Anyway, (sorry I got distracted for a moment there!) after one further distraction of being offered a job mixing concrete for the rebuilding of the CIC hut (Ben Nevis’ mountain hut) on account of my high altitude spadework prowess, I got down to business.

I worked moves, got cold, found a way to hang upside down just before the crux and generally made exciting progress. But less progress was made in finding a decent runner on the thing. There were four wires under the roof right before the first crux, all in these weird down-pointing teeth of rock. I had convinced myself they were pretty good, but on returning to the climb, one of the placements had broken off and disappeared all of it’s own accord. I wondered if the others may emulate this behavior with the weight of my earthward hurtling body applied to them? The final piece here was quite amusing, the largest camalot, in a super shallow slot. The idea was that it would actually hold, but the slightest movement seemed to make it fall right out of the slot. Shame really, because it was the first runner on the rope, and well placed to KO my belayer right when I really wanted them to be fairly responsive.

None of this really mattered. The route was all about the top crux. I fell several times here trying to link it on the toprope — just too pumped. This was well out of range of any gear that would hold a fall. So for me, a lead would be do or die, nice and simple.

With the progress I was making I was anticipating the day might arrive sometime in late June, But as soon as May was out, the spring and summer editions of the rainy season arrived right on top of each other. I camped out under Sky Pilot for the whole of June and most of July, getting fit, frustrated and then fed up.

But a nice trip to Lander, Wyoming to give a climbing talk was just the ticket. I ate big steaks, met lots of great people, and got time away from the box I’d put myself in. So by the time I got home, was chomping at the bit to jump right back in.

Despite the big steaks and pancakes, I was light and fit when I returned from the US and Canada and another few days on the route brought the lead day around. I’d spent a lot of time getting ready to lead the route, mainly justifying the risk of it to myself. To climb such a special route in one of my favorite and most inspiring places in the world was indeed worth a risk. What was the alternative? Pass up the opportunity because of the risk of something going wrong. You only get one life.