Weekly Route - CMD Arete, Ben Nevis

Big mountain days don't come much bigger than the ascent of Britain's highest peak via the stunning CMD Arete - a classic mountain route from Scotland.

Walking Route: Ben Nevis (CMD Arete)

Achintree > Carn Beag Dearg > Ben Nevis > Achintree

Distance: 12.1 miles (17.8 km)	Height Gain: 5873ft (1790m)
Overview: Big mountain days don't come much bigger than an ascent of the classic CMD Arete onto the Ben	Maps: Ordnance Survey: Expl 392 LR 41 Online: Streetmap
Strenuousness: 4 Technicality: 3 Photo Grade: 5	Start Point: NN 126 729

With the long days here it's time to really make use of them with a big mountain day, and they don't come much bigger than the classic CMD Arete route up Britain's highest mountain.

The Ben, one big lump of rock by Giles Thurston from his OM album

It's a long haul with almost 6000ft of ascent from Glen Nevis, but there's no better way to see the impressive north face of the Ben than from the ridges of Carn Dearg Meadhonach and Carn Mor Dearg.

From Carn Dearg Meadhonach the ridge continues to Carn Mor Dearg, before turning south and onto the famous CMD Arete. As far as possible keep to the crest of the ridge, but where the going gets tough you'll find a narrow and not easily spotted route on the left hand side.

The Arete eventually merges into the a steeper section as it joins Ben Nevis. The path starts south west before turning more westerly, and care should be taken to avoid the cliffs on your right. Pass the abseil posts to Coire Leis and suddenly a group of cairns around the Observatory appear marking the summit plateau.

The key is to avoid the drops on the right hand side, and in winter take particular notice of cornices. From the summit trig pillar walk 150 metres on a grid bearing of 231 degrees to near the top of Gardyloo Gully, then follow a grid bearing of 282 degrees to clear the plateau.

Note these are grid bearings and magnetic devaiation should be taken into account! This route will bring you safely to the "tourist" path and the infamous zig zags. Follow this down to the bealach and Lochan Mealt an t-Suide where you can rejoin your ascent route and retrace your steps to the car park.

Discuss this story

Charlie Foulkes

Hi there 3x of us are planning to walk 'Ben' via the mountain track to the summit on Friday 13th March.We are looking to descend towards the car park located near the 'Water of Nevis', due south. we know we can take the CMD route down, however we would really like to go due south from bearing NN170 where we will be camping for the night rather than having to walk back.Can anyone please advise if this is possible to follow a path East of Allt Coire Eoghainn.We don't have any climbing ropes so our options are limited?Any advise would be much appreciated   

 Thanks Charlie

Posted: 10/03/2009 at 13:07

Justin Norman

Its pretty steep down that way, especially for the first few hundred meters, and could be challenging if there's a lot of snow and ice on it.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20020519/ai_n12576631

My mate and I looked at it as a route up, rather than down in July but it had been raining hard and looked treacherous. I wouldn't fancy trying to get down it without a rope. Not in Mcleish's article the mention of the abseil posts.

I am sure someone's actually done it will put me right, but I'd recommend you drive round from Glen Nevis and look up it before you decide it's a safe way down.

Posted: 10/03/2009 at 16:04

Justin Norman

Posted: 10/03/2009 at 16:08

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