Today I was out with Wes and Kevin, who were keen to tackle one of the finest mountaineering routes in the UK, Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis. Both had a fair bit of hillwalking and scrambling experience under their belts, but the majority of scrambling they had both done had tended to be in the Lake District and North Wales, so as the clouds swirled around the coires as we made our way up towards the CIC Hut, they were clearly in awe at the scale of the north face of Ben Nevis, and in particular that of Tower Ridge.
We made good progress up the ridge, and were fortunate for the clouds to lift and provide some impressive views out towards Carn Mor Dearg, Aonach Beag and beyond. I've said it many times before, but these spectacular views are very hard to get bored of! We didn't hang around, and soon found ourselves at 'The Gap'. On Saturday, a substantial block came away from Tower Gap (details
here), which has led to the down climb into the gap being slightly trickier than before, and more importantly has loosened up a few other surrounding blocks in the gap, and now requires greater care than before. We did just that, and soon found ourselves emerging into the sunshine on the summit plateau.
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| Beyond the Gap |
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| The gravity defying blocks on Ledge Route |
As if scrambling 900m up was not enough, Wes and Kevin were keen to descend via Ledge Route, and in no time at all, we were back down at the CIC Hut. All in all, it was another fantastic day to be out in the mountains.
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| Ben Nevis this afternoon |
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