Scotland Mission: Retrofitting and Ben Nevis' North Face

timmus

A2OC Donor
Hello fellow appreciators of nicely shaped aluminium!

I've just returned from Scotland, having been north of the border for a fortnight. During the first week, I was working on a few A2s in and around the Glasgow/Edinburgh area. Many options were retrofitted to the cars of some of our northern stalwarts.
During the second week, I was joined by Tom (Tagscuderia) in his Sprint Blue Storm and we headed into the Highlands. Our original intention was to claim as many summits as possible, but unfortunately the weather was in no mood to allow such things. However, on our final day, we got the weather window we'd been waiting for.

At 1343m, Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK. The summit is the highest ground for over 400 miles; the nearest higher ground is in the Scandinavian Mountains in western Norway. Neither Tom nor I had climbed it before, so we decided we'd tackle its north face.

The photo and the map below show the general shape of the upper sections of Ben Nevis. To the south-west of the summit, the slopes are relatively gentle (shown on the right in the photo), but the north-eastern side is covered in steep butresses and cliffs. The photo doesn't really manage to convey scale. It was taken whilst stood at the top edge of the map looking due south, at roughly 400m. The summit is nearly a full kilometre of vertical height above us.
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Tom and I walked to the mountain rescue post shown near the centre of the map (altitude 680m). From there, you get a better sense of what lies between you and the summit.
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At this point, we met a couple of other climbers who were attempting the same route as us (known as the Ledge Route). We loosely teamed up, meaning they also feature in some of my photos. Rather than writing a description for everything, I'll just let you admire the views...

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...more in the next post...
 
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Never a bad time for a spot of reading...
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Cornices on the north-east edge. Don't walk too close!
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The view over Loch Linnhe, with white as far as the eye can see (altitude 1220m)...
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The obligatory summit photo, even though the view is now totally obscured by cloud (altitude 1343m - the highest point in the UK)...
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It was an incredible day to end a week of dire weather. I hope people like seeing these photos of a part of our island not frequented by many. It was great catching up with Murdo, James and Cammy. Thank you all for your hospitality. Should you wish to post about the work I did on your cars, maybe do it in this thread to try to keep with the A2 theme of this forum!? :)

Cheers,

Tom
 
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My Bones ache even more just looking at all that cold snow! Looks like a great time was had!


Sarge
 
Never a bad time for a spot of reading...
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Except perhaps in the heart of Ben Nevis' most avalanche prone gully... the day after a deluge of fresh snow? :p And our single serving friends looked decidedly scared when the ice fell in Coire na Ciste!

Got to give a hat tip to the FSi which loved the highlands and is currently averaging 48MPG with zero complaints. Now, any other A2 alpinists?
 
Except perhaps in the heart of Ben Nevis' most avalanche prone gully... the day after a deluge of fresh snow? :p And our single serving friends looked decidedly scared when the ice fell in Coire na Ciste!

Got to give a hat tip to the FSi which loved the highlands and is currently averaging 48MPG with zero complaints. Now, any other A2 alpinists?

Hi Tom,

First of all, are you impressed at the speed with which I got those photos sorted? It usually takes me months!
I very much look forward to seeing yours. Please post them here. Do I feature in any of them? :)

Yes, your FSI did wonderfully. A beautiful motor very much at home on those lovely Highland roads.
 
First of all, are you impressed at the speed with which I got those photos sorted? It usually takes me months!
I very much look forward to seeing yours. Please post them here. Do I feature in any of them? :)
Yes, your FSI did wonderfully. A beautiful motor very much at home on those lovely Highland roads.
I genuinely am! You're going to put me to shame I feel; I haven't even transferred them.

I love the one of me with the CMD as a backdrop, and I might start wearing my orange helmet more; there I was worrying about how daft I'd look ;) . You seemed a tad concerned that I was going to walk off The Wall and from that photo I can see why! Unfortunately I didn't get many climbers in my photos as I was always bringing up the rear having looked at the guidebook or eaten a Crunchie. I do have a group shot on Carn Dearg though.

An FSi cruising up sunny Glencoe with the OSS open, doesn't get any better than that :) .
 
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