Climb Ben Nevis

I’ve attempted to climb Ben Nevis twice over the years and twice we have had to turn back due to bad weather. Yesterday, F went up on his own and back in one day. (A 3.30am start to catch the train from Edinburgh to Fort William and then back on the 6pm train to make it back home by 11pm!) What a day! But, he made it to the top and it was a glorious day! If I had gone with him we would have had to stay in Fort William overnight because I’m not as fast or fit as F at climbing mountains! So anyway, I’ve decided to give up on this one. :-( Apparently the last time we were there together we made it to about 45 mins – 1 hour to the summit. Damn fog! But at least F can mark this off as complete on his 43 things list!

It’s booked for the 15th May 2009!! Just got to get my fitness up now!!!

I did it and even though it was mid-july it was still freezing up there and I had alot of rain but it was worth it.

Wat a weekend – Blue skies, sunshine and spectacular views over the lochs..mmmm totally worth it! Still smiling :)

and shopped out! Spent hours rummaging through all five of the outdoor specialist shops on high street yday. stressful!

This is what I got:
Hiking boots – need to break ‘em in
light hiking socks
waterproof pants
waterproof jacket
fleece
Poles – got em on sale
First aid kit/survival blanket
flask

Despite my lady’s accident on Wednesday, she decided – swollen ankle and all – to at least make a start on Friday, we could always turn back if necessary.

Well… what a trooper, we made it all the way up and back down in safety. It took a lot longer than it would if we were both 100% – a total of 8 hours, 24 minutes instead of an estimated six hours.

But what an experience! I’ve never been to a ‘dangerous’ summit before – but with sheer cliff edges and overhanging snow, it was a real eye-opener. We were very fortunate to have good visibility. I can imagine that in cloud, you could easily be walking on a dangerous piece of overhanging snow before you even realise you’re anywhere near the edge.

We spent around 15 minutes at the summit and then noticed a cloud coming in and decided we needed to be off the top toute suite. So a quick walk down to the safety of the path and the cloud came in and started raining on us.

Coming down was incredible… the first 740 metres down to the lake feels like a whole mountain and you expect the car to be there round the next corner, but there’s still another 600 metres to descend at that point. What a slog!

I’m still on a buzz now, several days later!

I’m dead!

I ran up and down the stairs at work yday eve in a bid to simulate hill climbing :p today my calf musles have turned in to rocks!

With less than 24 hours before we leave home… we were playing badminton last night and my lady and her court-mate decided to step on the same piece of court. Result: a badly twisted and swollen ankle.

It’s not too bad in the greater scheme of things, but not the sort of thing you want when embarking on a 1300m climb.

We’ll take the trip to Scotland, but not sure if we’ll go up The Ben.

Couldn’t train over the w/e – Met up with the ski group on sat eve which was great but lost sunday nursing the mother of all hangovers
:(