Might as well start with the Ben...

[jupe1407]

First Real Hillwalk
So after years of promising myself i'd get into some hillwalks and doing absolutely nothing at all about it (criminal as i lived in Kirriemuir for 30 years, minutes away from some lovely walks) I threw myself in at the deep(ish) end by doing my bit for a charity climb up Ben Nevis. Although i was slightly unsure of what to expect, I didn't expect this one to present any problems, i'm pretty fit and fancied my chances.

As i happens, a few of us went out in Corpach the night before, mainly due to a total lack of things to do, other than a nearby pub showing the FA Cup Final. The bunkhouse we stayed in was right across the water from Fort William, and the fairly imposing sight of the Ben.

My phone camera is crap, but this view of Fort William at night (from Corpach) and the moon rising over Nevis was sublime

We got started the following morning about 8:30ish and the one thing i hadn't expected was the sheer volume of people walking up there. With no hint of exagerration it was almost single file with very few gaps all the way to the so-called "halfway lochan", which isn't quite halfway. After this point the climb was seemed a bit more direct and the diagonals steeper. With almost every step, the views looked ever more fantastic and the whole experience was massively enjoyable, helped in part by a beautiful sunny day and fairly clear skies.

It was rather busy!

View down from the start of the snowcapped final part of the ascent

The last section to the summit was slightly dodgy due to the compacted snow, and the large number of teenagers on a trip that seemed to be trying to create great long slide, much to the exasperation of the adult in charge.

Finally got to the summit after about 3 hours, which would have been considerably less without having to stop 3 times due to various stages of hangovers (not mine!). The view from the top is something to behold, and the photos don't really do it justice.

My favourite picture of the day.

Anyway to cut a long story short, I absolutely loved doing this, and intend to return in a couple of months to walk it via Carn Mor Dearg Arete. That looks absolutely brilliant, and not particularly busy. I also intend to knock off a good few other Munros, starting with those nearby (Dreish & Mayar) then probably Mount Keen, Lochnagar and a good few others.

jupe1407
(a recent convert)

[David-Main]

Well done jupe1407, I have just started walking the hills this year, I turned 50 in January and have always been an outdoor person... fishing, birdwatching etc but never climbed a munro, now that i have (ben wyvis) the nearest one to me I have got the bug. Mount keen is one of my targets this year as well. Keep it up jupe1407.
Dave

[skuk007]

Nice one Jupe, get the big one out the way first.
Looks like you had a nice clear day for it.

282 to go!

[Bod]

Magic!!! Hundreds more Scottish Mountains tops await

[GillC]

Well done Jupe, great conditions for this long slog,,cant believe you did it in 4 hrs!. We came over via the CMD on 12th May,,very different conditions from you but still a great climb. GillC

[jupe1407]

Thanks for the encouragement

Altrhough i'm not sure why it showed as four hours, it was meant to be 4:45! I do quite a bit of running, hill running and interval training so the ascent was pleasant, especially with the good weather. Didn't particularly enjoy the descent though!

Apparently you can't see thing from the summit for something like 69% of the year, so i think we were rather lucky. But it was a terrific experience, i'm only annoyed that i haven't got into this malarky before.

I plan to start with most of the "local" Munros which aren't too difficult (or so i'm told) ie, Dreish & Mayar, Mount Keen, then possibly the Lochnagar circuit if i'm confident enough.

Ideally, by this time next year i'll have enough idea of what i'm doing to tackle some of the peaks in Torridon. It looks nothing short of stunning.