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After our success last xmas day in scaling Beinn Narnain my friend Stevie and i had decided to once again get ourselves up a Munro this year, Ben More would be our target.
We decided on this as it's close to a main road, has plenty of ascent and we could get up and down pretty quickly
We left Glasgow at 6.15am and headed on our way, i had wanted to leave at 5.30am and walk the 1st hour in darkness but Stevie needed sleep.
Black ice and poor weather conditions made the journey to the start longer than expected, however we had our gear on and hit the trail at 8.15am
Small sign for Ben More indicates start of walk - surprisingly
We followed a zig zagging landrover track for 800m which left us at the bottom of the North face, ready for the relentless steep ascent. I knew what was in store as did this with Stob Binnein Sept 2010 in 40mph winds, rain, mist and no views for the full duration of the walk. . . .but i loved the challenge of the ascent
View of what lay ahead....
It was xmas and we expected to find 3 wise men on our journey, this didn't materialize but we did spot the "3 wise sheep" !!.
Snow wasn't deep but there was plenty of ice so i decided to stick on the crampons
Stevie had decided not to put his crampons on at this point and started to struggle slightly on the steeper sections
He soon realized it would be easier going and promptly put his on.
We both got the heads down and got on with reahing the summit
It was now snowing, the wind had picked up and visibility was non existent
We soon picked up the remains of an old wall which guided us up further to our destination.
The snow was thicker abover 800M, we now had a white out!!
I love these kind of conditions as adds to the excitement and drama of any walk
After 2.15hrs i hit the summit of Ben More, Stevie was minutes behind.
We had a quick bite to eat and got the all important summit shots
We had decided just to retrace our steps and descend the route of our ascent.
Progress was quick, albeit tricky with the ever present rocks underfoot.
We got to the car at 12.15pm. Quick change and we left for Glasgow at 12.30pm.
I was home, showered, changed and sitting in my mums at 3pm for xmas dinner
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpjSyL1l5sc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/youtube]