LEDGE ROUTE & CMD ARETE

Upper reaches of Ledge Route

The narrow section

Ryan loving the scrambling

The cloud starts to break

The fun begins and The Ben is revealed

On the CMD arete

The North Face

Tony, Roy and Ryan were out with me today on Ben Nevis. Between them they had done plenty of exciting mountain adventures including Munros, Alpine ascents and Himalayan peaks. Roy has conqoured Mera, Barunste and even he's scaled the summit of an 8000m giant- Choy Oyu. They had all done the 3 Peaks Challenge 3 times but today they saw a different side of Ben Nevis. We headed onto the North Face and Ledge Route. This is a fabulous, easy scramble amongst stupendous scenery. Unfortunately we were walking in very low cloud earlier in the day. The clag was right down at the CIC Hut. Very warm, not a breath of wind. By the time we reached No.5 Gully we broke out into a clear layer of sky and at last those views revealed themselves. It was very atmospheric as we scrambled higher with layers of cloud swirling around us. The guys were keen for more fun so we descended via the CMD arete. Sadly this was all in thick cloud. It did lift on our way down and enough visability to see our route on The Ben. Top day, fun guys and finished off nicely with grub and a pint in the Ben Nevis Inn. When Roy took off his boots and found out he had been walking for 10 hours with no insoles! Brilliant.

Scrambling above the clouds

More scrambling fun

CMD and Ben Nevis

Rhodiola rosea (Roseroot)

Near the top