Freezing on Ben Nevis.

Northerly winds have brought the temperature down markedly on Ben Nevis. Last night it was freezing on the summit and we saw rime ice growing on the rocks and cairns. This forms when loud is blown onto exposed rocks in sub-freezing conditions, making ice grow into the wind. By the time Alistair and I got there is was starting to melt away but it was certainly still cold on top.

Alistair has walked a good few mountains in Ireland and around the world so we got on absolutely fine on Ben Nevis. The colder conditions were ideal for walking up and as long as you put on some warm clothes when you stopped it was fine then too. Hats and gloves were essential though. We got the usual view from the summit unfortunately but the cloud had risen to 1200m on the way down so we had brilliant views over to Rum and down to Mull. It's been really quite a changeable week of weather so we were lucky to have a pretty good day today.