Go on then i've got my scarpa's my salomons ,merrells so what should i be looking at using my heart says my merrells as i wear them on all occasions in the lakes but .......

should i be thinking about kicking steps in snow on the way to the summit . I have been keeping my eye on the web cam and it looks like there's still snow on top do you know any different . let me know soon as i'm off up sunday night to ft wills to walk tuesday .

i may sound a bit thick but its my first time up and i'm taking the misses . maybe i worry to much ... let me know soon guys and gals

Ben Nevis is a very stony mountain RIC - basically once on the summit plateau its like the surface of the moon, a mixture of stones and small boulders everywhere so while you would probably be ok with the Merrells they could get wrecked by the rocky terrain and also you might feel the sharp stony ground underfoot through the sole of the Merrells.  I would say wear something with a sturdier sole.  I dont think you need worry about the snow at this time of year though.  Doubtless there will be a few snowfields or patches of snow scattered high up near the summit but the snow will be easily avoided at this time of year as most of it will have receded.  The only hazard I would bring to your attention on The Ben would be the micro-navigation needed in mist when leaving the summit plateau as there have been a lot of people over the years strayed into dangerous terrain while trying to locate the path back down.  Basically the path peters out near the summit because of the aforementioned stony terrain and the summit plateau is a large featureless area with several gullies and cliffs biting into it.  You just need to make sure that when leaving the summit in low cloud you take a bearing (231 degrees for 150 metres) from the trig pillar south-west avoiding Gardyloo Gully and then a second bearing (282 degrees) west-north-west to take you back down to the path.

Its a long stony path all the way so think about the damage/wear of your footwear. You will easily do it in your merrells as a lot of people run it in trainers.

This is what it looked like when I went up a few years back.

The top

One of the many views

If you stay on the mountain path you will find it on the whole rough going with stones and larger boulders. I have taken several walkers to the summit and back and a few find the descent on the loose stone and rock worse than the ascent.

There is the old more direct route which is not recommended due to errosion etc, which is scree and boulders.

There is normally a small snow field high up in a gully which some find a bit awkward as you end up sliding about unless you kick your feet into the snow.

On the whole a reasonable pair of walking shoes or boots will do the trick.

Watch what some of your fellow walkers are wearing. Their attire will surprise you. I once saw a woman trying to go up in high heeled shoes.

Despite what some may say about climbing Ben Nevis by the mountain path (not on this thread) it is a sustained climb from near sea level to 1344 metres especially for those that have never hill walked before or just done low level walks and it is a real challenge.

Yeah - have come down the Tourist path twice after going up CMD.

It's kind of like turning up at a do in full formal gear to find out the party is fancy dress

Cheers i knew i could rely on you guys for info lol. We started off 2 months ago on snowdon went up by way of the miners track . people i had talked to said ooooooh its hard and steep . it was like a sunday walk along fleetwood prom , and funnily enough on the way back down the tourist path it was peeps in sandles that you'd see walking along a ballroom floor . i even saw a geezer and his daughter in a shirt and tie with a pair of pattent leather shoes on and a carrier bag . A bit different on scafell pike 3 weeks ago when we summited there was me the misses a fell runner and a girl from poland oh we heard some other guys behind us they were close but we never actually saw them until we sat down for our break . they appeared out of the cloud . nevis top looks like a bigger ingleborough with boulders like scafell pike . should be a laugh lol ...

micro navigation , i have the nav points about six times over and my gps and six diferent types of map . i can see myself panicing for nothing which is the usuall . I just know someone is gonna ask which way do i go  ... i always get asked .

i only seem to get lost in forests dont ask me why , mist cloud blizzards i'm fine with but bloody trees do my head in ..... thats one of the reasons i'm heading up to ft wills tons of forest and trees .

well all i have to do now is climb the thing , the only real thing i have to worry about after that is who's coming to the the party next march as we are getting married in keswick just so we can go walking the following day . my misses to be is ace .

thanks again guys i think i will doit in my merrells as they are good in the wet well sticky ..

Watch out when you get close to the top as you get within about 10 meters of the North Face(2000ft drop) and if it has any snow on stay away as you dont know what you are treading on!!

Other than that have a great time and be safe!!

diddy cheers , just waterproofing the last of my gear and checking the list twice . If i make it interesting fingers crossed we'll be back to do the scramble from the north side . size wise its only 1000ft more than we normally do so we are really looking forward to it . going to ave a go on the gondola  up onach just for the fun of it as one of the guys i support has an ace t shirt ......

Kinley wrote (see)

Yeah - have come down the Tourist path twice after going up CMD.

It's kind of like turning up at a do in full formal gear to find out the party is fancy dress

Alright guys and gals well we did it and i didn't feel a thing through my merralls . I've walked on worse ground than this i've got major problems with merrall though this is another thing i will tell you about about later this weekend .

7HRS 45MINS OH IT WAS HOWLING WITH RAIN ........

Good day out but i'm sorry i dont feel as if it was all that hard , close on scafell pike as we always walk from odg and its about the same distance . My patner found the wind a bit hard and we only hung around on top for about half an hour .

