UKH

Hi me and a friend of mine are planning to walk up Ben Nevis in the summer, however we'd like to take on an alternate route the normal one. We are only 16 but are both experienced walkers and have been climbing for a couple years. I've heard of the CMD route and also something called the ledge route. We'd rather not rope up but we'll have one each if necessary so I'd love some advice from you guys, thanks a lot!

In reply to ethancole99:

Both the CMD arete and Ledge Route are great days out and well worth doing instead of the normal path, but try to pick a dry day! The CMD is very straightforward with only very mild scrambling. Ledge Route is a little harder, but still pretty easy scrambling. There's a slabby section near the start which can feel a bit awkward in the wet, and the routefinding is not entirely obvious. Early in the summer you might have problems with snow on the approach up No. 5 Gully. I wouldn't bother taking a rope for either route. You can combine both routes in a single (longish) day: up Ledge and down via the CMD. Hope you have a great trip!

In reply to ethancole99:

Alternate routes? You mean ones you do every other time?

In reply to ethancole99:

Not really on topic but I remember my first route up the Ben was from the end of the road in Glen Nevis as a very naive 18 year old, we walked a little way up the glen and then spotted a broad gully line which I guess must have been here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@56.7824713,-4.9915573,1302m/data=!3m1!1e3
It was a very snowy winter and the line looked full of snow so we got our walking axes out and went up. Shortly we passed mangled trees, massive piles of lumpy snow and quite a few unfortunate sheep and bits of unfortunate sheep which had been wrapped around trees and dismembered in quite imaginative ways. Even as green as we were it was clear a hefty avalanche had powered down here quite recently. We carried on regardless and got to the col between the upper slopes and Meall Cumhann. From here a broad ridge and a huge convex slope leads to the upper part of the CMD arête. We slogged up this interminable and wind blasted hillside for hours, donned crampons for the iced up arête and got to the top feeling like proper mountaineers. I don't recall the route down but it involved lots of glissading and probably considerable luck in avoiding gullies and crags.

I can't really recommend the route but it was a formative experience for me!