For the last three days our Summer Mountain Leader candidates have been out on the expedition section of their assessment. With snow forecast down to 700m the decision was unanimous on Wednesday morning to head out west from Fort William, where the hills are lower and would be below the snow line, but about as rugged as you will find anywhere in Scotland.

We started just west of the end of Loch Eilt and went up into the hills on the north side of the road where the map is covered in wiggly little contour lines allowing endless possibilities for navigation. The early sunsets at this time of year meant we just kept walking into the night to eventually camp close to Meoble.

Day two got off to a fantastic start when a sea eagle flew low over our heads as we made our way along Druim a' Chuirn, and between the showers the views out west to the islands of Eigg, Rum and Skye were stunning. The terrain in this area is incredibly rough and it's just not possible to move at any great speed, so after camping at Kinlochbeoraid we just followed the very faint path along the side of Loch Beoraid to complete our loop.

All the candidates did incredibly well and after five challenging days of assessment we now have four more excellent Summer Mountain Leaders. Well done to them all!

Despite our last blog post being all about winter, there are still enough peaks around under the snow line for our Summer Mountain Leader Assessment to go ahead this week. For our first day, and to give the four candidates a bit of a warm up, we stayed local to Glen Nevis and headed up to Bidhean Bad na h-lolaire for a bit of navigation and some emergency procedures. It's a really nice and easily accessible spot for navigation with plenty of features to go and find.

After lunch it was time for a selection of improvised carries and a chat about emergency procedures before heading down to the River Nevis for the stream crossing part of the assessment. It was a beautiful day to be out but very chilly in the wind and when the sun disappeared behind the clouds. And also a little strange to be surrounded by snowy peaks while running a Summer Mountain Leader course!

Today was most definitely the day to be out enjoying the Scottish mountains. The winds were light, the sun was shining and we have snow! Quite a considerable amount of snow to say we're still in October, and it all made for a stunning day out.

Sarah is over from Germany for a couple of weeks to see the best bits of Scotland, and Ben Nevis certainly did not disappoint today. After starting under a slight inversion we quickly reached the snow line at about half way. There is not a huge amount of snow, just a covering and some small drifted areas, but there is a lot of rime higher up, and it was all looking incredibly wintry. The views from the summit were spectacular in all directions, and it was great to see so many people out enjoying the day.

​Nevis at Night raises funds for the Ben Nevis Fund, managed by the Nevis Partnership who work with a range of partners to manage, conserve and maintain Ben and Glen Nevis, the most iconic natural assets we have here in the Outdoor Capital of the UK. 

​On Saturday 22 September, 24 keen walkers set off to take on the UK’s highest mountain at night. The evening began around 4PM with three groups departing at different intervals to all arrive at the summit around 9PM. Nearing the summit, flood lights lit up the cairns, reflectors bounced light from head torches, and a tin whistle player filled the crisp air with music and poetry. Some of the first snowfall for the year on the summit and a dry evening with no rain made for a very successful event, enjoyed by all those involved, both participants and helpers from event organisers, Abacus Mountain Guides.

Not only did we raise funds that will go directly into the management of the Nevis area, we shone a light on Ben Nevis being a cause in its own right. It makes a fantastic venue for fundraising events and we want people to enjoy this natural resource, but we would also like to encourage organisers and participants of charity and fundraising events to act responsibly. These events should both promote and practice leave no trace messaging and contribute to the cost of maintenance of the mountain and surrounding area so that the Ben can be enjoyed for many years into the future. 

The Light Up Ben Nevis walk is the first stage in the Nevis at Night programme which we will grow into a large annual festival, accessible to everyone, and all in support of the essential work carried out by Nevis Partnership. The expanding programme will include a Dun Deardail walk in 2019 and an Elements Experience along the All Abilities Riverside Path between the Visitors Centre and the Youth Hostel in 2020 in an interactive exhibition with dance, sound, visual art and theatre.  

