Ben Nevis in winter offers some of the world’s most challenging and renowned climbing, with many classic routes at different grades. This winter sees Fort William host the inaugural Scottish Winter Climbing Meet, organised by local mountain guides and instructors with the support of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland. The Meet will be held on 2 and 3 February with space for about 60 to 80 participants.
The Scottish Winter Climbing Meet will be a celebration weekend of winter climbing and gives climbers a chance to meet, chat and climb together on an informal basis. It is hoped that this will become an annual event held at different locations each year throughout Scotland.
Some well known faces in Scottish winter climbing will be around for the weekend and there will be a social evening at the Ben Nevis Inn on the Saturday; including a free talk by one of Scotland’s top winter climbers and activists, Simon Richardson. Simon’s presentation will focus on new routing and the development of Scottish winter climbing over the past twenty years.
Organisers say the weekend is, “open to all, whether you climb grade ‘wee’ or grade ‘ridiculous'”.
David Gibson, MCofS Chief Officer, said: “With such a fantastic location and plenty of local support, the Scottish Winter Climbing Meet promises to be a great addition to the mountaineering calendar. From the numbers signed up already it looks like it will be a great success and I would encourage anyone thinking about taking part to register as soon as possible.”
More information can be found at the Meet website.