MIKE WOOD - 488361

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Details

Date : 10/06/2023

Duration : 8+ hours

Style : Leader / Supervisor

Type : Quality Mountain Day (QMD)

Weather : Clear - sunny - good visibility

Wind : Gentle Breeze

Camping Type : N/A

Nights Camping : 0

Mountains : Ben Nevis Carn Dearg Meadhonach Carn Mor Dearg

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Description

Tumour Support Scotland Charity walk to Ben Nevis.
The big day - the culmination of several months planning and training - and an eventful one it turned out to be! I led a group of 12 via the CMD arete, leaving from the North Face Car park, finishing at the Visitor Centre in Glen Nevis. My group included some fairly experienced walkers with good numbers of Munros under their belts, to a few for whom this was their first. Also, on the day I was presented with several un-vetted late-comers to the party. What had been a group of 8 increased substantially. After some hasty "interviewing/assessing" on the bus and at our breakfast stop at Tyndrum I was content that the risk factor was acceptable, mainly due to their ages and fitness levels (all were regular gym-goers in their twenties or early thirties).
The conditions were exceptional by Scottish standards. Hot, up to 27C at Fort William, with just a light breeze on the ridges and summits, and a high humidity %. I had stressed the importance of hydration on the journey up - we had a copious supply of cold bottled water available on the bus - plus the need to drink at least a litre before starting, as well as carrying 2 litres if possible. Many did not think this necessary and suffered unnecessarily! In the end we all got there - although I needed to administer variously; my spare caffeine gels, ibuprofen, stretching for cramp, and carrying waterproofs to lighten some rucksacks. More importantly, the whole group had a fantastic day, and were enthusing over their experience for days afterwards. I led the majority of the time from the back of the group, shepherding and encouraging the slowest, allowing one of my strongest, most experienced friends to take the front. We re-grouped at points including the Allt a' Mhuilinn dam, the start of the Carn Bheag Mheadonach ascent, Carn Mor Dhearg summit, and the "Abseil Posts" cairn at the end of the arete. On the arete itself we stuck closer together, with most choosing the bypass paths rather than the crest. The rock was grippy and dry, as good conditions as I've ever had. I kept in touch with the leader of our Tourist Path colleagues with occasional calls and texts en route.
Despite this, when we re-grouped at the summit, I learned he had had to deal with an evacuation of one of his team from the zig-zags at about 1000m! When the emergency happened, he logically deduced there was nothing additional I could do to help, and had focussed on the rescue procedure. Luckily we had a doctor as well as several First Aiders in that group, and two other qualified medics stopped to help. Suffice to say that the casualty was eventually winched into the aircraft and off to hospital, where tests showed no serious effects beyond dehydration and heat exhaustion, and he made a full and rapid recovery.
After a long day of nearly 9 hours in total, celebrations back in the glen were rather muted since we had yet to hear full details from the hospital, but again the overwhelming reaction from the members was that they had had a very satisfying experience, many of them already wanting to know when they could next get to climb another Munro.
I didn't have much opportunity to use the "environmental narrative" tactic to keep the group together today as I had judged it not appropriate, but I did tell various stories about the history of climbs on the North Face as the famous ridges and gullies, and the CIC Hut came into view from Carn Mor Dearg. I was also able to talk briefly about the Cotton Grass which was very prominent in the wet heath around the Allt a' Mhuilinn. Later I was chuffed to see on one of the many Facebook posts which followed that evening that one of my group, a BT engineer, had stopped to photograph a fine clump of Moss Campion!
A great learning experience - my first leading a larger group with many I had not met before. The planning and training, and the reconnoitre, all helped towards a successful day but again, the biggest lesson was probably just that the mountains will work their magic on a group if you ensure that the fundamentals have been attended to in advance.

Area : Ben Nevis (Fort William To Loch Leven)

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.

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