This meet it best suited to experienced winter climbers.
5 Nights at the CIC hut situated at the foot of the North Face of Ben Nevis. The UK's premier winter climbing crag and home to a huge range of routes including many classics!
The hut is booked from the Sunday to the Friday morning so it's recommended to travel up on the Saturday, stay at the Fort William Backpackers' hostel, and then use Sunday to walk up to the hut with food and gear for the week and ideally do a climb that day as well. Every year there's talk of staying on after the Friday, but in recent memory this has never actually happened. 5 days straight of climbing and staying at the hut is normally enough to sate the rat.
The CIC hut is basic. It has a kitchen, toilets, running water and drying room, but no shower. For details on facilities, and the hut more generally, see https://www.smc.org.uk/huts/cic.
All gear and food needs to be taken up on foot from the Ben Nevis North Face Car Park which takes around 2hrs 30 mins and is a real slog. But once you're there, there are relatively short walk-ins to all the climbs on the North Face.
Early march is typically a good time for ice routes on Ben Nevis so you're likely to get more out of this meet if you're happy on this surface and can climb at least Scottish grade III, but there are enough easier routes to fill a week also. This meet is not recommended for those that favour winter walking as options for that activity are very limited.
The cost of a bed in the hut is £26 p.p.p.n. The full cost of £130 is payable on sign up. Unfortunately due to high demand for the CIC hut in the winter season the Scottish Mountaineering Club cannot offer refunds in the event of cancellation. If you need to cancel your place then please find someone else to take it and transfer you the money.
Guidebook: Scottish Winter Climbs - SMC (available in paperback or to download on the Rockfax app)
Scottish Winter Climbs West - Scottish Mountaineering Club
Travel to Ben Nevis: The drive is about 10 hours from London and can easily be done in a day.
Payment Required!
One of the following payments is required for this meet at the time of booking.
CIC hut fees £130.00