PACING UP & DOWN A VERY WHITE BEN NEVIS

Kris moving up along side the Red Burn

A HUGE amount of snow just past the Red Burn crossing on the Ben's Mountain Path

The vis was 'reasonable' here at 1000m

The vis here at 1100m was not

Summit views

Rimed up compass frequently today

With a poor forecast  it wasn't really a day for the CMD arête onto Ben Nevis. Kris was keen as mustard and told me beforehand he loves a challenge but we decided that just getting to the summit today by the easiest route would be a challenge in itself. We set off in the dry and even The Mamores were visible earlier in the morning. We reached the Red Burn and here there is an amazing amount of snow banked up just after the burn crossing. We took a more direct route straight up beside the burn. The wee waterfall here is completely snowed up too. After reaching 980m we were in a white out all the way. From here to the summit I paced the whole route in the worse nav conditions I have ever had on Ben Nevis. When we reached the summit I offered Kris the option of descending down the CMD, he politely refused! It was even more challenging descending as now the snow came on and the SW winds had picked up. Soon we were well and truly rimed up, continually de-icing my compass and goggles just to throw another challenge at us. In conditions like this I would always, always rely on my compass and mountain knowledge, not a GPS ( I don't actually own one). A great day out and well done to Kris on his first Scottish winter experience, he tells me the Polish mountains seldom get covered in cloud!