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Ben Nevis. 17th June 2000. Kieran Gallagher The rain god of the Ben was not in good form on Saturday, to be honest he really took the pisce. We had a later start than planned (what can you say when she grabs you by the tackle and pulls you back into bed?) Upon leaving the main car park you had to fight your way through the thousands of charity climbers doing the Ben for a good cause. After passing the lochan the cloud level dropped to about 1500ft, by the time the Douglas boulder was reached a bone saturating drizzle was falling and the bottom of the Douglas gap could not be seen clearly. After some scrambling around on extremely greasy rock the start of the route was discovered and the Douglas chimney was more like a sluice. I, who was keen to do this route for a long time was not willing to attempt it in such miserable conditions and especially with the responsibility of having a novice as second (i.e. Tracey). There would have been no joy in attempting such a classic route in this weather, and as I am in Scotland every second weekend there will be many more opportunities when the God of the Ben will be more kind. Walking back the way we had come in via the lochan, visibility had dropped to less than 15ft and it became a real navigation exercise to find our way back to the tourist path. Driving through Glen Coe that evening the Curved Ridge & Crowberry Tower were bathed in glorious sunlight, the Gods are indeed cruel. |