On December 5, Liam Campbell, Macauley Wood and Jamie Whitehead visited Creag Loisgte on Ben Lawers and made the first ascent of Lucky Sunday Arete (III,4). Creag Loisgte lies on the south flank of the south-west ridge of the mountain and is well seen when approaching Ben Lawers from Beinn Ghlas. The main feature is a Balcony Rib (III), a narrow-crested ridge near the west end of the crag, which was first climbed by Graham Little in April 1992. The same day Graham climbed three gullies to the right although it is possible they had been climbed before in the 1980s. Lucky Sunday Arete lies left of Balcony Rib and is a fine addition by the Glasgow-based team. Liam takes up the story:
“We left Glasgow later than normal on Sunday and during the drive we were debating where to go with such a short day. I threw Ben Lawers into the mix as I knew there were a few decent gullies. On a previous walk up the Munro I’d seen a fun-looking line, but I think Macauley took some convincing! On the approach to the crag when we were looking for a safe exit from the gullies due to the amount of powder collected in them, I noticed a cracking looking corner above a low turf ledge. This led to a narrow ledge above the gully to the face of a short arete. All in all, it gave a short but extremely fun route with the sun setting behind us. It was one lucky Sunday!”
