I gate-crashed Al's work day today, (thank you for that) and accompanied him and Gordon in order to get some more mileage for MIC consolidation. The East Ridge of Stob Ban gives a lovely mountaineering day out at about grade II; nice exposure with pleasant scrambling on generally good rock. We noted quickly that there were bits and pieces of ice surprisingly low down, so we took the opportunity to climb a reasonable pitch of grade III ice on the way to the base of the ridge.
Many aspects are quite scoured and where there are deep pockets of snow it continuous to the ground underneath i.e no layers. High in the corrie there is old snow evident and this also is mostly wind scoured.
Descent was by the North Ridge with it's short scrambly section. I think we were in the right place weather wise; good visibility, only a couple of hail showers yet further to the west the skies frequently looked very dark. Gordon performed admirably as always. All the best, hope to see you soon.
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