Jonathan Preston on the first ascent of the new Independent Finish (IV,5) to The Sword on Carn Etchachan. This was thought to be easier than the original finish, although the start of The Sword remains V,5 and the route is VI,6 under powder. (Photo Andy Nisbet)
Today (December 13), John Lyall, Andy Nisbet and Jonathan Preston added an Independent Finish (IV,5) to The Sword on Carn Etchachan.
The Sword climbs the ramp of Red Guard (summer), then leaves it to finish as for Red Guard (winter). Instead, the trio continued up the ramp to its top and finished up the summer line of Red Guard out right.
“This was more than a tidying up job and resulted in a logical finish,” Andy told me. “Climbing the ramps of The Sword on consolidated snow and finishing by an exposed but surprisingly easy line of weakness was excellent, but most of all it was a gorgeous day walking back across the plateau on good hard snow followed by a bright red sky when the sun set.”
