Scramble Route - Tower Ridge
The best scramble in Britain, complete with a gibber factor of five reduced slightly by a large boulder which has partially filled in the extremely exposed notch that is Tower Gap...
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Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis
- Western Highlands
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Grade: 5 / Diff climb
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Overview: the ultimate British
scramble! Tower Ridge is to scrambling what The Isle of Man
TT is to motorcycling, it just doesn't get any
better.
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Equipment: Rope, slings and nuts/hexes
and a head for heights essential!
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On line
map link
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Views: 4 - Great views on the days
when you can see anything at all ;-)
Technicality: 4 -
Exposure: 5 - gibbering huge drops, particularly at Tower
Gap
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GIBBER FACTOR*
*out of
five.
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Overview Tower Ridge - the ultimate British scramble! Tower Ridge
is to scrambling what The Isle of Man TT is to motorcycling, it just
doesn't get any better.
OK some scrambles are longer, some are steeper, some are
technically harder - but Tower Ridge takes the best combination of
all that makes scrambling fun and puts it all together in a single
ridge to the summit of Britain's highest montain.
Once you have Tower Ridge safely ticked off in your log book you
also know that you can cope with pretty much anything that scrambling
routes can throw at you - you've just made the transition from
scrambler to mountaineer
Note Tower Ridge is at the very edge of what is considered to be a scramble. Some guidebooks grade it as a Diff rock climb and in winter it merits a grade III rating for its length and exposure. It's not a route for the inexperienced scrambler, best to cut your teeth elsewhere.
Bear in mind that in winter conditions, Tower Ridge is a serious,
graded winter climb with a reputation for forced benightments so
leave well alone unless you're an experienced winter mountaineer.
Something like Ledge Route is a better starter ridge / buttress
route.
Approach From the car park near Torlundy follow the
signposted path to join the Allt a' Mhuillinn. Keep the stream to
your left and ascend into the obvious bowl of Corrie Leis to the
Charles Inglis Clark (CIC) Hut. The hut is almost directly
below the base of Tower Ridge.
Route Identifying the ridge is no problem, with the impressive
Douglas Boulder obvious instantly - this "boulder" is a 300m
high lump of rock that provides an alternative, climbing grade,
start.
Once you've identified the boulder, move east around its base to
the bottom of Observatory Gully. Once the angle of the rock on the
right eases scramble up into the start of Eastern Gully and a
grassy bay.
From here ascend the scree to the obvious Douglas Gap
above. A 20m leftwards slanting chimney leads up to the crest of the
ridge on good holds, though the rock is a bit polished. Exit the
chimney to the left onto the main ridge and easier ground.
The ridge steepens again, and heads towards a section of
overhanging rock. Move right here onto a ledge and a scramble back up
to the crest of the ridge. The next obstacle is The Little
Tower, which is more of a significant steepening than an actual
"tower". The best route here takes the left hand edge, with big drops
below, onto a narrow ledge. From a small platform move back slightly
right and climb up good holds to regain the ridge above the Little
Tower.
Easy ground now leads to the base of The Great Tower. This
is as much a "crux" as the fabled Tower Gap further on, but it also
marks the point of no return. Climb the first two steep sections to
gain the Eastern Traverse on the left. This traverses round
the edge of the Great Tower to a large block which ends the traverse.
Escape Route At this point you
can go left where a large boulder lies close to the main cliff to
access a scree ledge into the upper part of Eastern Gully, and a
scree climb to the summit plateau.
To continue the ascent of the ridge go through the gap between the
boulder and the main face and emerge onto steep, exposed, ground
(rope advisable) leading back up onto the ridge above The Great
Tower.
The next section demands a head for hights and fast but safe
movement. With frightening drops to either side the traverse of the
ridge to Tower Gap is as exposed a spot as you're likely to
find, and particularly dangerous in high winds. Continue along the
ridge to Tower Gap, where things have got easier recently as a block
has detatched from the wall and fallen directly into the gap.
Again a rope is advisable here, as you lower yourself from a
projecting block into the gap. Cross the small gap to the far wall,
and climb a series of small cracks and holds on the left. The ridge
steepens one more time ahead, but a path leads left to right to a
ledge and short groove. This leads to the summit plateau and end of a
scramble that will live in your mind for ever.
The summit of Ben Nevis lies off to the left , where you can join
the "normal" route back down the mountain.
Caution Scrambling is potentially dangerous and, particularly
at the higher grades, requires technical skills and equipment to
minimise the risk. We suggest that you take professional instruction
or climb with an experienced partner.
