Tower ridge is arguably the greatest winter climb available in the United Kingdom. With a long sweeping alpine style sets of mixed climbing you’re guaranteed for an amazing day out! This guide will tell you everything you need to successfully climb Tower Ridge in winter.
Feel free to check out my other climbing adventures in Mexico HERE!
KEY DETAILS
- Distance – 600 metres of ridge climbing. 14 kilometres of hiking.
- Days required – 1
- Approach – 7km in, 7km out
- Total Incline – 400 metres
- Total Decline – 400 metres
- Highest Point – Ben Nevis Summit 1,435M
- Climbing grade – a IV / 3 by Scottish winter grades.
- Guide – I used Caspar McKeever for a day out. Couldn’t recommend him more!
- Accommodation – Fort William has plenty of accommodation for all budgets. See below.
- Uncomfortable Factor – 6/10
TOWER RIDGE ROUTE
The Tower Ridge route follows a very impressive ridgeline from the valley floor, up over 3 main features to the summit of Ben Nevis. The three main features are the Little Tower, The Great Tower and the crux of the climb, Tower Gap. Each aspect is covered below.
WHERE IS TOWER RIDGE?
Tower ridge lies one gully to the north west of the Ben Nevis summit, near Fort William in northern Scotland. Accessible by taking the Charles Inglis Hut (CIC Hut) track from north face car park.
HOW TO GET TO TOWER RIDGE
The start of the Tower Ridge climb in winter is accessible by taking the Charles Inglis Hut (CIC Hut) track from north face car park.
GETTING TO FORT WILLIAM
Wherever you are, Fort William is your target. I took a train from London on a Thursday afternoon to bag a Friday, Saturday, Sunday of climbing before taking the sleeper train back. Train cost me £400 all up, however, it was extremely easy to navigate and maximise my climbing time.
PERSONAL GEAR EQUIRED TO CLIMB TOWER RIDGE IN WINTER
- Mountaineering boots – I used Scarpa Mont Blancs.
- Crampons – C2’s to go with mountaineering boots. I use Grivel g12’s in New Matic style. They’re the industry best and a very traditional mountaineering crampon.
- 2 technical Ice axes – I used Petzel’s Quarks for this. They’re a nice middle ground between a traditional mountaineering axe and a super technical ice climbing tool but allows use for both.
- Harness – Personal preference, I use Black Diamonds Compression.
- Thick socks – Wool or bambo.
- Base layer bottom – Only ever use Merino Wool. They’re expensive but last and keep you warm without overheating.
- Softshell / hiking pants – I used Arcteryx gamma’s
- Hard-shell pants – Dependant on weather.
- Base layer top – Again, Only use Merino wool.
- Fleece / mid layer top – I used TNF Glacier Fleece
- Light puffer jacket – I used Decathalon’s MT100 jacket
- Hard-shell / windbreaker – I used Arcteryx Beta jacket
- 2 pairs of gloves – light and heavy/mittens
- Backpack – 40L
- Food / snacks
TECHNICAL GEAR REQUIRED TO CLIMB TOWER RIDGE IN WINTER
I used a guide to climb Tower Ridge in winter. Casper is a legend and brought all the kit. If you don’t use a guide make sure to pack the below.
- Rope 50-60M
- Locking Carabiners
- Rack – 5 quick draws, a selection of nuts, cams and slings.
COSTS TO CLIMB TOWER RIDGE IN WINTER
Accomodation – I stayed in a budget offering at the Bank st Lodge at £50 per night. More premium offerings are definitely available.
Guide – £275 pounds is the going rate for a guide in Scottish winter.
Food and Drink – There are many options from cheap to expensive food and drink in Fort William.
Transport – Trains to and from London cost around £400 pounds. This is on the more expensive side as I took the sleeper home.
ACCOMODATION OPTIONS TO CLIMB TOWER RIDGE IN WINTER
There are multiple options in Fort William
Budget – I used this with the Bank St Lodge. It was comfortable enough and served the purpose with a very acceptable £50 per night.
Middle – The Garrison serves as a great middle ground option, close to town.
Luxury – The Inverlochy Castle Hotel is probably the area’s most premium offering.
DO YOU NEED INSURANCE TO CLIMB TOWER GAP IN WINTER
It’s climbing. There are sharp things and lot’s of things to fall off. Mountain insurance is always advisable!
