Had an enjoyable day guiding an ascent of the West ridge of Buttress #4 on Mt Buller with Charlie.

We began directly up the buttress following the bolted 5.8 route called "Running of the Buller". Approach from the left side of the buttress on a trail along the base of the cliff (15 min). Start on grey rock 10 m left of an old tattered rope hanging in space on steep yellow rock. This newer route still has a fair bit of loose rock around it, and requires care while climbing, but finds an enjoyable line to travel on and finishes right on the West ridge. We climbed it as 10 shorter pitches to minimize rockfall.

From here we switched to mountain boots and carried on directly up the West ridge to the summit. Several parts of the ridge are quite narrow with very limited protection options and shattered rock, however the positions are quite aesthetic. After a 15m rappel the final "Boot Crack" pitch is memorable and quite unique. The route is dry and in good condition.

Nine draws/slings are needed for the "Running of the Buller". The rest of the route had limited gear placements but we used cams from a 0.3 to 4 Camalot and a few small to medium nuts. The 2,3 & 4 Camalots are very nice for the "Boot Crack".

The descent is an easy scramble down gullies on the East side to Buller Creek and is free of snow. It finishes with a nice hike back to a stashed bike.

The upper part of the scramble route to the main summit of Mt Buller is also snow free, while the NW gully approach from the road to the col remains mostly snow covered. The East side scramble approach appeared snow free but we did not observe all of it.