Fund raising for those who participated in Nevis at Night is still open so if you would like to donate please visit www.justgiving.com/nevispartnership Look out for Nevis at Night events next year and take part on 21st September 2019.

The latest bunch of Summer Mountain Leader candidates should feel thoroughly tested after the last week of assessment. Not only did we o through everything in the syllabus but the weather gave us some very challenging conditions to endure as well. These assessments require five days with 60 hours contact time and test everything from leadership and navigation to camp craft and emergency ropework. They are intense, demanding days at the best of times and we did not get the best of weather this week.

The first two day was nice enough but with a bitter wind. We covered dealing with emergencies and accidents, improvised rescue and ended up in the River Nevis doing some stream crossings. So even though it was a dry enough day we ended up getting wet anyway. The second day we went to Glen Coe to look at security on steep ground and emergency rope work. Just to make it feel realistic we had rain for much of the day.

Our three day expedition started on Wednesday with incessent rain and 70mph winds forecast for the summits. Very careful route planning was required to find somewhere to camp that would give us some shelter and involve no stream crossings. With lots of stalking going on right now the options were severely limited! We ended up starting in Kinlochleven and walking up over the low hills on the south side of Loch Eilde Mor to a camp at the far end of the loch next to the ruin of a two storey house. We were soaked but at least the tents would not blow down.

Thursday did clear up after a wet start. We spoke witrh the stalker and checked that we would not disrupt their work that day before heading up to Glas Bheinne. This is a Graham I think and has brilliant views in all directions. The mountains are turning red as the autumn progresses with the deer grass and bracken going first. In amongst the heather some of the blaeberries have turned red as well as some ladies mantle. In another month all the hills will be a deep vibrant red.

We went over the next two lower hills as well before going down to Ciaran Bothy. It looks like the MBA has put some work into this bothy recently because it is very clean and tidy, and nearly all painted white. We were grateful to be able to use the bothy to cook in but we camped in the tents outside. It was a cold, starlit night and we woke to a frost and ice on the tents this morning!

So today it was just a case of walking 14km along the nice little trail all the way back to Kinlochleven. The candidates planned the whole day including the route, what time to set off, the pace we needed to maintain walking and the navigation. They all did very well and we got a great result with five passes; five new summer mountain leaders who will go out and inspire many more people to a life of adventure in the mountains. Well done!

Some days you just have to accept that the weather is not on your side but to go out and try to make the best of it anyway. Today was one of those days. With winds of up to 100 mph forecast for the summit of Ben Nevis we cancelled the group walk which was due to head up there this morning, but one group member, John, was keen to get out and make the best of the day at a lower level. Options were limited but we hoped we would get a bit of shelter and some good views on the path up to the CIC Hut at the foot of the North Face of Ben Nevis. It certainly didn't feel sheltered! We did, however, manage to get to within 10 minutes of the hut before the gusty wind and swollen burns became too much and forced us to retreat.

With plenty of time and enthusiasm to spare, John was up for making the short walk in to see Steall Falls, and it was well worth pulling on the damp waterproofs again. The volume of water pouring of the mountains at the moment made the short walk quite spectacular, and it was great to see a number of other people out making the most of a very wild day in Lochaber.

Dry rock for climbing has been in short supply for a couple of weeks. Today was no exception. It stop raining for much of the day and in some shelter from the wind it was not so cold. But it was certainly wet so Nigel and I went to climb Barn Wall Route on the East Face of Aonach Dubh. This is in some scrambling guidebooks and is graded as a Moderate climb. Dont be fooled though, this very much like a rock climb, especially with cold and wet fingers!

The climb goes straight up this very impressive wall with lots of comfortable terraces for belays, lending it to lots of short pitches very nicely. The climbing is excellent and with positive, incut holds on red rhyolite. It's also very steep and has an intimidating feel to, caused mostly by the sparse protection! If you expect to find easy belay anchors on blocks and spikes you'll be disapointed. Take a good selection of nuts and a good nose for sniffing out the placements.