I had planned to walk form the north face car park but due to weather condition did the pony track instead . Oh my god i cant believe what i saw , i guy with a girl in jeans she looked hypothermic no joke if it wasn't for her lipstick you would have thought she was a ghost . Then  we saw this lad with brand new pants and jacket ,boots and sack walking with a girl who had a leather jacket on and white trainers . to top it though we saw a lad on his way up with good layers and great trousers and what seemed like enough gear in his sack for emergancies only to look at his feet yep his feet .....LOOK I SAID HIS FEET THATS RIGHT BARE FEET HE HAD GODS MOUNTAIN BOOTS ON ....... THEY WERE QUITE PINK AND MUST HAVE BEEN PRETTY GOOD ON THE SOLE LOL .....

Good time though so many good stories from 4 days of scotland , cant wait to return but gotta pay for wedding first . Then i'm on a promise no walking hols only city breaks for one year . fairs fair as she has done great this year .........

Have fun, Its not difficult in summer, just a long hard slog. Views are fantasic if you get any.

Did the tourist path many years ago when I was a kid. When Stu wanted to do it I insisted on doing it in winter and it was perfect, bule skyes bright sunshine, snow covered mountains as far as you coud see.

Proof that no one really reads more than the first thread....Jules i've already done it, we did it on tuesday . rain rain and more rain with alittle wind well gust upto 40mph in places . Still on top it was pretty good met some guys from norway and came across a guy with nothing on his feet apart from skin . fancy doing it again from a different accent maybe across cmd arete but yeah i bet doing it in the snow is really cool ....

yesterday before coming home we stopped by the visitors centre to buy the tshirt and a few other goodies . oh my god , cant believe what you hear when you're stood in there . two guys walked in and asked how high it was and did they think it would stay clear all day . after being told that what they were looking at wasn't the ben .the ranger asked a few simple questions . do you have a map ?NO , do you have boots or good trail shoes ?NO, do you have a rucksack with wet gear and extra clothing ?NO, do you have a compass and know how to use it ?NO. Then my advise is dont go up , they seemed displeased with the advise oh and the fact that my misses was killing herself laughing behind the reception . we asked how often people came in and asked the same question the ranger said about 20 people a day up until english school holidays , when the number rises considerably . plus she see's countless parents wearing the best gear around and kids in crap . I can believe in the lakes you get loonies going out on the hills without the right gear but to be honest this is scotland a whole different game .

went to have alook at the cuillins from a distance ooooohhhhh baby they look inviting .

cant tell the misses as she will go sparko but argh man i've gotta go there, cant swear on here but f in h it just took my breath away .....

right off to sew on my badge before i go and have it out with a boot sales man ......

We go up to play on the Black Cullin one a year Ric, not a good place for your wife if she is nervous but they are breathtaking.

Every year I get scared and exited  just at the tought of going there, seen a couple of near misses on those mountains but I just cant stay away.

I can recomend the Croft Bunkhouse for accomadation.

http://website.lineone.net/~skyehostel/homepage.htm

JULES , if she reads this i'll not be getting married in march lol. we have come home to wedding invitations and i'm looking at camper vans . fingers crossed we've got our eye on one we keep telling everyone its gonna be our wedding car and are hoping peeps will give us a bit ofhelp getting it ... nowt like cheek eh .

Its been years since i went to scotland , i was a kid and use to go sailing with my dad we would set off for 2 weeks school holidays towing a 11ft dinghy with all our camping gear in it . my dad had a 1600 ford cortina gt and there were 4 of us , it just took ages to get anywere as there weren't the roads . Now its fandabby dozey, i cruised up there in two days stopping over at carlisle on the way up and bombed round to fort agustus to see nessy lol then out to skye, last time i went to skye we had to catch the ferry . took me 6 hours on the way home with a couple of pit stops . nice one . well wales is not as far as i thought and scotland is just a 1/4 of a day away . Just need to win the lottery or open a b&b . how did you get into ice climbing . who took who did you take stu or was it the other way round ....  SOMEONE GIVE US A CLUE ARE WE ALL SKINT OR IS IT JUST ME .

ARGH THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TIME OR MONEY GONNA HAVE TO GO NOW AND ROB A BANK LOL.......HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ...

oh right bud although i saw a few nike trainers and other makes of trainer and fell running shoe pass me , as it was the 3 peaks yacht race on the same day .

there's always some troll lol ..... i dont let them worry me i'm me and if there is someone taking the p let them i dont know them for all we know the last rope work they did was tieing their laces .... thanks for your concerns it was a comment to my good friend jules as we chat in another time and place too ......

i have pointed out to a few walkers i have met just of late that there are some real people on here who are very helpfull cheers again ric

Go back in winter and do the Ben via the CMD, call it a second honeymoon haha. It's a fabulous route but take the turn right from the Red Burn as my boyfriend winged all the way down it in the scree.

Anyone else think the snow on the Ben is lessening? I went up via the CMD in February and even compared to four years ago the snow was shockingly no where near what it used to be like.

I was interested in the pics that someone put up as I've never seen the summit plateau snowless. Does look well rocky!

There was more snow in March and April than February. And probably May too. I camped on the summit on the TGO Challenge and there was a complete covering that was 15 feet deep in places. None on the CMD though, which I did the next day, but plenty on Aonach Beag.

Oh, and I did the ascent and the CMD/Aonachs in sandals (and the Grey Corries the next day) as it was hot.