A Wild Weekend on the Ben! 12th & 13th April 2014

On Saturday I was working for Atlas Mountaineering, guiding Kelly and Lauren on a very wet and wintry Ben Nevis.  Conditions on the day were very varied with heavy rain and hail/snow showers and visibility varying from beautiful views over Loch Linnie and the surrounding area to complete whiteout and less than 4m visibility at times. With the exception of the Redburn path junction, the mountain is free of snow until half way up zig zag number 4.  We stopped here in some pretty high winds and dawned crampons and ski goggles and were soon on the off again.  At the top of the zig zags a strange phenomenon occurred, although there were 20+ people around, they only seemed to move when I moved, stopped when I stopped, staying a pace or two behind my group, all very strange indeed.  Despite this Michael Jackson Thriller style precession following us, we continued to the summit and enjoyed a our lunch within the shelter there.  A quick descent enabled us to thaw out and even treated us to some beautiful views of Glen Nevis.  A good, but very challenging day was had by all.  Yesterday I was working for Adventure Nevis, guiding Rachel and Jonathan on the Ben track. Rachel and Jonathan had climbed Snowdon 2 days prior and Scafell Pike the day before. With the weather being more consistently poor and windier than the previous day and they guys feeling a bit tired after previous adventures, we decided to call it a day at the Redburn path junction.  We returned back down the Ben track to the Ben Nevis Inn for hot chocolate and coffee whilst going over some basic map and navigational skills.  With both of them vowing to return and climb this beautiful mountain in better weather, I have no doubt they will achieve this summit in the near future!

There is a lack of photographs on this blog entry because the weather was well and truly minging.

26.12.13 - Ben Nevis on Boxing Day!

Today I headed up Ben Nevis mountain path with Noufel.  With the weather being as wild as it had been the past few days, we fully expected that standing on the summit maybe a tad optimistic, but to our surprise it turned out to be a very good day (even had some sunshine!).  Some good indication of good ice forming and areas of the half way lochan frozen over.  A very enjoyable day on Scotlands highest mountain was had by all.

Noufel enjoying views of Glen Nevis

some ice on formed on the lochan from zig zag one

visibility came and went most of the day!

Noufel on the Summit

sunshine on descent

this is why I love my job

06.09.13 Ben Nevis mountain path with a twist

Today I was working for Mountain and Glen on a Ben Nevis ascent.  The group this time had opted to do a three peaks challenge with a bit of a difference.  Instead of trying to bag all 3 in 24hrs as is the usual, they had opted to climb all three while cycling between them!  Bearing in mind these guys had a long cycle from Ben Nevis back to Kinlochleven, I decided to choose a more scenic and leisurely approach to guiding on the Ben today.  We cut off the beaten track after the half way point and the team enjoyed stunning views of the North Face before reaching the summit and back to Glen Nevis.  A great day on the mountain with everyone in the group reaching the summit!  Great effort guys!

scenic views from the top of Coire na Ciste 

the team on the summit