Did Snowdon this weekend with the gang and are now looking to do Ben Nevis next month. Just scoping this out, where to stay, best climb, best decent and what else to do while we are there??
Any comments or advice welcome…..

on the bike? weather could be very dodgy by november. then again the sun could be splitting the trees!

Best climb is Tower Ridge, but I doubt you’d manage it on a bike….

Yep….on the bike.
Cracking day yesterday at Snowdon, good weather, considering what we’ve had of late.

As in cycle to the top !? Is it possible ?

Maybe I should have asked for the easiest route to the summit with a bike 🙂

Sounds wicked whatever route….

Can i come ? 😆

fieldy

First familiarise yourself with the STW etiquette on such undertakings or prepare to be flamed.

STW etiquette???? Didn’t know there was such a thing, but happy to be educated accordingly 🙂

Already snowing on the Scottish tops

November, likely cold/wet/windy and white on the top but you might get lucky. Two things for sure though, short hours of daylight and a long way up.

The tourist route from Glen Nevis is very boring to walk up and would be a very dull slog of a push, and I can’t see it being much fun to ride down as there tends to be plenty of people in the way. It’s probably the easiest route up though.

I reckon Ben Nevis is a mountain best done without the bike. Good biking elsewhere in the area. Walking up via approach to CIC hut is good. The mountain has more character on the north side.

Not sure the Venomous one will be to pleased, but you never know, perhaps there will be a break in the cycle of severe winter storms, to allow a couple of goons with bicycles to make an ascent, happy trails.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bogtrotters-ride-the-ben-on-a-bank-holiday/page/12

Help needed to put the mountains into mountain biking – riding the Munros

It is doable, likely a significant amount of snow (and more likely, ice) up there in a few weeks.
There are better hills than the Ben on a bike, and there are better times of year to attempt it.

It looked ace today though 😉

Best climb Tower Ridge?? Not done Torro, Centurion, Minus One Direct, Titan’s Wall or Trajan’s Column then?? 😉

Rode it in August on a cracking day with my mate Dave. We went up via the CIC hut then round to the walkers path. Back the same way. We had a great day even though Dave’s rear mech hanger ripped off just after the hut on the way up. It’s rocky and loose on the main path but even with lots of walkers, there was good craic. 😀

In November, you can have a great day or a lousy one…..much like any other time of year. The Ben tends to attract the clouds even when surrounding peaks are clear. I recall reading that it is in cloud 9 days out of 10. Eek! It’s one to keep for a lovely day for which MWIS is your friend!

Matt

Where we’re you? We were up Stob Coire a Chairn with the bikes. A great early morning start meant we only hit cloud as we came down from the summit. The Ben seemed to be in its usual bank of cloud kind of like Skull Island in King Kong!

Where we’re you?

Hiding at the bottom…. Day with the kids on the blues n reds….
And yes, mad cloud thing all day on the hill.

Its a long way, for a short day and probable crap weather _ I’d go somewhere else and come back in May/June.

As sanny says – if you then be VERY prepared not to ride it. There’s a very good reason that the English are over-represented in the Mountain Rescue statistics.

Nick1962

“First familiarise yourself with the STW etiquette on such undertakings or prepare to be flamed”

Tell us more about this STW etiquette?

Not done Torro, Centurion, Minus One Direct, Titan’s Wall or Trajan’s Column then??

…or Point Five, Galactic Hitchhiker, Psychedelic Wall, Astral Highway? 😉

You could check out the weather forecast (for the mountain and NOT Fort William!) Personally I wouldn’t go near it with a bike in Nov. It’s nice to reach the top with a bike when it’s in double figures. You will want to hang about for 15-20 mins for the views/getting sorted for the descent. I would guess that starting a ride from the top,in a group,in temps under erm,7c? wouldn’t be fun (or safe) so choose the day well.

It’s always been June to Aug that I went up it if I remember right.

I’d also be leaving before 8am to be safe. Anything after midday is asking for a yellow air bus down to Bedford Hospital!

I wouldn’t say definitely no but would point out that the likelihood of getting a great weather day is limited so you need to plan for that.

I’ve had some great blue sky days in November in the high mountains with no snow and nary a breath of wind. Beinn Dearg and Carn a Chlamain last November spring to mind. If there is no snow, your options open up.

In the middle of March, I was up Dreish and Mayar with the temp approaching 20 degrees with virtually no snow to speak off. It’s all about timings and luck.

It’s a fun ride but be prepared to turn back if the weather is guff. I wouldn’t waste a day’s riding to ride in claggy, freezing cloud and risk dropping off the edge of the mountain. If you aren’t familiar with the mountain, save it for a good day and you’ll definitely thank me for it. 😀

Thanks for the comments so far. I guess we’d be pretty mad to try it Nov? It will remain on the list and we’ll see what the others think. Cheers

>I guess we’d be pretty mad to try it Nov?<

Not really but the weather odds are stacked against you at this time of year.

Could be a heatwave / bluebird day or full on blizzard. Unless you are on a mission and suitably equipped / experienced then be prepared to adopt plans B,C or D 😉

If you travel a long way as it’s the only day you’ll get to do it as a group.. don’t get pulled into the idea of ‘well we’ve come this far.. we ain’t turning back home now!’ and get caught out. Plenty more great riding in the area if it goes a bit ti*s up.