The Aonachs, Carn Mor Dearg & Ben Nevis
Winter traverse of the Carn Mor Dearg Arete and on to the last peak of the route, Ben Nevis
The re-ascents on the ridge may not be great but with a large pack full of camping gear (and in Sam's case a bottle of vino and a bag of potatoes!) they do make you think. By the evening we were certainly ready to dig out a couple of snowy ledges for our camp at the bealach between the Grey Corries and Aonach Beag at around 735m.
After a comfortable night and a respectable lie in we negotiated the interesting and steep ascent of the E. Face of Stob Coire Bhealaich (1048m). At the top of the steep gully we met Roger Wild (Lochaber based Guide and MCof S safety officer) and son Finlay and watched them telemark ski our line of ascent thus beginning their ski traverse reversing our previous days route. The weather continued as in the typical passage of a cold front - cold and bright, dark and stormy and leaving the exposed cheeks blasted by sun, wind and hail all in the one outing.
Descending from Aonach Beag (1234m) we admired some of the complete but snowy lines on the N. Face before negotiating the tricky descending traverse into the high Bealach at the base of the superb E. Ridge of Carn Mor Dearg (The Biancagrat). Food and energy supplies were now dwindling and with the graupel storm at its zenith we needed to galvanise and dig deep. All efforts were rewarded on the summit of Carn Mor Dearg both by half a Chorley cake and a break in the clouds revealing the Nevis North Face in its full winter coat.
Still no crampons were required in the conditions resulting from the unusual combination of lots of snow and not much wind. Just keep concentrating and all that remains is the final push up the massive bulk of the Ben. Suddenly there are lots of shadowy figures appearing out of the mist, topping out, coiling ropes and eating sandwiches on the summit.
It's down hill all the way to the pub from here and an easy descent to savour two days of simple graft and aesthetic appreciation of one of the finest high winter traverses around. Good luck to Sam and Alex high on Denali this summer.....
