Each to their own.

 The CMD Arete.

I don't intend writing blogs about all my days in the hills. In fact I am bit late for that having now been walking and climbing for well over 20 years, and not having blogged about any of them in that time pretty much, but last Saturday feels worthy of a few words.

The loose plan was first hatched on the Monday as the long range forecast looked good for the Saturday. Now that's almost a week away and in Scotland a lot can change in that time, but I Whatsapped Sheila to see if she was free at the weekend which she was, the plan was to keep an eye on the forecast and hopefully get a day out. Sheila had done well on Ben Ime and Narnain last week whilst suffering the effects of a chest infection which everyone would appear to have been afflicted with at some point this winter, so a good long day was on the cards. It was my first full weekend off since the New Year and I find it harder to drag myself away from me family when I have been working a lot, but I need the freedom the hills bring, the open spaces, the views, the headspace...and I wanted to make the most of a good forecast.

By Wednesday, the forecasters seemed to be having a wee waver, but Saturday still looked the better day of the weekend, so we nailed it down and that would be the day. I was very keen to get out and have a proper day as some snow had fallen on the hills by now and I was planning something in either Glen Coe, the Mamores or something around the Ben (Nevis that is). I also hoped that Sheila would be up for something a little more technically demanding. She romped up Curved Ridge and along the Aonach Eagach during the summer without any trouble so I know what she is capable of. I figured that Guy would maybe be quite keen, we have done the CMD Arete in winter before but he is always up for a day out and never misses the chance whether its the Ochils or The Ben so he was invited and as expected accepted and his seat in the car was booked. I Whatsapped my good friend Kenny, as he is home from Shetland, but unfortunately he had already committed to Friday night out having a few pints in Falkirk and then planned on catching up on some stuff that he cannot do whilst away working, it was a shame but we all have busy lives, he had also done both these Munro's and this creates a difficult dilemma for him, the hills or the pub.......each to their own. Tim was also asked but its a huge effort to get over from Aberdeen, so it was just the 3 of us. Two's company, but three would definitely not be a crowd on what I hoped we could do, The CMD Arete, arguably the best easy way up Ben Nevis.

We agreed to meet near Polmont at 5am, that's enough to put most off, but its over 2 hours to the North Face carpark, and in January the days are short. That gives us the best chance of getting the bulk of the route up and down done in day light. Guy and Sheila are super reliable and were waiting on me in the carpark at Klondyke. We quickly chucked all the gear into my car and were on our way just after 5. It wasn't the coldest morning and was actually a bit murky on the drive with a bit of fairly fresh slush on the roads around the Callander to Strathyre area, the roads demand caution when its around freezing so I was happy to take it easy this morning. It still seemed cloudy up around the Glen Coe area, the Aonach Eagach was silhouetted against the dark sky and Sheila commented that there didn't look to be any snow up there, but that's because a. it was dark, and b. the ground is very steep so often it looks very black from below but much different from above looking down. I was confident we would find snow. I asked both Sheila and Guy if they were definitely up for plan A, Sheila was complaining of a sore throat and sounded quite rough, her bugs had come back a bit, Guy hasn't been out in the hills much so now was the time to say if a shorter day in the Mamores was required, none of us are particularly fit just now, too many Christmas pies and chocolates and these pesky germs have taken their toll on us all. Its very tough to be the one who says that they would rather do something else or easier, but the question was and always will be a serious one, it's better to err on the side of caution but both agreed that they felt up for Ben Nevis.

We arrived at the already busy carpark at 7.30, sometimes you forget just how many people are out and about in the hills at this time of year. It was still dark, and also now cold, about minus 2'c. So we quickly got our boots on, scoffed a bit more breakfast, donned our head torches and set off up the path. Right from the kick off it was clear that snow had fallen last night, the trees had a nice wee covering and this made the initial slog up quite pleasant. There was not a breath of wind and the steam from the wood mill at Corpach was just heading straight up until it hit colder air where its stopped and spread out. I have seen this before on good days up here, but usually I have been heading for the cold shady side of the mountain, today I wanted to be in the sun. We made good time up and out of the trees and soon branched of the main Allt a' Mhuilinn path and onto the wide open slopes of Carn Dearg Meadhonach which can only be described as a slog. Its never particularly steep, but it is boggy and goes on..., and on..., and on.... Today it was partially frozen, it was drier to walk on but also quite treacherous in places, the heather at the side being the better option quite often.

Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis 

We consoled ourselves with the growing views of Ben Nevis which never fail to impress me and the sun starting to hit some of the hills behind us probably in the Knoydart and Glen Shiel area's. I took a couple of pictures on the way up here. I had elected to bring my DSLR camera and wide angle lens after a bit of humming and hawing. I had a rope and harness in the bag just incase and adding a big camera adds up to quite a heavy sack, I did seriously question whether it was worth carrying it today given the cloud we had seen on the road up. As we climbed up onto Carn Dearg Meadhonach a fairly hefty bank of cloud starts to envelop the CMD Arete and I hoped it was not going to linger or get worse. Sheila had now also slowed and was doing a fair bit moaning by this point but as ever she doggedly dug in and kept putting one foot in front of the other. We have been doing this long enough now to know its a marathon and not a sprint so slowing the pace a wee bit is highly beneficial and wouldn't add too much time to the day, in fact it can be the difference between success and failure. We had also overtaken a few people even though it felt like we weren't going very fast and kept a bigger party ahead of us well insight, we were doing OK!!

There wasn't a huge amount of snow so progress was easy but it still felt plenty wintry, others had shown the way and made a track through the shallow snow cover. I like finding my own way up snowy hills but today it was fine not to be first. We popped out from the shade into blazing sunshine as we arrived at the first summit Carn Dearg Meadhonach and what we saw in front of us was amazing, to the east Aonach Mor and its summit rib winter climbs of Golden Oldie and Western Rib,  climbs myself and Guy have done many years ago were illuminated by the sun, and a tongue of cloud was spilling from the Aonach Mor, Carn Mor Dearg col, looking like it wanted to just flow over the lip but for some temperature related issue it wasn't able to do so. The sun was also shining big and bright behind the teeth of the Carn Dearg Meadhonach east ridge, we now started to believe that we had cracked it weather wise....it was flat calm, no wind, the sun was blazing and we had a cloud inversion. It doesn't get much better than that. After taking some pictures and listening to a few more moans we finally arrived at the summit of Carn Mor Dearg and were treated to an outstanding view.


Everything south of where we were was covered in cloud with only the highest tops poking through. Had we gone to the Mamores we would have been in cloud for over 2 hours getting to the summit of our hill, whichever one it might have been. At the eastern end only the very top of Binnien Beag was poking out, and a the western end the same was true of Stob Ban, these are both mountains just shy of 1000 meters. The top 100 meters of Sgurr a' Maim could be seen. Behind this, The Bidean Massif was visible, and much further south the top the Lawers groups also stood proudly above the sea of clouds. The cloud wasn't far below us on one side of the Arete, but the northern side was totally clear. And finishing the spectacle Ben Nevis rose above it all in its pyramidal shape that only those who chose to climb it from this side ever see. It had taken us 4 hours to get to this point, but there had been no reason to rush, today will take as long as it takes, I have no objections to walking off the Ben with my head torch....in good conditions anyway.

We had a proper bite to eat here and a cup of tea then got ready for the next section of the day, the Arete curling its way around to the Ben. It doesn't look that long from this viewpoint but its a little deceptive. The snow was soft, and the traverse could be done either with or without crampons. Guy elected to not wear them,  Sheila and myself put ours on. I often feel a bit more secure on snowy rock with them on, you just need to be careful not to trip. The other option of not wearing them is that you really need to be careful not to slip... I am not sure which is worse, a slip or a trip, neither would be good here. Each to their own. Sheila and I also put on a harness and I had the rope at the ready incase it was required, I doubted we would need it but better prepared rather than not. We descended the first section and then scrambled our way along the ridge, It is probably at its trickiest just now,  a bit more, and better consolidated snow would make it easier, but its never difficult, however it is quite exposed in a few sections and concentration is required the whole way. Sheila had a crampon issue at on point, one actually came off. I need to get a look at them as that could have serious consequences if it happened at the wrong moment. Sheila was tiring by the end. The continual concentration, the effort and perhaps being slightly under the weather were all taking their toll. The views the whole way round were stunning and a few wee breathers were taken whilst I snapped away trying to get that great shot. Guy of course, just romped along, enjoying himself as ever, helping and encouraging Sheila when required.

