UKC

How many do you need? Looking at going to do it this week since it's looking in great nick. Me and my partner have 5 between us. Will this be too few? Is it screw belays or rock belays. Don't mind running it out if it's rock belays, but don't fancy using just one or two screws on a pitch if it's ice belays!! :/

In reply to CharlieMack:

Most belays are rock/insitu tat on old pegs.
I did it with 5 screws and it was fine.
I think there was one belay before topping out that i used a screw and axe for when we did it.

In reply to CharlieMack:

Probably not much help but it depends on the conditions! When I did it the only ice to offer reliable screw protection was on the first pitch. After that the ice was lovely and chewy for climbing on but only a handful of screws were decent, so it felt quite straight forward technically but was fairly serious. First two belays consisted of some tat poking out of the ice backed up with a couple of screws. Belays in the upper section were ice screws. The tricky pitches are quite short so you don't need heaps of screws, 9 or 10 maybe? Hopefully someone who has climbed it recently will be more help!

In reply to CharlieMack:

I done it about 2/3 weeks ago and didn't place any rock gear, all gear was on screws and most belays as well. There is a couple of bits of tat at the end of P1 and 2 but you'd probably want to back them up with screws (they were just sticking out of verglassed rock).

5 screws is probably fine if you don't mind running it out a bit and totally trust the tat at belays, personally I wouldn't and felt happier with 7-9 ice screws.

In reply to MrRiley:


Crikey - so what would you consider to be *heaps* of screws?