UKH

I'll be flying to Glasgow next week, flexible on days but probably Monday or Tuesday and then heading up to the Ben for a run/scramble on either Tuesday or Wednesday (18th or 19th Nov).

Weather permitting, I'm planning to ascend ledge route in fell shoes, up to the summit and along the CMD arete.

If the weather's bad/conditions unsuitable my backup plan is the normal route (probably walking rather than running).

I'm sure people have done this before. Any thoughts on present conditions? Anyone interested in joining me? I'm a fairly experienced climber and fell runner. I've done a fair amount in the Alps and this will be my third trip to Scotland this year.

In reply to tistimetogo:

Today you would have been dealing with a heavy dusting of wet snow on the top 1/4 of Ledge Route, across the plateau and pretty much all of the CMD. Don't know how your fell shoes would cope but it would undoubtedly be a good deal more slippery than without the snow. At this time of year a degree or two's difference in temperature can mean no snow at all however so really hard to say exactly what it will be like in a week.

In reply to AlH:

Thanks for the reply. I realise it's highly changeable. Fell shoes are probably ambitious and boots are much more likely to be the footware needed. I'll be watching the weather to see how it develops.

This thread was started in the RUNNING forum and has now been moved.
Please could you try and post in the correct forum, it makes life easier for both users and moderators.

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In reply to UKH Forums:

er, the question was about fell running, not hill walking...

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

In reply to UKH Forums:

To be fair I suggested a walking pace may occur if there's bad weather so I can see why it was moved and I don't really mind as it's looking like a solo adventure now. Mostly this post was to hear of conditions on the Ben and as expected it's going to be soggy.

To clarrify, even if I'm in boots and regardless of the route I'll be running. Food, nav and water all consumed while moving. This will not be at walking speed.

I'll post up afterwards about how I get on.

In reply to tistimetogo:

Aye, I thought you'd be more likely to get useful replies in Hilltalk. And as you mentioned walking pace, scrambling and boots in the OP...

In reply to tistimetogo:
I'm absolutely not a proper fell runner but I lost 3 toenails wearing my Inov8's in just the conditions the earlier poster described, on A'Cailleach at this time of year. By the time I regained the snow line on the way down my imagination was telling me that my footfall had become a "clunk"!
Maybe some Sealskins socks would have helped...

In reply to tistimetogo:

I will be interested to hear about the conditions as Im planning on doing the same (ledge route/ CMD arête) the following week- walking though! Have fun

In reply to tistimetogo:

Do you know the way up Ledge Route?, I found elements of the route finding pretty tricky earlier this year I lead VS and run a lot in winter and summer and I wouldn't have wanted to be on the ground I found myself on in fell shoes with snow around.

In reply to ablackett:
Date has changed, will arrive in Fort William on the 19th and try the route on the 20th.

No, never done it. The Ben was a cornice fest last time I was there. Only managed Aonach Eagach and a few others in the area earlier this year before we had to go home. So admittedly I don't know the route but will be careful about going up anything I can't get down. Will let you know the conditions.

In reply to tistimetogo:

i can see Ben Nevis from my window... there is no snow on the Ben at the moment... the few inches that were there last Sunday has gone !

In reply to luckyjim:

Cheers for the update. I'll be flying with both boots and fell shoes. Hopefully I can wear the latter.

In reply to tistimetogo:

I would recommend avoiding ledge route with melting snow around as it causes a stream of water across the initial slab which is covered in black slime and a slip could be terminal, not risk I'd recommend taking. I backed off a solo scramble of it earlier this year for that reason.

In reply to JohnBson:

Had an outstanding trip. Many thanks to all who posted especially for the weather updates.

I got a phone call a few hours before my flight from my friend in Glasgow who was up for it. We drove up wed evening and camped in the North face car park. Then spent the night listening to ominous drumming rain on the tent but by morning it had cleared nicely.

We took a moment to identify the gullies at the CIC hut and looking up at the cliffs right of No5. The summit of Ben Nevis was still foggy but our route was clear and we found it straight forward to follow the description (the shorter variation).

But I can see what you mean about a slippy start. The slabs as you leave no5 gully on the right were indeed wet and a fall here would be serious or deadly. I found it fine in fell shoes but it requires great care. We were both happy to solo it but I would understand if others weren’t. The rest of ledge route was dry, fairly easy with optional boulder problems along the way.

We didn’t stay long on the summit. We took a few photos before heading off. The wind wasn’t too strong on CMD so we were hopping from one rock to another. Bouncing along the edge our only rule was to keep off the path. Even by the time we got to the end I think we would have been happy to go back and do it again.

We took a minute to take in the view of Fort William and surrounding mountains. I had my usual feeling of hmmm... should move to Scotland.

Our race back down to the path resulted in a few slides and muddy arses but nothing painful. Celebratory haggis suppers were had in Glasgow and I managed a few museums the next day before catching my flight.

High up in the gullies we saw a few patches of snow but none on ledge route, the summit or cmd.

Hopefully I’ll be back in 2015 when there’s more snow and ice.