Ledge route on Ben Nevis was my 4th ascent of the year on the mountain which is not bad considering its only the 4th January. With warmer temperatures there was a bit less slippery frost on the walk in, with audable ice fall coming off the cliffs. Todays focus was on mountaineering ropework, looking at short roping and moving together, with all the intricacies of good rope grip, where the rope goes, good natural belays and body positioning. We did wear crampons on Ledge

Ledge Route on Ben Nevis was the choice today, and what a difference from yesterday with the weather. Cold, blue skys and some snow falling as well. The focus today was on mountaineering ropework, to add onto the rope work we covered yesterday. There was a heavy frost from about the height of the CIC hut and whilst on Ledge Route we even had some snow fall which made the ridge look more wintery. With the decrease in temperatures the remaining slushy snow in the gullies

Today i was on Ledge Route, Ben Nevis on a stunning Autumn day. It was more like a summers day with warm temperatures on the summit and bright sun all day. We had the north face to ourselves and a handfull of people making their way up the main mountain track. #bennevis #ledgeroute #fortwilliam

Today i was on Castle Ridge on Ben Nevis with Ron for his second day out. And what a glorious day. Cold and sunny all day with a few snow flurries, the autumn colours have definitely started. We made good time getting to the base of Castle Ridge and started our way up. The rock was greasy all the way which needed careful footwork. Once over the difficulties we then decided to make our way to the top of Carn Dearg and then descend Ledge Route back to the CIC hut for a

Today i was on Ben Nevis via Ledge route with Lindsay from Canada. The weather was cold but dry which made a good change. Once above the CIC hut we hit the snow line at about 1000m with a good solid dusting up most of Ledge Route to the summit. The snow line was just low enough to be around the CMD arete level and starting on the little tower on Tower Ridge. Once on the descent the temperatures quickly rose and it became autumn again but around the summit we did have a

Today i was on Ledge route, Ben Nevis with my older brother and sister. Its not often that you get 3 Buckett's together and today we filled up with rain. The weather was very wet and windy and the alpine start didn’t really help beat the worst of it. The windest part of the day was walking up to the CIC hut and then on the summit plateaux with Ledge Route being wind free. Chris and Gillian did well on their 1st mountain scramble and achieved their goal of getting to th

With a brighter forecast today i was up Ledge Route on Ben Nevis and then descended via the CMD arete, ticking off the second munro of the day, Carn Mor Dearg. The ladys did well on Ledge Route and it was a good challenge for them being sheltered from the southerly winds. We then briefly joined the masses at the summit of Ben Nevis before descending the boulder feild to start our second ridge of the day. #bennevis #Cmdarete #Munro #Ledgeroute

Ledge Route on Ben Nevis was a very wet outing today with Finin and her family and friends on day 2 of their Scottish adventure. With a quick walk into the CIC hut it was a good test of everyones waterproofs. The team did well on a blustery ridge but still with good views with the high cloud cover. Meanwhile Andrew was with Gareth in Glen Coe on Buachaille Etive Beag ticking off another 2 munros. #ledgeroute #Bennevis #Glencoe

The CMD arête on Ben Nevis was Pauls’ goal today and it was perfect weather for it. We made good progress up to the summit and Paul skipped along the classic ridge. With time in hand we decided to descend down Ledge Route rather than the main path, making for a classsic horseshoe. The summer alpine flowers are doing well after the long harsh winter with the rare Sibbaldia all along the Ledge Route path. Moss Campion The rare Sibbaldia #bennevis #Cmdarete #Ledgeroute #Mun

Today i was on Ledge Route, Ben Nevis with Murat.  With a bit of a windy walk up to the CIC hut we geared up at the base of No. 5 gully which is still complete with snow.  From there we entered the gully and over the slab, which is still a snow slope. Once on the ridge propper there is about 20% snow cover with the rest in summer condition, but having an axe in the hand was, handy, with big snow slopes still leading off from the ridge. We then summited Ben Nevis and descended

Ledge Route on Ben Nevis today with Adrian for his Everest prep.  We focused on good footwork on steep snow slopes in ascent and descent. There is a lot of snow on Ledge route providing a simple mountaineering route, today did require a few kneeling positions against the gusts. A short fight against the wind on the plateaux brought us to the top of Number 4 gully.  Firm snow most of the way down but a few rocky sections starting to form. Ledge route Approach to Ledge Route Th

With a less than favourable forecast we headed up towards Ledge Route which turned out to be very sheltered from the SW winds.  Once on Carn Dearg we got blown around and there was just enough snow to descend No. 4 gully to near the lochan. The hardest part of the day was walking back down the path from the CIC hut against the wind. Ledge Route Top of No. 4 gully Into the corrie #ledgeroute #Bennevis #Number4gully #Winter