A LOVELY DAY ON BEN NEVIS

The team on the summit

The North Face of the Ben from Tower Ridge

Tower Ridge from the summit

CMD arete clear of snow

Ciste Corrie and Ledge Route

Beautiful late afternoon sun in Glen Nevis

Soft snow on plateau

Despite the big change in temperatures it is still lovely weather up here in The Highlands. In fact it's my kind of weather, not too hot and superb clarity of light in the northerly airflow. Today I was guiding a lovely group of 8 folk from Reading on Ben Nevis. Sunali and her friends had previously walked up Snowdon and Scafell Pike. They have now done the 3 Peaks over 3 years. Now that's the way to enjoy the hills rather than in 24 hours :) . There snow as now receded to the top of the zig zags. Despite the weather forecasts indicating below freezing on the summit, the snow was all very soft by the afternoon. We headed up in cloudy conditions late morning. Timed beautifully as the sun broke through the clouds by late afternoon and we savoured some glorious blue skies and warm sunshine. Very little breeze so it was a superb end to the day. Being a week day it wasn't very busy on The Ben, a good time to walk it this time of year. I think today it may be a lot busier.