involved climbing a rock tunnel behind a chockstone. Somehow I managed to get in a very good Warthog and summounted the very steep unconsolidated snow that barred entry into the cave. Due to the size of the chockstone very little snow had been deposited underneath it and the ice that was there was too brittle or thin to be useful. After a couple of false starts I hooked my way up to the top of the tunnel and squeezed through back out to the gully on top of the chockstone. In the gully the snow was deep and good to climb on. It was only on the steep sections, where you had to put force on your axes, that it began to fail. Kath, up from Edinburgh to get back into climbing, did a brillant job of seconding the pitch, but she left my Warthog in situ. Apparently it was my fault for placing it so well. All in, the first 40m had taken over an hour and if it didn't get easier above we were in for an epic. The next pitch was less steep and I quickly belayed 45m higher beneath an almost vertical wall of snow about 3.5m high. Once Kath came up and took over belaying I headed up and after floundering nearly to the top, a 1.5m section of snow slid off taking me with it. Kath by now had a sense of humour failure, but I was all up for having a second look. My falling had removed much of the snow and consolidated what remained. I was able to hook and scratch my way up over the bulging rock and completed the rest of pitch much more easily. At the top we came across footprints from our friends who had perservered with Acadamy Ridge. Kath again seconded with much more style than I could muster and lead off up following the footprints. It was now nearing 3 o'clock and I was getting worried as the guidebook mentioned meeting Acadamy Ridge. Did you meet the ridge where it was easy or below the harder section? If it did the latter we were stuffed. As I neared Kath's belay I could see a large rock tower up on the left. The footsteps, however continued straight up and on the sky line I could see our two friends waiting for us. Their lack of urgency and packed bags reassured me they had finished their climb. On my final belay I looked across to the Torridon hills in the distance and reflected on a climb that had pushed me physically and mentally.

As an aside I wore my heart rate monitor all day and to my surprise found out that I was working pretty much in my endurance training zone (70% of my max heart rate) all day. I didn't have the presence of mind to measure it during the route though ; ). Still, the 8 hour day should have done my endurance some good.