Discuss this story
Dave,
I think you are on dodgy ground here diffs are rock climbs, they are well documented in all area's by the national governing bodies guidebooks, why change the status.
Tower ridge is universally graded as a diff rock climb and has been included in SMC journals since it was first ascended in 1892.
You say grading scrambles is a nightmare,the reason you are having problems is because are trying to merge scrambles with climbs.
What you are doing is introducing another grading system, if the grades keep creeping up you will end up like the australian system where 19 is approx HVS, 20 E1, 25 is E5.
In this country we already have our own traditional system E6 7a, french sport grades 7a,7b,7c etc.
Then we have bouldering grades-font 7a, 7b, 7c etc.
Ice climbing grades, and dry ice tooling grades.
Now you you are introducing the australian system.
You are adding unnecessary confusion to an already complex issue.
Fast forward to OM 12/05/2015
Did a fantastic (myford)grade 25 scramble on gogarth main cliff last weekend called Positron, best pitch in Wales.
Posted: 29/11/2005 09:23
WD, yes, you're right. However, Classic Rock was published AFTER the old "Easy" climbing grade was scrapped and those climbs now termed scrambles. In addition, any routes which have been regraded since they were first climbed have been noted in Classic Rock. When the book was originally compiled, it was to cover grades up to Severe. Little notes after each route show the current grade, some of which are now as high as VS. However, Tower Ridge has NOT been up- or down-graded since its original grading :)
I'd agree with Cath that 3 or 3s can overlap with Mod, and MAYBE Diff, but if the hardest English grade is 3s, and Tower Ridge is higher, as Dave says, surely it should be given the climbing grade of Diff? For English scramblers, it cold otherwise be misleading. Still, as I said, I'm not familiar with Scottish grading, so I may be wrong
Posted: 29/11/2005 12:05
Cara, first of all it's only my personal opinion that Scottish grade 5 is harder than English/Welsh 3S. However, I can confirm that it is also graded as a Diff. In the grading of routes on OM I try to follow the conventional grading as previously published for scrambles - but perhaps where the high end scrambles it would be more helpful if I also put climbing grades where applicable (say for Diff and above)?
Fortunately there won't be anything harder than Tower Ridge to cover in future, but other scrambles such as The Cuillin Ridge and sections of An Teallach Ridge will also be graded 5 with sections that also qualify for a climbing grade.
What I would like to point out is that I deliberately left out the V Diff alternative start that goes over the Douglas Boulder and that there were several references to the fact that this is an extreme route at the highest end of scrambling.
Grading is always going to be a problem - even rock climbers can't agree on their grades half ther time. While Tower Ridge is as hard as scrambling gets I personally know several people who've either/both soloed it or done in as a pair but unroped. In the description, however, I mention that ropes and pro are essential, and provide an accepted escape route before the crux sections.
At the end of the day there will never be a universally accepted, objective, grading methodology - so all I can do is explain the methods I choose for giving the grades I give. After discussion with Jon I will shortly be writing an article on grading scrambles, and in particular how I grade the scrambles published on OM. This article will be linked from all future scrambles to minimise confusion. To be honest though, personally I'd prefer English/Welsh grades and Scottish grades to work to an identical system - perhaps something for the UIAA to look at globally too.
Posted: 29/11/2005 12:28
Dave,
I think that is a good conclusion, I also think Dave is doing an excellent job, now we are going to post climbing & scrambling grades it closes a loophole, even better.
One thing you mention about grading of rock climbs, it is very difficult to grade first ascents accuratly, I have done new routes, second ascents and many climbs that have been written into the guidebook unchecked.
One reason for making 1st ascents difficult to grade is that you often have to clean them, so you know where holds are when you lead them.
A reason for undergrading is that if you overgrade it leaves you open to critics.
On second ascents you often have beta, if not the grades can be all over, doing a second ascent without beta can be really scary.
Posted: 29/11/2005 19:38
Jim,
To me a scramble is more than a question of grade - it's a question of aesthetics. A scramble should ideally take a natural line, for example an arete, chimney, corner etc, as far as possible. When grading I take into account numerous factors including: grade, exposure, sustained commitment,navigability of the route, quality of the rock. In terms of grade I consider the minimum requirements for a scramble to be the need for the use of hands as support, and the high end as being a Diff climb where a rope is advisable for most people for the majority of the route. Within these parameters I also take into account both direct comparison with other routes of which I have personal knowledge and previously published concensus reached grades.
Despite all this, it still comes down to personal opinion of both the writer and the scrambler.
Hope this helps
Posted: 29/11/2005 20:23
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