Hello Harre,
Ian S is the person to talk too he will probably be along sometime soon he has been very helpful to me in the past.
Blush
I try my best.
Hi Harre,
April can go either way on the Ben. Early April is often quite wintry still, in fact it often gives good ice climbing conditions.
If it helps, be aware that you can hire winter kit (boots, crampons, axes) from Ellis Brigham in Fort William. Not ropes tho...
If you're experienced winter mountain walkers then the CMD Arete under winter conditions is technically not too demanding but it still lies at the upper end of what can be considered winter walking due to it's length, exposure, propensity to form cornices, and level of commitment. Think of it like Striding Edge but narrower, more exposed, much much longer and potentially a lot more wintry. It's about a Scottish winter climbing grade 1, whatever that means!
The peak of Carn Mor Dearg itself under snow calls for good mountaineering skills as the long even slopes are not somewhere to contemplate a slip and slide! The slopes from the end of the CMD onto the summit of the Ben are no place to be under snow unless your axe arrest and crampon skills are up to it.
All in all it's not the sort of ground where a rope would be particularly usefull unless you're well versed in Alpine type rope techniques.
Even the Pony track descent calls for good winter skills and top notch navigation in adverse conditions.
Having said all that, sometimes in April the arete is free of snow and when dry is a summer scramble of about grade 1 difficulty, a fun but big day out, and not particularly demanding if you're happy with easy scrambling terrain. The thing to think about then is the slope from the end of the arete up onto the plateau which is normally still snow covered.
Enjoy yourselves whatever you decide to do. If you have other questions then get in touch and I'd be happy to try and help.
Ian
www.mountainfreedom.co.uk