Ledge Route, Ben Nevis

Objective: Ledge Route ***(II), Ben Nevis. First ascent by an SMC party, Easter 1897

Day 4 and we head back to the CIC hut in high spirits as today we tackle the best route at its grade on The Ben. On the path ahead we catch sight of a Ptarmigan - an odd little bird in it's white winter plumage that appears to prefer walking away, under the camouflage of falling snow, rather than summoning the energy to fly.

At the hut we again take a short break – Lay offers eagerly to eat an old Mars Bar that Clive finds unappetisingly squashed in a recess in his rucksack – well it has been to the summit of Kilimanjaro!

From the hut we rope up at the foot of the mighty Carn Dearg buttress rising almost vertically from Coire na Ciste. Our intended route is to bypass the lower reaches of the buttress by starting up Number 5 Gully immediately to its left and then traversing rightwards.

Clive leads, followed by Jonathan, Lay and this time Ali is at the back. We move together quickly up the beginning of the gully - No.5 is prone to avalanches and Clive is keeping a careful watch out.

The pace is sapping on the legs and a tricky ice step looms ahead. Lay swings his ice axe high above his head and gains comfort from the solid "whack" sound as the pick digs securely into the ice above the step. With a strong arm pull, a grunt and three front pointed steps he is over the obstacle and moving ahead to belay Ali.

Lay’s concerns that the step may be too high for Ali quickly evaporate as she hauls herself up – she is confident in the rope and commits herself to the move.

We continue upwards and with relief move out of the gully onto a gentle ramp leading above the Carn Dearg buttress. The ramp leads out above the top of The Curtain onto a broad, almost horizontal ledge which fades out to the right. Clive picks a sheltered spot for us to regroup. He sits, surrounded by a curtain of three foot icicles hanging from the rock wall behind him, to admire the view out across the north face of Ben Nevis.

All too soon we leave the security of the ledge behind us and venture out to traverse a steep snow slope – Lay marvels at the exposure and looks back to share the moment with Ali but she is engrossed in watching her footwork.

The route now follows the ridge and is in places very narrow – we are exposed to the wind here. At the top of one pinnacle Lay ducks his head for protection against a particularly strong gust of wind. Clive is similarly sheltered by rock but between them, in the middle of the snow covered ridge, Jonathan bears the full force. Unable to advance or retreat by the tight rope he is forced onto all fours, digs in with his ice axe and has no option but to wait for the wind to abate.

We press on feeling that we are on similar terrain to that which we enjoy for summer scrambling. Exposed but secure in the rope. A further connecting ridge eventually leads us to the summit of Carn Dearg where we can again regroup for a photo.

Lay is slow in the descent above the zig zags – with the adrenaline of the climb gone his focus has shifted to the pain of his blisters. Over steep mixed ground, uncramponed he is struggling to keep up. There is some relief as a short section is passed by a seated glissade – great fun to be sliding through the snow using the axe as a brake. A great end to a memorable winter day on The Ben.