I was out on Ben Nevis today doing a workshop run by Rich Bentley. We travelled around a good section of the hill.
Starting on the West side of The Douglas Boulder we headed up past the foot of Vanishing Gully and Italian Climb; up to the foot of Creag Coire na Ciste and over to the base of Number 4 Gully before traversing across under Number 4 Gully Buttress to join the ridge on it’s West side to gain the summit plateau. We then descended the top section of Ledge Route and traversed across the top of Moonlight Gully Butttress to regain Coire na Ciste.
Some rain on the walk in, falling as snow above the CIC hut. Winds seemed lighter than forecast. There’s a lot of snow high on Ben Nevis with some easier gullies that would often contain a step being completely banked out e.g. Garadh Gully. The older snow is generally firm. The recent snow is wet and should consolidate well with a frost, with the exception of very high up where there are some crusty areas that haven’t had a significant thaw.
