Ben Nevis North Face Survey- The Final Year...

Few people would have imagined how successful this project would have become when the concept was initially devised. The sheer ambition had to be admired- a collaboration between botanists, geologists and local Mountain Instructors and Leaders surveying some of the most difficult places to get to on the UK's highest mountain.
Despite the obstacles, despite the mountain throwing everything it had at us (plenty rain, wind and the occasional rock!), this week saw the completion of the North Face Survey of Ben Nevis and an experience I will always fondly remember.

We started last week, with a day showcasing some of the work we had been carrying out on the survey over the past 3 years. It was very gratifying to see so many people enthused by the work that's been done and rewarding so share a glimpse of it by spending some time looking at botany, geology and abseiling!

Dan from NTS sharing his passion for plants!

Some mudstone near the Allt a Mhuillin

Extreme Botany in action- an abseil down the Organ Pipes

Our next day was a training day to get the whole team back in the groove. We reviewed some of the abseiling rope systems we had been using in previous years with great success and also got stuck in to using the Field Move App by Midland Valley again. We also did a count of some previously unrecorded Wavy Meadow Grass and incidentally have now found the largest recorded population in the UK- a superb result for our training day!

I was on reduced duties this week due to my back injury so Andy and I took it in turns to be out on the hill and running communications from the CIC Hut. On Monday I was out with Cathy Mayne from Scottish Natural Heritage and Beccy, one of the indomitable Trainee Volunteer Rangers (TVR's) from Nevis Landscape Partnership! We counted the other known population of Wavy Meadow Grass in Observatory Gully and then headed to the base of Zero Gully and the Minus Face. A fantastic start to the week and some good finds too!

Wavy Meadow Grass

Looking up towards Zero Gully

Beccy and Cathy underneath the Zero Gully snow patch

After a day on comms in the CIC hut, I was out with Murdo, a photographer from the Guardian as Dave B, Dan, Ali and ourselves headed to the botanical treasure trove that is No. 4 Gully. We were sheltered from the worst of the weather and it was reassuring to see many of the nationally rare plants that were once thought to be in a very unfavourable condition, to be doing so well.

Dan counting some Tufted Saxifrage

Murdo capturing some of the action!

Dave B and Ali in No. 4 Gully

With my final day out on Friday, we were battered by a low pressure that made things feel more like November than August! Still, we managed to complete the Wavy Meadow Grass count near No.5 gully before packing up shop and heading down one last time.

There are so many people to thank for their contribution to this project. Firstly Mike Pescod for putting the team of climbers together in the first place and to colleagues Donald, Al, Scott, Dave B, Will, Connor and Andy for being a pleasure to work with. Cathy Mayne from SNH, Ali Austin and Blair Fyffe from JMT, Botanists Ian Strachan and Gordon Rothero, Roddie Muir from Midland Valley, Lewis and Susan from Nevis Landscape Partnership and our team of hard working but always smiling TVR's, Beccy, Ciaran, Hannah and Peter. Thanks to you all for making this project not only a huge success but also so much fun to be part of and creating a genuine excitement around going to work each day...

Forwards and Backwards...

My first foray back into the hills after an injury imposed rest went by with mixed success. With both Kev and I dealing with injuries, it was great just to be back in the mountains on the superb Tower Ridge, which must rank up there as amongst both of our favourite routes. We've had some memorable Alpine type days on this route as well as having to battle poor winter conditions, so a dry sunny day was an absolute pleasure!

On a separate note, I had a chance to test out my new La Sportiva TX4 approach shoes. These performed amazingly well on Tower Ridge, with the friction provided by the Stealth Rubber on the sole being superb. They were sensitive enough to feel precise when climbing but had enough cushioning to be comfortable on the walk in and out. They don't have a waterproof lining so will be used mainly on dry days but on these sort of scrambling days I think they'll be fantastic.

 Whilst all went well on the day, by the walk out we had both started to suffer a bit and by the drive down the track, I needed to get out for stretch to relieve the pain from my prolapsed disc and inflamed sciatic nerve. The next couple of weeks proved to be quite frustrating with very little improvement.
It looks like I may be in for a long journey to full fitness but I'm optimistic things are slowly moving forwards...

 To break things up a bit, I had a very enjoyable couple of days with the team from BBC Countryfile who were in Lochaber filming a special about the 60th Anniversary of Duke of Edinburgh Award. I was filming with them for a short piece on navigation so if included it might make for an interesting (or humorous) watch tonight! (1730hrs BBC one).

The Countryfile team settingup below an 'emblematic' mountain!

Meanwhile, our freelance staff have been busy! Rich had a damp but enjoyable day on Tower Ridge with Syaza and James

pic- R. Parker

pic- R. Parker

 Andy was out with Jan and David in Glencoe showing them this iconic part of the Highlands and reaching the summit of Aonach Dubh in the process.

Andy was also up the amazing CMD Arete with Tracy and her family, showing off this fantastic walking route to the UK's highest peak

Steve was out guiding Jim on Glencoe's famous scramble, the Aonach Eagach Ridge. Jim cruised the scrambling and added another couple of  Munros to his count.

pic-S. Holmes

pic-S. Holmes

 Mandy is preparing to climb Kilimanjaro in a few weeks and decided to test her self on Ben Nevis in preparation. She did really well and we wish you the best of luck with the big climb in a few weeks!

 Steve had a grand day on Ben Nevis with Andy who completed a speedy climb of Ledge Route, experiencing the grandeur of the North Face of the Ben!

Pic- S. Holmes

 Steve was also out with Isla, who was over visiting from Australia. They had another great day on the Aonach Eagach and it's fantastic when we get a chance to showcase this beautiful mountain area in all it's glory.

Pic- S. Holmes

Pic- S. Holmes

Pic- S. Holmes

Nathan was also out for us on the Carn Mor Dearg Arete this week with Jennie and Alex and even a bit of cloud didn't dampen their enthusiasm for this awesome route!

Taking things easy for a while was also aimed at being able to work in the very special North Face Survey on Ben Nevis...see next post!