Dom - I've got a week in the Highlands the beginning of next month
so hopefully the weather will still be ... not icy on higher ground!
Never done anything similar, no Crib Goch, no Striding or Sharp Edges - I've always have the mindset that the view's the same from the top of a mountain no matter how you get to it. Trouble is, I keep reading that the views of the north face of Ben Nevis are stonkingly good from the CMD arête and it's got me wondering if it's do-able by a total novice to that kind of stuff
Skip - cheers for those links. Believe me, I've googled, youtubed and surfed
WalkHighlands has been a mine of information for other walks in the Fort William area and I might possibly have dismissed the CMD info as "totally terrifying" at some stage. Time for a re-visit/read me thinks
I actually found quite a useful article in Trail mag a while back about climbing the Ben via the CMD route though I think it was part of a 2 day wildcamp type thing. The OM discussion seems to fall into 2 camps of exhilarating/scary and there's nowt to it
Deb - the vertigo thing is fine so long as I can either hold onto things or bum-shuffle. Coming down Devils Kitchen was a fine example of that where I had to either down-climb or bum-shuffle down it cos I couldn't step down forwards as others were doing because the sheer drop was making my head go swimmy (like how you feel when you've had too much to drink and the room spins
). It's not fear. I just lose my balance really easily if I don't hold on or sit
A wingman/woman would be great but seeing as I'm there on my own ....
Arrrrgh
*stamps foot in frustration*