Last Friday there was lots of ice on the classic climbs on Ben Nevis but by the end of Tuesday, after continuous heavy rain at all levels all day, it was basically all gone. It snowed during Wednesday and we had some more today but it is thawing again tonight. Tomorrow and the weekend will be colder with some snow and strong winds.
The big easy gullies are full of snow. Tower Gully, Number Two Gully, Number Three Gully, Number Four Gully and Number Five Gully are all complete with snow and the snow cover continues down to the lochains in Coire na Ciste.
The great ridges have little old snow on them but they do have fresh snow and some verglas on the rocks. NE Buttress was very nice on Wednesday but there is no build up of snow or neve to usein the climbing.
The steep mixed routes and buttresses are not currently rimed up but they might be at the weekend.
The ice gullies need to rebuild from scratch. The ground is cold though and there is plenty of water in the rocks to form ice with so this could happen quite quickly.
Happy climbing.
Mike Pescod
http://www.abacusmountaineering.com/
http://www.facebook.com/abacusmountainguides 