We reached the end of the ridge and took off crampons and then Sheila realised the enormity of the next stage...the 300m slog up to the summit of the Ben which is steep. Any thoughts of escape into Coire Leis were quickly dispelled, its a steep loose slope to get in there and the snow over the boulder field would have been horrendous. Better and safer to cross the summit, as we started to climb we were really grateful of those who had gone before us and broke the trail, the snow was quite deep over the very bouldery slope. I'm sure we all have different ways of dealing with this type of slog when already tired, breaking it into tiny sections and thinking about how that 10 meters climbed is 10 meter less to climb is my way, we probably all break it down in a similar manner, who knows. Sheila likes a timescale so a rough guestimate was given and again she just plugged away at it and with the occasional breather and minor moan was soon smiling like a kid in a sweet shop when she could see the summit shelter and trig point. It was cold up here, no wind but definitely well below zero. We congratulated each other and took the obligatory summit photos at the trig point before again having some food and getting on another layer. We watched some people on Tower Ridge, I don't think it would be a pleasant experience at the moment, it needs more snow and also some consolidation, there were many people between the Eastern Traverse and Tower Gap and another  party who were still way lower down and would definitely be finishing the route by head torch. We decided it was time to go and headed away west and down from the summit. The pony track was by far the best option today, there is not enough snow on the bouldery slopes or in the Red Burn area to make short cuts possible.

Ben Nevis summit shelter.

We meandered our way down the zig zags watching the sun slowly sinking in the west. It was a fabulous easy descent although the path was quite icy in places and a slip on the rocks could cause a serious accident. My climbing partner some years ago slipped on the descent landing full weight on a rock, he was lucky not to break anything but the bruise which appeared on his thigh was very impressive. We chatted to a couple of older chaps who had climbed Raeburn's Easy Route, a grade II winter route. One of these guys was at least mid 70's which is great to see and fills me with hope that I can still be enjoying the hills when I am that age. They did however comment that Raeburn's was "not so easy" today given the generally very lean conditions on the mountain. It's still very early season for Ben Nevis ice routes and they will improve over the next couple of months.

Sunset by the half way lochan.

We headed down past the end of the half way lochan and then down towards the forest, again the heather was the safest option here, a slip on any ice patches could be painful. We reached the forest thankfully, and continued our descent,   by now it was almost head torch time. Guy succumbed first and saved both Sheilas and my battery's for another day. I am sure he could have managed without it (just!!). It had been a great day, and we were all pleased with our decision to do this route, sometime you really just need to go for it. Sheila had recently climbed The Ben by the Pony Track and commented that by the time they were at the top she was pouring the rainwater out her jacket and trouser pockets, I had tried to tell her not to do the Pony Track but she did it to accompany a friend to the summit, for some the tourist route is the only way and a real achievement, but in my opinion this mountain deserves better, Each to their own however. Our route to the summit was not the easiest nor the hardest by any stretch of the imagination, but it was what WE wanted to do on this day, and as long as we are ALL enjoying ourselves that's all that matters. Each and every one off us to our own. We drove down the road happy people, I was not tired on this drive which was good, I often am these days for some reason. My sons Callum and Logan were both in bed by the time I got home, hopefully they had missed their dad a little bit at least, I certainly missed them, however I am optimistic that one day they will accompany me and understand what I am doing climbing these hills and understand why I love it so much. And with any luck they will enjoy whichever route we choose to reach the summit. It was nice to be home, relax and share my story with Joyce and Auntie Allison over a beer, a well deserved one at that.

The Eastern Mamore's poking above the clouds.