BOOKING A guide TO CLIMB TOWER RIDGE IN WINTER
I used Caspar (below) for my guiding. He’s a great lad who does a lot of work in Antarctica. He’s full of interesting stories and extremely competent in the mountains. Caspar knows how to assess the climbers ability and push them a little further then what they think is possible.
TOWER RIDGE ELEVATION
The finish of Tower Ridge sits just below the Summit of Ben Nevis, UK’s highest mountain. A ten minute walk will have that summit bagged. This also mean Tower Ridge is slightly lower that 1,345 Metres.
The start of the climb is slightly above the CIC hut at 680 metres. This means about a 600 metre climb to have you standing on top.
TOWER RIDGE IN WINTER GRADING
Tower ridge is graded a Scottish winter IV/3. Offering a very long alpine style route with plenty of exposure and opportunity’s for mishaps. A quick run of Tower ridge can be 3-4 hours.
It’s also not uncommon to be on the route for 8 hours or more. Make sure yourself and your partner are comfortable with this style of climbing or, for peace of mind, book yourself a guide.
MY EXPERIENCE CLIMBING TOWER RIDGE IN WINTER
I climbed tower ridge in winter as part of a 3 day climbing trip to Fort William. We tackled the ledge to the west of Tower Ridge on day 1 and some ice climbing off the back of Nevis Range ski field on day 3. We attacked Tower ridge on day 2 with no wind, but a moderate amount of fog around.
Caspar picked me up for a reasonably early start at 7:30am. We were on the approach track by 8ish. This was our second approach to the Ben in 2 days so the legs were feeling a bit tired.
THE APPROACH
One hot tip is to take some runners with you. The approach is quite long and after a few days in mountaineering boots, your feet will thank you!
Passing the Charles Inglis Memorial hut we stopped at the base of Tower Ridge to kit up. Swapping the shoes for boots and crampons, putting on harnesses and checking we had all the gear accessible to a speedy summit.
The climb starts with a moderate 40 degree start up a snow incline of the valley separating tower ridge and the Ben Nevis summit. About 100 metres up, a sharp right hand turn leads to a quick traverse into the mixed climbing of Tower Ridge route.
The first quarter of the route is moderate roped scrambling. Utilising rock features for protection on the go. Plenty of opportunities exist to place extra protection for peace of mind however it is possible to move quite quickly. If one was to pitch the entire route it would take days so keep speed in mind.
LITTLE TOWER
Moderate scrambling will take you to the little tower about halfway up the route. Around 2 pitches with some moderate chimney style climbing will lead you over the top little tower. A steady snow slope offering a great view of the north face valley, overlooking the CIC hut.
GREAT TOWER
On approach to the Great tower there are two options, left or right around the tower. Left is the eastern traverse and most common, right is the western traverse and slightly more difficult. We went left.
The eastern traverse contains a 20 metre long pitch some of the most exposed climbing on Tower ridge. In shy conditions you’ll find lots of air under your feet. If the traverse is banked out with snow it’s a bit easier and makes reaching the halfway piton less mentally challenging.
After the traverse is a steep, exposed chimney up the eastern side of the great tower. I found this to be the first major crux on tower ridge. Following the chimney climbing leads to some moderate tooling showing off amazing views down the valley. The exposure is there but not enough to scare you.
TOWER GAP
Topping out on the great tower you’ll find yourself at the infamous tower gap, the second crux to the route.
A 40 metre long knife edge with a few hundred metres of exposure either side.
At the end of the knife edge lies the gap itself. A 4 metre down climb onto a small ledge (below) with dizzying amount of air either side. In the gap you’ll find pre set protection to clip into.
Getting out of the gap involves a steep exposed pitch offering little in the way of holds. I was very happy to be with an experienced guide for this to provide me the confidence to get out.
TOPPING OUT & DESCENT
After the gap lies 50 metres of easy climbing to top out for the route. We finished up in around 5 hours however Caspar’s knowledge of the route made us a lot quicker than we should’ve been.
A short walk around the east will lead to the Ben Nevis summit if you want to tick it off. Otherwise west will take you to one of three gulleys with snow bollards to abseil down into. Leading you back to the CIC hut, and the return journey to the carpark.
A few beers in Fort William to celebrate and an early night awaited. It’s easy to see why Tower gap in winter holds the mantle for the finest winter line in the UK and it’s up there for my favourite climbs of all time.
