Ben Nevis
Distance: 18.3km (11.36 Miles)
Ascent: 1526m (5007ft)
Duration: 5 Hours 37 Minutes
It was at work on Friday that I just decided to head up to Scotland to summit Ben Nevis as I had two days off and the weather was set to be superb. After enjoying Britain’s highest peak I headed to the lovely Glenfinnan.
Deer in the woods just next to the visitor centre near the start of todays walk.
Frosty start to the walk but look at how clear the sky is! Looking at the snow coverage up high I was happy to be carrying my Ice Axe and Crampons.
A view back to Fort William.
Sgurr a Mhaim (1099m) and Stob Ban (999m).
A close up of Sgurr a Mhaim.
Mullach nan Coirean (939m) across Glen Nevis.
And the same view but from slightly closer towards Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe. Anyone know how to pronounce these names?
More distant views now opening up as I climb higher than the nearby peaks.
A beautiful scene over the high mountain tarn to distant peaks miles away.
A panorama from about the 700m contour.
A stunning, almost alpine scene here in Scotland today. The snow was really icy at the moment and compact making it hard going - time to get the Crampons out!
A view down to Fort William. The mountains you can see in the far distance to the left are about 50 miles away.
Now... I've heard of people leaving a glove, or pole, or hat... but what about a top and a pole... How do people manage to do it?
Frozen cairn as I approach the summit. Around this point was the time I spoke to a gentleman from Wales who is currently in the process of completing the Munro's. As of that day he had done around 80 and had 3 months left to finish them. Good luck!
The summit observatory. The ditch cut around it gives an idea of snow depth.
The summit trig column.
A 360 degree summit panorama.
Schiehallion (1083m) 35 Miles away.
The island of Rum with the highest point called Askival as 812m.
The Cairngorms in the distance.
The north face of Ben Nevis. The cliffs plunge down 700m making them the highest in the country.
Sitting in the shelter for lunch.
All sunlit on this side now.
On the way up I only saw about 12 people, most of which were on the way down from a night up there (they were carrying tents) but on the way down I crossed about 100-150 people... and only about 8 of which had ice axes and crampons. The rest of them had either normal shoes or trainers on and were really struggling to make it up the snow as it was very compacted and icy... I dont know how many callouts the MRT had that day but after speaking to a local in Fort William they had 6 callouts the day before!
It was about 10 minutes before this photo was taken when I was stopped by a group of twenty-something (my age group) of four asking if there was any place they could get a drink from as they hadnt brought one with them... I know we get some silly people in the lakes but this seems to top them all!
Although I went up and came back down the same way the views were totally different today thanks to an early start!
Just when I thought I'd seen it all today when I cross a girl around 18ish walking up in Uggs! Slipping and sliding all over the place on the dry ground... Lovely view down Glen Nevis from here though!
And a lovely view back to Fort William.
Is it me or does everyone else think that 90% of these people should actually think about what they are doing? Or am I just getting to old too quickly!!
