UKC Logbook - 'Tower Ridge'

800m. Almost certainly the finest winter climb in the UK available to weekend warriors, and certainly the longest. Tower ridge continues to fascinate and compel, with a magnificent mix of wall, ridge, and traverse lines taking the boldest classic alpine route almost to the very summit of Britain's highest mountain. The two crux pitches, the eastern traverse and the Tower Gap are formidable obstacles in any conditions, and many a party has been benighted attempting to solve their mysteries. On a ridge like this, route finding should be obvious, but in poor weather it can be a nightmare. Worth remembering is the Tower Ridge Rulebook (Cold Climbs) quote "Go up to the Great Tower until it gets really steep before traversing left" - not knowing this has led to many epics, several mentioned below.

J.N.Collie, G.A.Solly, J.Collier 30/Mar/1894.

Ticklists

Cold Climbs , Ben Nevis Ridges , Mountaineering in Scotland: in the footsteps of WH Murray , 3 star Scottish winter , MUMC Ticklist , The best the UK has to offer for mere mortals (apart from the lakes cos its always wet) , Chasing the Ephemeral , Winter Aspirations , Big Routes , The Great Gumclub Ticklist , Funros , Magical mysterious and unusual beasts of rock & myth , Cold Climbs (slimmed down) , EUMC - Must do climbs , 4 Star Scottish Winter , Must climb at crags , Snow and Ice , Wishlist 2021/22 , Andy Nisbets Definitive of the Grade , Scottish Winter Climbs West - "The Classics" , Scottish Winter Climbs West - 4 star routes , The boys climb da rocks. , R&T , Gwen Moffat: Space Below My Feet , Cold Climbs (Scotland) , 100 Classic Climbs | Scotland Central & Southern Highlands

Feedback Always Hide βeta

User	Date		Notes
Nathan2013	12 Mar	Show βeta βeta: Just shy of 5 hours on the route. Climbed mostly in unison, pitching the chimney, the traverse, the gap and a couple of pitches just before the top where the wind became unhelpful. Clear skies, firm compact snow all the way. Fantastic day out.	βeta?
Show beta βeta: Just shy of 5 hours on the route. Climbed mostly in unison, pitching the chimney, the traverse, the gap and a couple of pitches just before the top where the wind became unhelpful. Clear skies, firm compact snow all the way. Fantastic day out.
mountain musher	19 Mar, 2022	Show βeta βeta: Snow conditions amazingly good today... only drippy on Eastern Traverse.. Bit of type 2 fun caused by wind on the gap onwards...
Show beta βeta: Snow conditions amazingly good today... only drippy on Eastern Traverse.. Bit of type 2 fun caused by wind on the gap onwards...
SimonWooden	11 Feb, 2022	Show βeta βeta: Absolutely magnificent route. A real grand day out. Conditions were pretty good but the wind picked up as we topped out and walked to the summit. Fantastic day’s climbing.	βeta?
Show beta βeta: Absolutely magnificent route. A real grand day out. Conditions were pretty good but the wind picked up as we topped out and walked to the summit. Fantastic day’s climbing.
dunky	29 Aug, 2019	Show βeta βeta: Walking from the quarry carpark after a relaxed and late start we arrived at the Douglas gap to find few people about and nobody on the ridge. A glorious scramble with exposure and good holds the whole way I loved every minute, with huge wall all around really added to the flavour of the route. Sun finally came out when we reached the top, want to do it again.	βeta?
Show beta βeta: Walking from the quarry carpark after a relaxed and late start we arrived at the Douglas gap to find few people about and nobody on the ridge. A glorious scramble with exposure and good holds the whole way I loved every minute, with huge wall all around really added to the flavour of the route. Sun finally came out when we reached the top, want to do it again.
hoppojoe7	27 Aug, 2019	Show βeta βeta: (Summer)Lovely sustained grade 2/3 scramble, if you can handle exposure it’s a breeze. There’s always a good hold In reach even though rocks were wet you get good grip! Walk in 75mins climb 50mins, descended as the crow flys back to north face car park. Not recommended. Very loose and tiresome. Better to abseil if you have rope but 2nd best, follow the walking path down the south side and branch off right back into the Nevis valley
Show beta βeta: (Summer)Lovely sustained grade 2/3 scramble, if you can handle exposure it’s a breeze. There’s always a good hold In reach even though rocks were wet you get good grip! Walk in 75mins climb 50mins, descended as the crow flys back to north face car park. Not recommended. Very loose and tiresome. Better to abseil if you have rope but 2nd best, follow the walking path down the south side and branch off right back into the Nevis valley

Logged Ascents

1875 users have logged this

Guidebooks for Ben Nevis

Not all climbs appear in all guidebooks

552 users have this on their wishlist

Please Login to view more details on the logged ascents

Tower Ridge IV 3

Ticklists

Feedback Always Hide βeta

Logged Ascents

Guidebooks for Ben Nevis

Scottish Rock Climbs (Wired) (2022)

Scottish Winter Climbs West (2022)

Scottish Rock - South (2017)

Deep-Cut Chimney (Winter)

Feedback Comments