Participants: Mike, Maddie, Christine, Euan, Stephen M, Davide, Fraser R
By Christine Bonham
The weekend kicked off with everyone arriving at the villa - sorry, er, the Riasg Hut - Friday evening. With a forecast of 28°C on the cards for Saturday, the group had a wholesome Friday night, keeping energy in the bank for what was shaping up to be a big day.
Around the kitchen table, Mark of the Climbers’ Club, up from Cornwall, regaled the group with tales of an epic day on Ben Nevis, all while never taking his eyes off a Sudoku. At the request of the group, Maddie and Mike whipped out Scout, a trick-taking card game that had Euan, Christine, and Steve very captivated. Varying levels of understanding were noted, but we’ll chalk that up to pre-adventure jitters. Fraser and Davide showed up a bit later and everyone was in bed early.
Maddie was up early doors to tackle the Creag Pitridh circuit near Newtonmore. An epic round of 3 Munros, 25km, 1265m ascent - but it was no sweat (probably actually a lot of sweat). She smashed it out and was back well before 3pm.
Meanwhile, Mike and Stephen headed to Glen Nevis to explore some crags. Mike got back in the game and led a climb after a bit of a hiatus! Unfortunately, the heat had the final say, and the rock was eventually too hot to handle, forcing the pair to call it quits in the afternoon. They met up with Maddie for a paddle in the River Spean while she swam.
Elsewhere on the Ben, Davide and Fraser originally had planned for Centurion — an HVS beast with 190m of ascent across 7 pitches. But after an initial go on the first pitch, they had a proper look at the day ahead and their heads were turned: Tower Ridge was calling, and they didn’t look back. According to Davide, it was no mean feat, especially with a full trad rack & two ropes! The pair topped out in the late afternoon sun. They walked out via the tourist track, thankfully managing to find some shade behind a boulder on the way, as the sun was blazing.
Euan and Christine coupled up for a big day on the CMD Arete. It started off tough, but the ascent flew by as the panoramic views of the NE face were immaculate.
The summit of Ben Nevis had a festival like energy — they were greeted with flags, music, school groups, inappropriate footwear, and sunburns. Post-hill, they joined the river dip club before heading back to the hut for dinner and a few more rounds of games.
On Sunday, Steve headed over to Nevis Range for a mountain biking sesh. Meanwhile, the rest of the remaining gang — Davide, Maddie, Mike, Euan, and Christine — kept things low-key, opting for a 6km woodland walk around Roybridge. The final river dip and a stone-skimming session sealed the deal on what can only be described as the ideal heatwave weekend!
