UKC

CMD Arete / Ben Nevis conditions

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 humptydumpty 07 May 2022
Thread moved from Destinations to Hilltalk

Hi folks, has anyone been up the CMD Arete recently?

Tomorrow's forecast looks good (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/specialist-forecasts/mountain/southwes...), and thinking of heading up CMD arete, and then down the tourist route.

I've checked a few webcams, and there seems to be some slow lying about.  I'm not very experienced in Scotland, so apologies if this is a stupid question:

Am I likely to need winter gear?

Thanks for any pointers!

 morpcat 07 May 2022
In reply to humptydumpty:

Unlikely. What patches are left will most likely be avoidable or soft. You can see some of the arete in https://mobile.twitter.com/cicwebcam

As an alternative to ankle bashing down the tourist path, you could consider coming back down via CMD or doing Ledge Route-to-CMD.

OP humptydumpty 07 May 2022
In reply to morpcat:

Great, thanks!

Ledge route looks like it would be a lot of fun, but I'm headed with someone who's not a big fan of exposure, so perhaps not a good choice for a relaxing day?

 morpcat 07 May 2022
In reply to humptydumpty:

Then they might also find the CMD 'invigorating' at certain points! 

In reply to humptydumpty:

I went up CMD and Ben Nevis a week ago. I took axe and crampons and didn’t need either. I did actually put my crampons on at the top just to make myself feel better about having carried them but the snow was quite soft and there were people in all manner of footwear successfully coming up the tourist route. CMD was a great experience - I saw absolutely nobody the whole way up. The descent was very busy until I cut across back to my car at Torlundy. If I did it again I’d probably take morpcat’s suggestion and retrace. 

 morpcat 09 May 2022
In reply to humptydumpty:

Did you make it out on Sunday? What was it like?

OP humptydumpty 10 May 2022
In reply to morpcat:

Yes, fantastic day out - thanks!  Up CMD, down tourist path.

There was snow lying around, but none of it on the ridge.  The only white stuff we had to cross was on the summit plateau and a couple of patches on the way down the tourist path, so it was fine in trainers.

We considered doing ledge route, until we saw how much snow there was in #5 Gully!  Probably fine, as I think the easy variation only crosses the gully briefly, but we didn't fancy going all the way up to find out.

In reply to humptydumpty:

Whenever i see CMD it always brings "Call Me Dave" Cameron to mind

1
 DaveHK 10 May 2022
In reply to morpcat:

> Ledge Route-to-CMD.

Worth checking whether there is enough snow still in No.5 to make that unpleasant / require an axe.

Edit: Didn't notice the dates on this, I see that was indeed the case.

Post edited at 14:20
 morpcat 10 May 2022
In reply to DaveHK:

That's why I recommended Ledge-to-CMD rather than the other way around - gives them a chance to check it out first! 

 morpcat 10 May 2022
In reply to humptydumpty:

Glad you had a good day! 

 peppermill 11 May 2022
In reply to humptydumpty:

Awesome! CMD on a clear sunny day with snow still on the Ben is by miles one of my favourite walks. 

Can't bear the main path being called the "Tourist Route" though! ;p


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