Ben Nevis End Off September

Q. Hi,

[It] would be great if someone could give be a little help please. I am looking at doing Ben Nevis next week. But am unsure of what wind speeds it is safe to do it in?

I was hoping to take CMD route but am worried it is getting a little too windy to be tackling the ridge?

What sort of wind speeds is it safe to take that route?

If the wind/weather is not the best on the day, would the Tourist path be a problem?

I have a fair bit of experience in hill walking around the Lakes and Snowdonia, but it will be my first trip up Ben Nevis.

Thanks,

Ed Schofield, Solihull

A. Since the visibility was very bad, Kendra, you probably didn't see the HUGE cliffs to the north of Ben Nevis. The Tourist path is reasonably easy to follow in good conditions but if you stray off it in thick weather you can soon get into difficulties.

Further more, if you are climbing Ben Nevis when there is a chance of snow then even the most competent hill walker should make sure they have a detailed route description with them such as ours- Walking Map h100 Ben Nevis from Achintee since it includes detailed instructions on how to regain the path from the summit and avoid the notorious and extremely dangerous Five Finger Gully when the footpath is obliterated by snow.

It is always better to have and not need - than to need and not have.

Hope this helps . . .

Mike (Editor)

A. Hello

I climbed Ben Nevis last Wednesday. The winds were high and it rained the whole way up and down. I took the tourist path - Walk h100 Ben Nevis from Achintee, Highland and NOT being an experienced hill walker I didn't find it too bad at all. My biggest bit of advice is to take WARM kit. I was dressed in waterproofs but I still got soaked as the rain was relentless.

I would imagine that even the winds were extremely high the tourist path would be OK as there are no surprising cliff edges or such!

When I climbed visibility was also very bad.

Regards

Kendra Bamber, York

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