Colmcille Climbers - Ben Nevis Report. June 2000.

All of us had agreed that the 'Mountain Path' up Ben Nevis was too much of a trudge. Rab suggested we go up through Coire Léis [pic] and onto Col at the southern end of the Carn Mór Dearg Aréte and then up the North East Ridge of Ben Nevis. Bob and I agreed that it sounded a straight-forward plan. Depending on conditions, our options were to climb / scramble onto the Aréte from Coire Léis or cross the Allt a' Mhuilinn and go up Carn Mór Dearg and cross the Aréte to Ben Nevis.

"Will we take our ice axes and crampons?" says I. "Naw" says Rab, "there's no snow up there now at this time of year." "OK" says I. "What about a rope", says I. "Aye", says Bob "it might be useful."

So I packed a rope, a few slings and karabiners. At 6.30am Rab Kirkwood (Stirling) and Bob Welsh (Stirling) and myself woke for breakfast in the Glen Nevis Hostel. The weather forecast was for low cloud, rain at 2000 ft and snow on higher ground. The freezing level was above the summits. We headed up the Mountain Path to Meall an t-Suidhe. We then headed due North, past the lochain and gained the high path above the Allt a' Mhuilinn to enter Coire na Ciste. At such close quarters the gigantic cliffs of Ben Nevis's North Face were completely shrouded in cloud. It was hard to believe we were just below them but could not see them. Eventually we reached the CIC hut and took a break for lunch. All of a sudden the cloud lifted and we had a most fantastic view of the towering cliffs above us. The cloud lifted to expose 'Observatory Gully', the 'Douglas Boulder' and the 'Great Tower' of Tower Ridge' and the 'North East Buttress' [pic]. The close-up views were stunning. We headed up to the base of the 'Douglas Boulder' and found deep snow leading up 'Observatory Gully'. Lacking in crampons and ice axes we kick stepped our way up the main gully to get some photographs of 'Tower Ridge' [pic] and the NE Buttress. The snow was old but firm and held us very well.

After a bit of fun on the slope we descended to the edge of the NE Buttress and headed up into 'Coire Léis'. Scrambling over the huge blocks was fun and we had a superb view of the 'Douglas Boulder' [pic] . We made our way up to the small lochain in the middle of Coire Léis.. The map indicated a shelter on the 'Little Brenva Face' side of the lochain. However, the small lochain was frozen over and old deep snow barred the whole way and there was a cornice at the Col between the Carn Mór Dearg Aréte and the NE Ridge of Ben Nevis. I looked at Rab and said, "I think we should have brought our ice axes and crampons."

We considered our options. Rab said that the snow looked OK and we should stick to the plan. The other options would be taken if required. Having settled the matter, Rab led off. Not trusting the ice, we skirted the edge of frozen lochain. After about 100 metres, Rab fell through the ice and injured his ankle. We rested and I decided to lead. We kicked stepped our way up about 2/3rds of the face to a rock rib protruding from the snow and ice. The scrambling on this (see photo) provided a welcome diversion from kick stepping in the snow. The face now became steeper towards the cornice. I went out onto the face and managed to kick step a few good footholds. However, the higher up I got, the snow was thinner and the ice thicker. This was getting dangerous. I was about 15ft from the top when I heard a shout from Rab, my thin snow steps did not support his weight and he started to slide down the long slope. Fortunately, he managed to roll onto his belly and then grab on to a piece of rock. This arrested his slide. Bob was directly below me and I was precariously perched on thin snow. If I slipped, I was going to take Bob with me. If I could make it to the Aréte, I'd get a rope down to help both of then. So I decided that speed might get me up. I made a dash and thankfully made it to top of the cornice and onto the Aréte. Rab had managed to make himself safe on the rock and Bob had traversed over and down to him. I set up a belay on the Aréte and threw down the rope. In 10 minutes all were safely on the Aréte.

We decided at this point to take a well-deserved break. I made a mental note to always take my ice axe and crampons when on Ben Nevis. As visibility was poor we proceeded up the NE Ridge keeping to the rock at the edge of the cornice. About ½ way up the light rain had turned to snow and visibility decreased. We took compass bearings and eventually made it onto the summit plateau into conditions just short of a white out (see photo). Rab being the expert in navigation guided us to the trig point. Fresh snow was falling and covered the plateau. We decided to rope up at 25 metre intervals. To avoid the top of 'Gardyloo Gully' we headed off on a SW 231 (+6) degree bearing for 150m. Then to avoid the cornice and plunging depths of 'Five Finger Gully' we turned to a WNW 281 (+6) degree bearing. Rab's navigation was perfect as we came directly between the two cairns that mark the entrance from the Mountain Path onto the summit [pic] plateau. With much relief we de-roped and made our way down the Mountain to a well-earned dinner and a few drams of single malt in the Glen Nevis Hostel. We all agreed that the route was more than expected and it was an exciting day to remember on the 'Ben'.

Slan go fóill, Columba [Collection of photos from the day]