BEN NEVIS 1979

Friday 1st June 1979  The drive to Glen Nevis

We assembled at Scout Headquarters at 6.15 -6.30pm and left at 7pm.  Percy gave Slip, Kenny Kerr and Douglas McEwan a lift this time, and Peter Bennett followed behind to sure that nobody fell out. Chris Foster and John Hennessy shot off ahead at some ridiculous speed while Percy trundled along at a fantastic energy saving speed of 50 mph. Nelly the Elephant was given a beautiful rendering but Percy didn’t approve and promptly had a puncture outside Crianlarich.

Once repaired, we set off again through Glencoe which was superb with the long evening shadows and golden skies. The scouts, of course, did not appreciate this and spent their time writing inter-car jokes. This involved telling a joke to Peter’s car behind. The jokes were pretty yucky. For example, Captain Cook made three voyages. Which was his last one? Answer; the third.

We reached Fort William having used about two thirds of the tank (about 4 gallons). Fuel was very important because of the petrol shortage. We were unable to get petrol at this time and so we joined Chris and John who had already set up camp in Glen Nevis near the old graveyard (Grid reference 138701). All the Scouts bar Shrew’s group decided to camp as far away from the leaders as possible (mutually desirable),  and camped on an island (which wasn’t really an island any more since a dam had been built upstream). The evening was spent playing with a burst water main and supper.

Saturday 2nd June 1979  Ascent of Ben Nevis (4406 feet)

Saturday dawned beautiful and sunny with no midges. Everybody was up by 8 AM and the scouters visited Fort William for petrol and meths.

There were two parties for the ascent of Ben Nevis. Peter and Slip were to lead the younger scouts (plus Rivet) up the recognized tourist path. The rest of us, five scouts and three leaders, would attempt the more demanding Carn Mor Dearg to Nevis ridge walk.

The younger group set off from Glen Nevis Youth hostel at about 9:30 AM. They were quite slow and stopped frequently because of the heat. At 1 PM they reached the summit having taken feeling 3.5 hours, and took lunch. We left at 2 PM and dawdled down via numerous snowfields where River did his best to commit suicide. By 5 PM they had descended the mountain and were back in camp by 5:30 PM where they had a shower in the burst water main and generally looked shattered and sunburnt.

The older group started from the car park at the top of Glen Nevis at 9:45 AM. Even at this early time, it was warm, so we kept up a sensible moderate pace. Our first stop was a ruin called Steall where we stopped for five minutes and studied the map closely.  From Steall, we left the path and climbed steeply up the Allt Coire Guibhrachan for 750 feet, before reaching a wide pleasant valley which looked great for the camper wanting to get away from it all.

There were one or two stops for adjustments of clothing etc, but generally we kept going until we reached the steep slope to the saddle where we stopped for a breather and one of Chris’s Rolos. The climb to the saddle, which was 2724 feet (almost the height of the Cobbler), did not take long and by this stage we encountered the first snow. After a slight pause we set off up the steep, rocky and tiring clim westwards to Carn Mor Dearg (4012 feet). The climb became more gradual as we approached the summit and actually attained the ridge.

The whole party reached the top at 12:45 PM, three hours from the start with only four stops. This was remarkable considering the weather and was the most impressive bit of climbing done by the scouts this year. It was especially commendable as regards Shrew and Ralj, who were the youngest members of the group.

By 1.10 PM, lunch, photographs and sunbathing were over. It was windy at the top and quite chilly, so that meant most people changed into longs before tackling the final ridge to Ben Nevis, an almost fortress looking barrier of rock.

Shrew and Ralj were quite naturally tired and moved more slowly than the rest. However, everybody joined up again at the abseil post (grid reference 172711) where we had a rest before the final steep climb to the top.

There was a surprising amount of snow present and this, plus the heat and weariness, slowed us down. At 2:15 PM we released the top, having taken one hour from Carn Mor Dearg  and just missing the younger group.

It was cold and windy, so we quickly took photos for the Telegraph and sheltered by the Observatory. It was rather strange to see a constant stram of people visiting the summit after we had had the hill to ourselves for so long. There was even a runner who came up to us and asked for the time.

Neckerchiefs were presented and probably puzzled a few onlookers. David Eadie and Andrew Wilson had at last reached Everest, the first to do so, and this was a fitting mountain to get it on. They both did remarkably well to reach Everest in so short a period. When the challenge started, nobody expected anyone to reach Everest until the end of the summer.

John Hennessy, Douglas McEwan, and Colin Roach reached the Kilimanjaro stage. Kenny Kerr and Chris Foster reached the Eiger stage. In the younger group, Andy Davis reached Kilimanjaro. Kenny McLean and Slip reached Nevis.

In general, everybody who had reached Kilimanjaro by this stage were a couple of months ahead of the expected schedule.

Back to the older group who are still shivering in the cold while we woffle.

At 2:45 PM, the descent down the south bluff began with John Hennessy leading the way. Progress was slow down through the boulders, but quite fast through the snowfields. At 3250 feet,  it became grassier and easier. We changed direction, west down the Allt Coire Eoghainn. At grid reference 166706, there was a large snowdrift which proved excellent for boot skiing. Deedie demonstrated the technique quite ably but Kenny Kerr was not so graceful and did a spectacular nosedive.

The rest of the descent was in spurts of fast movement interspersed with long rests. The waterfall above the car park was very impressive but some of the smooth rock slabs alongside were quite treachorous. Chris became a cropper and Shrew almost did but kept his cool very well indeed, by abandoning his rucksack and concentrating on survival.

At four thirty p.m., we reached the car park, had a quick celebration then sped off to the shop near the youth hostel, reaching it just before closing time at 5 PM.

In the evening, a dam was built up labouriously then systematically destroyed! This progressed to complete floating, then plate bombing and thus plate destruction. Rivet was allowed to play a wide game -  by himself as it turned out.

The wind was strengthening now and pegs had to be weighed down with stones. Deedie and Ralj decided to repitch their tent in a more sheltered area.  During the night, in fact, Kenny Kerr’s tent fell down. Fortunately for us, Kenny and Douglas were able to cope and got it up again without disturbing anybody. Very considerate.

Leaders: Glip, Chris Foster, John Hennessey, Peter Bennett, Slip.

Scouts: APL Kenny Kerr, APL David Eadie, APL Douglas MacEwan, Kevin Byng, Andrew Wilson (Ralj). Colin Roach (Shrew), Graham Bolster (Rivet), Robert Wright, Andrew Davies, Kenny MacRae

Equipment: The leaders used John’s mountain tent and Glip’s marechel tent. Deedie and Ralj shared the troop’s Explorer Tent. Kenny and Douglas used Kenny’s Good Companion. Colin, Riveet and Robert shared one of the troop’s tornado tents while Kevin, Andy and Kenny Macrae shared the other.

Cooking was carried out on primuses and trangia.

Each group organized their own food

Cars: Cars were supplied by John, Chris, Peter and Percy. Petrol was a worry due to the shortage but proved no problem in the end.

Weather: Sun, heat, sun, heat, sun heat. It was windy (SW) at high altitudes and was also very windy in camp during Saturday night