Final outdoor training before Nepal – Day 2 : Ben Nevis via Ridge Route

Previously on rocketontour … Final outdoor training before Nepal – Day 1: Climbing the hidden chimney (Cairngorms)

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Day2: Ben Nevis via the ridge route (in awful weather)

We used the second day to drive over to the highlands and hike up Ben Nevis. An initially cloudy day turned out pretty wet (at least while we were on the hill) and we faced constant drizzle all the way. The hike in leads along a long valley and crosses a river just before a privately owned hut (membership required to use). From there we took gully no.5, which was covered in snow from a recent avalanche. On the hill we could practice our ascent skills in snow and on rock once we turned onto the ridge. After a good 1,100m ascent we hit the Ben Nevis plateau with close to zero visibility and wind. Hello Scotland!

We decided not to go for the summit as all of us had been there before, the training section Di had planned along the ridge was done and there was frankly precious little to see from the summit. So we headed down gully no. 4, which had a steep entry at the very top but then turned into a stroll on a snowfield. Very enjoyable. We rested briefly for food and change of gear at the hut and then headed down. Obviously once we were off the hill the weather actually improved and we even got a few glimpses of sunshine. The clouds at the top didn’t lift though.

Altogether a respectable hike of 16km with 1100m ascent & descent and after an hour or so by car we were back in Aviemore following the same routine than the night before. Rory on non-alcoholic Erdinger, Ronny on cider, Di … probably sipping her homemade fruit & berry wine. Wouldn’t mind to try myself some day. Now let’s pray Di reads the post that far ;o)

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