It was a great choice for today, giving us a really good experience of rock climbing with moderate moves. The rain came in again later this afternoon and we're expecting a very stormy few days. High pressure might start to return next week so we might get some more settled and calm weather then.

The mixed and stormy weather continues. We have just finished the second half of the Summer Mountain Leader Tarining Course we started last week. On Wednesday we looked at accidents and emergencies, how to manage them, look after the rest of the group, work with MRTs, satisfy our duties of care and responsibilities to different people and bodies. We also practiced improvised self-rescue and stream crossings before palanning and preparing for the expedition. With steady 40mph winds forecast along with freezing  at the summits and bursts of heavy rain forecast we needed to plan carefully.

We went to Kinlochleven where the Skyrunning World Championships are being held currently. We didn't go quite as fast as the runners but we did have the gear to stay warm and comfortable over night next to Loch Eilde Mor after walking high around Sgurr Eilde Mor and practicing lots of navigation. We set the tents behind the walls of a ruin at the NE end of the loch and did some night navigation on the other side of the loch. The new hydroelectric scheme on the loch means the water level is a metre or two higher than it used to be. The causeway across the head of the loch is still OK to get across but the water is pretty high on it!

We enjoyed a good sleep and were away again early this morning for more navigation training. The five trainees were great fun to work with on this course and I hope they got a lot out of it. When they have done their consolidating and passed their assessments they will make exellent Summer Mountain Leaders.

The mixed weather will last into next week by the look of it. There is a hint though that higher pressure might start to bring slightly warmer and more stable weather at the end of next week. Let's keep our fingers crossed this works out!

It was touch and go today whether we would manage to get round the CMD Arete. The wind was forecast to be about 40mph from the SW with stronger gusts and showers of snow on the tops. However there was also mention of a lull in the weather in the late morning. So Mike, Dianne, Chris and I took a gamble with every intention of turning back from Carn Mor Dearg if it was too wild. Walking up from the Allt a'Mhuilinn was already blustery and on the flank of Carn Beag Dearg it was really quite windy but it stayed mostly dry for us on the walk up.

The CMD Arete is a very narrow ridge with long slopes down both sides. It would not be fun in strong winds and with wet snow being blown onto us at the same time, making us lose strength and accuracy of foot and hand placements, it would be a poor decision. Thankfully for us the calmer weather seemed to come at just the right time. We did get a blast of hail as we were on Carn Mor Dearg but it had been quite calm before that and it was calm again afterwards. So I've already had the first face blast of hail of the coming autumn and winter! There will be many more I'm sure.

Training the next generation of Summer Mountain Leaders who will, no doubt, go on to be great mountaineering instructors, is a very good job. On our training course this week we have five young and enthusiastic new leaders who are keen to learn and passionate about being in the mountains. In Cecile, Isla, Luke, Ellie and Rowan we have a range of previous experience and backgrounds, as well as knowledge, which we are all sharing and learning from. I'm sure I learn as much as the trainees on these courses and it's brilliant to be able to share some of the experience I have gaimned through the last 25 years of mountain leading.

Yesterday was the first day of the course and we set it up by looking at the scope of the award, what kind of work you can do with it and what the work entails. We did some core navigation training using a stepped approach to teaching navigation, learnt about the weather, leadership styles and models and what kit to carry. Today it was all about lweadership and we went to Ben Nevis North Face to look into the corries here.

There are still a few snow patches and we had hail down to 900m today. It's pretty chilly right now! On the summit in the cloud it must have been quite uncomfortable for Sally and Hiran who walked up the mountain track today as well. Most of the day was dry though with the cloud sitting just on the summit. On the training course we looked at leading people on all sorts of terrain from easy paths to steep scree, rocky sections and slippery grass. We also looked at lots of plants and flowers, geology and geography, land use and designations designed to protect it as well as the heritage and ethos of walking and climbing in the Brittish hills. It was quite a full day!