Scottish Ice Trip - Day 6 - the Secret

It's my last day in Scotland.
The week was exactly what I expected.
Weather changes very fast here.

Usually it is not sunny....
But I was
very impressed with the climbers.

People were out in every condition. They are just happy…
And they really like to climb. The ethics they have, it's just great. Style does matters here. They don't have the big mountains here, but they value what's important.

Just find your personal challenge.
Today we went out for The Secret : a famous route on Ben Nevis.
I didn't know what to expect up there. So Aljaz and I set off for the The Secret route. Aljaz leads the first pitch. He finished the first pitch quickly and I am soon off on the day's first adventure.

Hexentrics Stoppers, Bulldogs and all the other pieces of protection rest in their place on my harness.
All perfectly placed for quick deployment; I really want to climb it on the first go. I lead off on the second Pitch. It's a wide, vertical crack and very slippery with just a little bit of ice inside.

The moves are not that hard, but the fact you have to place your own protection makes the climb serious. That's what I was looking for. I have no more motivation clipping Bolts on overhanging drytooling routes.

Here climbing is different and it's just a great challenge! Thanks to Andy for suggesting this line. Back on the bottom of the Route I climbed the first Pitch again, this Time on Lead, I wanted to finish it in a good Style.

For me a perfect end to my quick trip in Scotland.
I will come back, and the next time I will bring my own Hexentrics, Bulldogs.......