The Ledge Route and CMD Arete, Ben Nevis, 7th September, 2008

After a relatively early night, we left the bunkhouse in Fort William for the North Face car park and an 8-0-clockish start on the walk in to Coire na Ciste. See map.

You can just see (behind Stevie as he arrived at No 5 Gully) the rebuilding work still going on, even on a Sunday, on the CIC Hut.

Number 5 Gully, the way to the start of the Ledge Route, looked very different from when we saw it in June when there was still a couple of metres of snow covering the large boulders in the centre of the gully. Although fairly straighforward, the slab at the start of the route was very wet and slimy, though there are plenty of holds and cracks to help you across. After we used the rope, it was felt that we probably could've crossed it quicker without it! Still, it was good practice and gave us chance to think about how we would do the same in winter.

As you get higher up the route, you get great views of the Douglas Boulder and Tower Ridge. Stevie, Mark and Willy having a break on the grassy section before the scrambling starts again. You can make the route as easy or as hard as you like, especially on the short wall like section!

Gordon on the broader section above the "wall".

The final section is easy grade 1 ground up to the cairn marking the north-west summit of Carn Dearg. We then took a tour of the gully tops and buttresses, proving how easy even in broad daylight to confuse one gully or butress from another! As soon as we met the zig zags, we joined the masses en route for the summit. Stevie, Gordon, Mark and Willy enjoying the sun (but no view?) on the summit, before we set off for Carn Mor Dearg Arete. Unfortuneatly, the cloud came right down over the CMD so we didn't get the views of the Ben we had hoped for.

Of course, as usual, the cloud started to lift a little when we got back to the North Face car park!