This area covers the mountains between Fort William, Loch Leven (to the south) and Loch Treig (to the east). The area includes Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg, The Mamores, The Aonachs and The Grey Corries. An impressive 20 Munros are split equally by Glen Nevis and the waters of Abhainn Rath. Relatively accessible from the A82, these mountains hold some classic walking and climbing routes such as The Ring of Steall in the Mamores and Point Five Gully on Ben Nevis. Includes all major peaks above 600m.
Led a party of three to do the cmd arete upon to Ben Nevis. The wind was due to drop so the plan was to get up to the summit and play it from there. The ground was tough going from the minute we left the path, ice patches on the grass and heather, not particularly avoidable but too awkward for crampons. wind knocking us over the higher we got, combined with knee deep drifts of snow made the going even harder and energy sapping for the group. it took almost 5 hours to reach the top of carn mor dearg, and the decision was not to cross the cmd as the wind showed no signs at all of slowing down, the arete was free of snow but had ice pockets, it would have been a trecherous crossing in my opinion so we returned the way we came, practicing ice axe arrest, and even some great controlled bum sliding on route.
