Ben Nevis by the Carn Mor Dearg Arete
FORT WILLIAM, GLEN NEVIS AND SPEAN BRIDGE
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View an OS map of the route
Open this walk in QUO 2
Open this walk in GPX format
Open this walk in Google Earth
1. Park at the Visitor Centre in Glen Nevis; there may be a charge. Cross the bridge over the River Nevis, which is downstream from the centre. Once across the bridge, turn right and follow the river bank for a few hundred metres; then turn left over a stile to meet the original path which started at Achintree farm; turn right up this rising path. Follow the wide path which climbs across the hillside. After passing above a small plantation, the path from Glen Nevis Youth Hostel joins in from the right (This path leads directly from the Hostel to the main path and gives a shorter route; however there is no car parking at the Youth Hostel). Further on the path doubles back on itself to ascend up the steeper slopes in a wide zigzag. There are grand views up Glen Nevis to the Mamores, with Stob Ban prominent.
Photo ©Erik Piek, licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.
2. The path crosses a couple of footbridges over small streams and curves round above the valley of the Red Burn. As the head of the valley is approached, watch out for a very sharp left turn; many walkers miss this and have worn a route directly to the head of the valley itself, which is steep and loose. The correct path winds up much more easily to reach the plateau that holds Loch Meall an t-Suidhe, known as the half way lochan. It doesn't approach the actual loch though, keeping well to the right. As the path begins to climb again, there is a junction. Turn off the Tourist Route to Ben Nevis here by taking the left fork, which ascends gently round to the north side of the mountain before curving right beneath the great North Face.
3. The North Face of Ben Nevis is one of the largest and most spectacular mountain faces in the British Isles. It is riven by a series of gullies, many of which are well-known as ice-climbs in winter– some not ascended until late in the twentieth century. Between the gullies are huge buttresses and towers of rock that include some of Britain's most famous rock- and ice-climbs. The path round into the corrie gives excellent views up of these buttresses. Castle Ridge, Carn Dearg Buttress and Trident Buttress are passed in turn before the path reaches the CIC (Charles Inglis Clark) Memorial Hut (locked) which provides overnight accommodation for climbers. Rearing above is Tower Ridge, the most famous and longest of all the climbs on The Ben, first climbed by Norman Collie.
4. From the hut comes the most exhausting part of the day. Climb directly up the very steep slope to the east, an arduous and unforgiving ascent whose only redeeming feature is the ever improving view behind of the great cliffs. Many curses later you should arrive on the fine, sharp grassy ridge between Carn Dearg Meadhonach and Carn Mor Dearg. Turn right along the ridge to reach Carn Mor Dearg's summit. This is the ninth highest Munro at 1220 metres, and has fine distant views to the north. All eyes, however, end up staring at the tremendous spectacle of Ben Nevis' North Face across the glen.
5. Head southwest at first and then south along the narrowing ridge. This is the Carn Mor Dearg Arete, an airy crest which curves round from Carn Mor Dearg to link with Ben Nevis. Traversing along the top of the ridge involves easy scrambling, mostly on large boulders, with one or two narrow sections that may involve shuffling on your bottom. There are easier options below the crest to the left but leaving the ridge shouldn't really be necessary. The traverse is utterly involving and the situation below the great cliffs is fantastic – there are few better ridgewalks than this.
Photo ©David Crocker, licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence. - NB. the ridge is a graded climb in winter conditions.
6. Once beyond the low point the arete begins to rise until it buts against the great bulk of Ben Nevis. A rough path zigzags up the boulder field to reach the summit plateau, with the trig point a short distance away. This is the highest peak in the UK and on a good day there will inevitably be lots of tourists who have come up the 'Mountain Track' – you can smile at them feeling smug at your far more spectacular outing.
7. The return is made by the 'Mountain Track', the main tourist route. In misty conditions and with snow covering the path, very careful navigation can be required to steer a course between Gardyloo Gully and Five Finger Gully. Follow a bearing of 231 degrees for 150 metres, and then a bearing of 281 degrees, as described in the safety leaflet, to pass the most dangerous section. In good weather with no snow there is a well worn path which zig-zags down towards Lochan Meall an t'Suidhe, crossing the Red Burn before reaching the path junction where you turned off this morning.
8. Turn left to retrace the rest of your outward journey back to the start.
Have you done this walk?
If so, why not be the first comment on it in our Forum. If you start a new topic in the walking discussion with the name of this walk as the topic, we will link the discussion to the walk so that others can read your comments here.
Have you found an error or is any information wrong or missing?
Please let us know by using the error report form.
Route profile
Accommodation links for this area:
Fort William, Spean Bridge and Loch Lochy area Hotels and Inns
Fort William, Spean Bridge and Loch Lochy area B&B (Bed and Breakfasts)
Self catering cottages in Fort William, Spean Bridge and Loch Lochy area
Fort William, Lochaber and Glencoe hostels
