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Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Tower Ridge Ben Nevis Scramble
Outdoors Magic have just published a page about the Tower Ridge Scramble on Ben Nevis. It's a good piece with a couple of cracking photos, and worth a look if you want to get your juices going.
I've only ever attempted this once. Didn't know that the route up wasn't straight up the Douglas Boulder and kind of underestimated our time in that we didn't get to the bottom of the route until 2.30pm. By the time late afternoon came we were only 3 or 4 pitches up wondering how you could do an entire route like this in one day. Of course the secret would have been to bypass the Douglas Boulder but we were young and bombproof so there was nothing for it but to go straight up. We were lucky we did what we did and ended up abseiling down off rusty pitons when we realised that there was no way going to be enough light for us to even get to the top of the route, let alone down the other side. Plenty of people do get benighted on Tower Ridge, and it's not somewhere I'd favour over a pint in Ft William and a cozy bed. Back then I seem to remember Tower Ridge was given a rock climbing grade of Diff. Now it's talked up as a scramble, perhaps due to the reduced drop into Tower Gap. Whatever you decide to call it, it's still one of the longest hands-on climbs in the UK, perhaps the longest, and you need to be up there early to get it complete. In winter it is a full on mountaineering route, and should be addressed as such (alpine start?). And remember, once at the top you've got to come down the highest mountain in the UK (Ben Nevis Descent Bearings), so keep some time spare for that too. Posted by bigcrags @
10:32 AM
Comments:
Excellent information - very accurate description of a classic climb that should never be under-rated. I've posted a couple of pictures of the winter conditions - and this was on a good day! http://www.paperclip.org.uk/travel/climbing.htm << Home
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