Looking down the Rok Finish to Hobgoblin on Number Three Gully Buttress on Ben Nevis. This steep pitch was climbed as a finish to a three-pitch VI,7 link-up of Babylon, Gargoyle Wall and the Rok Finish by Peter Flanagan and Ben Giles. (Photo Peter Flanagan)
Winter has returned with a vengeance to the Scottish hills and there have been a variety of routes climbed in the Cairngorns and on Ben Nevis. In the Northern Corries, Fallout Corner, The Message, Fingers Ridge and Sidewinder have all seen ascents, although conditions have not always been good, with some teams reporting poorly frozen turf.
Across on Ben Nevis, Tower Ridge and Northeast Buttress have been climbed together with high up ice routes such as Gardyloo Gully, Good Friday Climb and Tower Scoop.
The most innovative climb fell to Peter Flanagan and Ben Giles on April 20 who started up Babylon before trending left to join Hobgoblin and Gargoyle Wall. Above the Gargoyle Cracks, the pair took the Rok Finish to Hobgoblin, which was first climbed by Es Tressider and Rok Zalokar from Slovenia during the BMC Winter Meet in February 2007. This steep pitch is rarely climbed, and the route that Pete and Ben followed provides a very direct line up the cliff.
