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A great day in Scotland today for our ascent of Ben Nevis via the CMD Arete.
We set off from the North Face Car Park at 10am and climbed the steep forest paths to meet the track above the trees, climbing the slopes towards the summit of Carn Mor Dearg, as we approached the summit the clouds came in and we were caught in a blizzard for a while, we stopped for our sandwiches just below the summit and by the time we were ready to move on the weather was fast improving.
We crossed the CMD Arete in good time, the winds were strong to start with but as we progressed along the ridge we were in the shelter of The Ben.
There were few views from the summit of Ben Nevis today, we didn't stop for too long and were quickly descending the zigzags below and dropping off down over the heathery slopes back down to the forestry land and the North Face car park.
May 12, 2012
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A great day on Ben Nevis today, climbing via the CMD ridge.
We set off at 10am climbing the tourist path but turning off after the first hour onto the path leading to the CIC Hut. After a short break at the CIC Hut we climbed the steep slopes of Carn Mor Dearg, reaching the summit for a well earned lunch break.
From Carn Mor Dearg we followed the arete, a wonderful ridge traversing the head of the valley above the CIC Hut, this ridge brought us to the final climb to the summit of Ben Nevis.
As we approached the summit of Ben Nevis the rain came in from the north west, bringing with it patchy cloud on the summit, the rain continuing on and of as we descended the tourist path back to Glen Nevis.
August 6, 2011
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A very wet weekend on the 3 Peaks Challenge today, some of the worst weather I have ever faced on the 3 Peaks.
We set off from Glen Nevis at just after 5pm, for the first few minutes we were not wearing waterproofs, this would be the only time for the entire weekend we wouldn't be in quite heavy rain.
From ten minutes in tough the rain started, very heavy at times as we climbed in good time to the summit of Ben Nevis, making good time we reached the summit and descended in just under 4h 30m.
After getting into some dry clothes and collecting our food we were on our way to the Lake District, the weather on the journey was horrendous, and we reached Wasdale a little behind schedule, but we made good time, climbing to the summit of Scafell Pike in 1h40m and descending quickly to make an overall time of 3h10m.
A good journey south from the Lake District to Wales gave us a good chance of completing the challenge, we reached Pen-Y-Pass with 3h 50m remaining of our 24 hours, although by now we had by far the worst weather of the weekend, now very wet and windy, good time was made on the way up, reaching the summit in 1h 50m leaving us 2 hours to get pack to the pass, brilliant.
We all reached the pass, the last man in with 20 minutes to spare, wet and bedraggled, but considering the conditions throughout the weekend rightly pleased with their achievement.
July 17, 2011
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A great day climbing Ben Nevis via the CMD ridge today.
We set of from the visitor centre and climbed by Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe following the pat below the north face of Ben Nevis to the CIC Hut.
From the CIC Hut we climbed north, up the steep slope to the summit of Carn Mor Dearg where we stopped for our lunch.
From Carn Mor Dearg we followed the arête south crossing the narrow ridge before climbing to the summit of Ben Nevis.
After a short rest at the summit Ben Nevis watching the cloud blow in below us and a rescue by the RAF we descended the tourist path back to Glen Nevis.
A really lucky day with the weather, we never got any of the heavy showers that were forecast, although some passed by pretty close throughout the day.
June 11, 2011
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A great weekend completing the National 3 Peaks Challenge, we just missed out on the 24 hour mark, but the weather was against us over the course of the weekend.
We set off fro the Ben Nevis Inn at 5pm on Saturday, climbing the tourist path to the summit of Ben Nevis in 3 hours, there was still some snow on top, although far less than on the same weekend last weekend!
We descended Ben Nevis in good time, dropping down to the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel to start the drive down to Wasdale.
We made good time on Scafell Pike and were back in the minibus in 3.30, making up for some for the time lost overnight in bad weather.
We arrived at Pen-Y-Pass with 3.30 remaining of the 24 hours, possible, but tough. The weather was against s though and we were often ankle deep in water the footpaths and it wasn't possible to rush.
Oh well, everyone did really well on the challenge and 24.30 is a respectable time, very good given the weather we had to contend with.
May 15, 2011
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Clear skies and some wonderful views today as we climbed Ben Nevis by the Tourist Path or Mountain Track, some of the best views I've had from Ben Nevis
June 19, 2010
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Back late last night from another 3 Peak Challenge event. At times the weather over the weekend was atrocious, but we were so lucky that nearly all the rain fell when we were in the mini bus.
June 14, 2010
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