Alpine Day on The Ben

Ben Nevis in the early morning light.

Well I drove over at 6am this morning to see if I could catch the staff at PYB Scotland before they head out staff
training, mainly to say hi, and see whether it was worth me tagging along. As it was I teamed up with Stu
MacAleese who wanted a more mountaineering type of day, so we headed up Ledge route which was about grade
1 in the current condition and then headed down No. 4 Gully.

I had a few firsts today. Number 1 I actually saw the summit of Ben Nevis from more than 6ft away, secondly I had
my first Scottish Inversion, and thirdly I got sun on the summit. As well as a great mountaineering day, and I must
thank Stu for choosing such an amazing route, Stu also gave me some really good handy hints for me to work on
in the weeks leading up to my assessment. In particular a strategy to have a structured approach to answering
question posed on avalanche hazards. I will have to ask him if he minds me putting it up online, and besides I
want to have some time to practice with it.

We also saw, well help really a local lad Ski the No. 4 Gully, as the cornice was rather large so we had a good time
rigging a abseil for bth him and us. I will edit the clips I have of him skiing the gully and get it on line if I find the
time up here. Anyway I have a few photos to accompany this blog, I hope you like them.

Again thanks to Plas Y Brenin for the oppotunity

Looking out to the North. Truly Stunning
Stu Mac either at the Base of or Half Way up Ledge Route

More Looking North

Looking up across at NE Buttress, the CMD Arete and Beyond
Me at the top of the Ledge Route
Some surf hoar starting to form.
Stu Mac Abseiling over the Conice!
In case we didn't recognise it from the Top No. 4 Gully
Ron Greenwood from DMM enjoying the Ace Weather
Abseiling into No. 4 Gully
Intrepid Skier
Stomping down No.4

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *