Читать книгу Ben Nevis and Glen Coe - Ronald Turnbull - Страница 20

ROUTE 8

Carn Mor Dearg Arête

Start/Finish	North Face car park at Torlundy (NN 145 763)
Distance	16.5km/10½ miles (up and down)
Total ascent	1500m/4900ft
Time	8hr
Terrain	Hill paths and a bouldery arête
Max altitude	Ben Nevis 1344m
Access	At Torlundy 3km northeast from Fort William, turn right off A82, signed ‘North Face Car Park’. Cross a narrow railway bridge, then turn right onto a track to the car park.

The Pony Path, now renamed the ‘Mountain Track’, misses out all the exciting side of the mountain. The route by Carn Mor Dearg (‘carn more jerrack’, big red stonepile) and its arête gives all the excitement you want (and if there’s a wind or some old snow, rather more excitement than that). It’s more of a clamber than a scramble, over a ridge of granite blocks. The slopes falling either side are steep, and ahead is the whole of the magnificent northern crag. Or else it’s misty, which is even more atmospheric.

This grander route is usually started from Glen Nevis. (Start as Route 10, Half Nevis; arriving at Allt a’ Mhuilinn, cross the stream and slant up left to join the rounded crest running up east to Carn Beag Dearg.) But this start from Torlundy keeps you mostly off the Mountain Track, and gives a gentler ascent of Carn Mor Dearg.

See Ben Nevis summit summary map. Start along the track, then on a wide path signed for Allt a’ Mhuilinn. It rises to cross the former aluminium tramway. A wide path slants up through the plantations, roughly south. The older route by the old tramway and Allt a’ Mhuilinn is prettier but is now disused and overgrown.

The path winds up through woods to meet a track. Keep on up the track, ignoring a side-track on the right, and as it bends left, cross a ladder stile ahead. A well-built path leads up to the left of Allt a’ Mhuilinn stream, with great views of crags ahead. After about 1km a small path forks off left to climb the broad spur of Carn Dearg Beag. It does not actually visit this first top but skirts to its right, running high along the slope, opposite the great northern crags on Nevis.

Far below you may see the CIC Hut; directly above it the path turns uphill to the crest of the ridge, then turns right and soon reaches the summit of Carn Dearg Meadhonach. Down left you can see the top tower of its east ridge, a rather scrappy scramble.

A brief dip and rise lead to Carn Mor Dearg (CMD). One clear sharp ridge runs down left (Route 12, for the Aonachs); the one for the arête is equally clear, forking right, slightly west of south.

On the Carn Mor Dearg Arête, with the Northeast Buttress of Ben Nevis (Photo S Warren)

The CMD Arête is narrow but well trodden. The crest becomes a line of piled boulders, which can be crossed without hands for the first two-thirds of the way. As the ridge bends right, southwest, and starts to rise, the final crest will require handholds, but there’s a small path down on the left.

Where the crest joins the main mountain there is a marker for the abseil posts into Coire Leis. A few more steps and the rock changes from the pale granite to darker volcanic andesite, with a broad boulderfield rising ahead. Head up beside the fierce drop on the right that’s the top of Northeast Buttress (snow here may form cornices along the right-hand edge), to join the crowds among the various junky structures at Nevis summit.

From the summit, descent is obvious in normal conditions. Using the arriving people as live waymarks, pass left of the head of Gardyloo Gully and then bear right, just north of west. In mist (or worse mist and snow) getting off the plateau is more serious as there are sudden gully tops, with snow cornices, both to left and right, and a dogleg course is required. For precision bearings, and grid refs for GPS, see Route 7.

Once over the rim of the plateau, the Mountain Track zigzags down a broad, steep slope. (Old snow in the hollow of the Red Burn, over on the right, can give easy descent, but stay in control as there’s a waterfall lower down). The path takes a final ‘zag’ to the right, to cross the Red Burn below its waterfall. After another 500 metres the Mountain Track turns sharply back left. Here you could switch to Route 11 below – the crossing of Meall an t-Suidhe.

Keep ahead, on a well built path that runs down to the outflow of Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe. Do not cross this stream, but descend rough grass to right of it. Posts mark a faint path used by quad bikes.

Join a ruined deer fence down to the Allt a’ Mhuilinn. Cross this at a metal mesh barrier below a deer fence, to join the track used for the ascent just above its ladder stile. If the stream is too full, there’s a track bridge 200 metres downstream. Reverse the ascent route, back down the track, to Torlundy.

Descent from Nevis to CMD Arête

Head southeast, down quite steep stonefield, with the way well trampled. If heading northeast down a narrowing ridge, this is the top of Northeast Buttress! Contour off right (or return to the summit and start again).

A spur descends bending left (east) to the stony cairned col at the start of the CMD Arête (NN 1708 7098, 1150m). The ridgeline is slightly uphill, the rock changes to rounded granite boulders, and a metal triangle marks the top of some abseil posts down left into Coire Leis.

Scramble along the ridge, cross Carn Mor Dearg to Carn Beag Dearg, and drop northwest down grassy slopes to join the Allt a’ Mhuilinn.