UKH

Hi,

Looking to avoid crowds when climbing so how early should one start from let's say CIC hut area to be ahead of most people?

I was thinking that maybe 5AM from North face car park would be enough but I'm unsure. Not early enough?

Thanks

You might be better a little later after everyone has gone, depending what you are aiming for.

Better to either go somewhere less busy or just accept the busyness. There's quite a lot of routes to choose from on the Ben so if you're flexible it's not so much of an issue.

climbing at night is usually the quietest time on the ben, its also an experience...

Me and a friend occasionally climbed routes on Main Wall at Avon at about 4 AM. An extraordinary experience. One thing is for sure, no-one else was climbing at that time 

4/5am would get you a good head start, theres roughly 400 winter routes on the Ben so plenty to go at!

You probably need to set off yesterday.....

Just have a range of plans in mind in case someone else has set off early or your chosen route doesn't appeal on closer inspection.  I did Slav Route as Plan E once - there's quite a lot wrong with that statement really.  It was a brilliant day out and not a soul anywhere that made any difference.  It was all turning pink in the sunset as we topped out to a 100 mile view and not a breath of wind

Me too! Queues for Orion Face prompted a rethink of the plans. Possibly not the best choice for ascending on a whim, but the conditions on the day were - I suspect - better than the grade expects, and it all worked out fine.

About 1890? Just in time for the FA of Tower Ridge.

b

If you plan to start extremely early pick an obvious target, learn the crag, or take a big torch. It's not unheard of for a team to start up the wrong Gully.

Start in May in the rain 

It's usually quieter mid week. Routes that have been recently mentioned on local guides blogs, facebook conditions posts or the winter conditions pages here are more likely to be busier. End of Feb is busier. If you want to do a popular route at the end of February on a weekend with a good weather forcast and good conditions then even if you set off at 4am someone else will probably have the same idea. Sometimes setting off a little later works out a better option but you risk getting stuck behind a slower party. As others have suggested, going with an open mind and choosing an empty route is generally the way to go.