Ben Nevis, Mountain Track

Arctic desert conditions on Ben Nevis today.  With strong winds, cold temperatures and a lot of snow being blown around, proved for tricky conditions.  

The mountain (and a lot of Scotland) has turned into an ice desert with the recent cold spell: lots of snow in the air but very dry on the ground and in the atmosphere, with little snow actually settling.

These conditions have resulted in rock hard neve from just below the half way point, with continuous ice cover all the way to the summit, with little to no visibility. 

The summit

Hydration beard

Half way up

Team at the start  

#bennevis #Winterskills #Fortwilliam