CMD ARETE, SUN, HAIL, SNOW



Mike enjoying the views of the NF Ben Nevis

Summit of Carn Mor Dearg

NE slopes of CMD

Still worth carrying an ice axe

On the arête and the cloud rolled in

High cloud despite snow and hail showers

Well done Mike, top of Ben Nevis

Best of the sun today

Over in the west this weekend and today I was guiding Mike from the Netherlands on the Carn Mor Dearg arete and Ben Nevis. The recent unsettled spell of weather was forecast to continue but despite a poor forecast we enjoyed a mostly dry day. Mike made great progress and we were soon on CMD with wonderful views and sunshine at times. Halfway across the arete and we got an hour of sleet, hail then snow but the cloud base remained high. We only saw 3 other folk before the summit of The Ben. On the top there was someone playing the cello! The snow on the plateau is shrinking slowly but in poor weather you'll still need to keep your eyes on the ball as its quite easy to stray into the Red Burn. Mike did well today, we were up and down in 8.5 hrs. He told me that today was as tough as when he climbed The Matterhorn!