Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg via Ledge Route

[Chirs]

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Munros: Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg
Date: Tuesday 9th March 2010
Weather: Splendid
Attendees: Just me
Time: 10 hours 30 minutes

Tuesday was forecast to be another cracking day, so I decided a trip to 'the Ben' was necessary . Ben Nevis was my first Munro back in 2005, though I went up the tourist route, and received no summit view . I now planned to rectify this, visiting the more interesting side of Ben Nevis, and hopefully getting a summit view. I intended to ascend via Ledge Route (winter grade II) and descend via the CMD Arete.

The path through the trees from Torlundy was quite icy, so I started slowly - I used my crampons when coming back down this at the end of the day.

Corpach and Loch Linnhe / Eil:


The path beside the Allt a' Mhuilinn was much better underfoot, though it was a long walk to reach the CIC Hut:


Here I had a snack and got out my spiky bits, ready for my attempt at Ledge Route. From the CIC Hut I headed west into Number Five Gully, to reach the start of the route. Ledge Route snakes out rightwards from Number Five Gully, traversing above Carn Dearg Buttress, before continuing up a ridge to reach the top of Carn Dearg on the Ben Nevis plateau.

Carn Dearg Buttress with Number Five Gully immediately to its left:


The first ledge, leading out from Number Five Gully to above Carn Dearg Buttress:


Route finding wasn't a problem, as there were plenty of reassuring signs of previous passage. The developing views were breathtaking .

Carn Mor Dearg and the North Face of Ben Nevis (Tower Ridge can be seen ascending from the bottom centre of this photo):


The Helicopter here provides a sense of the scale of the North Face:


As the first ledge peters out, a broad gully leads up to the next ledge, which allows continuation rightwards to reach the ridge leading up to Carn Dearg.

The view northwards was nice:


The initial part of the ridge section provided excellent entertainment. Heading up the 'gangway' in particular was great fun, if a little exposed (this could have been avoided on its right though).

Looking back at the ridge, with the 'gangway' seen in the middle:


Aonach Beag and the North Face:


The ridge then broadened out as it led up to eventually reach the top of Carn Dearg. I had a nice long lunch here to recover, before heading across the plateau to Ben Nevis' summit.

Looking back down the ridge:


Loch Linnhe / Eil from Carn Dearg (Ben Nevis' summit according to Griff Rhys Jones ):


Looking down Number Four Gully:


I was very happy to reach Ben Nevis' summit, receiving spectacular views in all directions . Lots of smiley faces were met while I rested - this day seemed to be very special for everyone lucky enough to be here. It was great to linger and watch the groups of climbers making their way up Tower Ridge .

Climbers topping out on Tower Ridge (more are below, on the side of the Great Tower, but are difficult to make out), with Carn Dearg behind:


I then made the steep descent to reach the Carn Mor Dearg Arete. Initially this was difficult to make out from above, though footprints reassured me that I was heading in the right direction. The Mamores to the south looked stunning .

Eastern Mamores:


Western Mamores:


Carn Mor Dearg, with Aonach Mor behind:


The North Face of Ben Nevis:


The CMD Arete was very enjoyable . This could well be the best ridge walk in Scotland - the only competitor I can think of is the Five Sisters of Kintail ridge. At the summit of Carn Mor Dearg I had another long sit down. This turned out to be longer than I expected, as my camera's batteries were dying, and required a lot of warming to eke out each photo . However, this definitely worked out in my favour, as it meant I was still at the summit to witness the sun setting behind Ben Nevis .

The summit of Ben Nevis:


Sunset behind Ben Nevis:


Loch Linnhe / Eil at sunset:


The first time a hilltop view brought a tear to my eye was on Skye's Sgurr na Stri. This was the second time it happened . Watching the sun disappear behind a snowy Ben Nevis is something I won't forget in a hurry .

The CMD Arete at sunset:


Now all that remained was the long descent, the even longer drive home, then work the next morning. Yee-hah!

Loch Linnhe / Eil from the descent back to the Allt a' Mhuilinn path:


I had now had my two best ever hill days, back-to-back, which was nice.

[WolfofBadenoch]

Another great report, with great photos from you.

Don't fancy descents in darkness till the snow goes though!
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[JimH]

Excellent photos again Thanks.

[Squiz]

Read the first with incredulity, then you pile day upon day. 11 hours, 10 1/2 hours and 10 1/2 hours, all amazing reports with photography to match. What do you eat? Must be good stuff.

[Irene]

Wow!! I am amazed at your photos but having done the CMD arete last summer I wouldn't have dreamed of doing it in the snow

[Verbal]

You are taking the piss now!

Thats a hattrick of routes I have marked for this summer, with me already set for the ledge route/CMD combination on the 5th June.

Stunning pictures, you make it look so easy under winter conditions. I think i need another few years of conditions similar to this year(will this ever happen again???) before I`m anywhere near ready for this. I struggled with 15ft of knife edge on Beinn a' Bheithir, so this is still out of my league!

How did you rate this for exposure between curved ridge and AE (I`m assuming you have done it)?

If you are looking for more, I can recommend Sron na criese, as its a fine scramble under summer conditions, so winter must be immense.

[dave]

Fantastic report
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Dave (terrier)

[Lochivroan]

Wonderful! What a fabulous day out! I am not surprised that you got so emotional: experiences like that are not given to many mortals.
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On a clear day you can see Criffel from here!

[fertg1234]

What can you say: perfection this has to be the ultimate collection of winter routes ,Curved ridge Ring of Steall and this

[Borderbagger]

What a trip you had. 3 absolute crackers. Very well done Chirs
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[terra_firma]

3 Wonderful reports, conditions were great too!

[Robinho08]

Your churning out some cracking TR's atm, this is another example.
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It's the great outdoors. It's fresh air! Doesn't it make you proud to be Scottish?

[foggieclimber]

Superb
I thought your Ring of Steall and Curved Ridge reports were great but the photos in this one are outstanding.

You certainly picked a great couple of days to take off and really made the best of them.

As for the question "what do you eat?"
Could that be Macduff pies?
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[AdrianL]

Nice one! It sounds like you've had a whale of a time on this trip. You lucky so and so.

I fancy Ledge Route myself, but not in winter conditions.

Much as I admire the photo of the sunset over the Ben, I think I'd have been a bit worried to still be that high up with such a long decent over snow in the darkness.
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All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be

[Cuillin]

Stunning and the courage you must have to do that on your own in snow is phenomenal.
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Being on the hills gives you a sense of where you are, where you've been, where you're going and why!