- Tower Ridge
Tower Ridge is one of several
ridge s protruding north west from the summitplateau ofBen Nevis , the highestmountain in theUnited Kingdom . The ridge starts close to the Charles Inglis Clark hut inCoire Leis and terminates close to the highest point of the mountain. The normal route up Tower Ridge is a graded 3S as a scramble (the highest scrambling grade), and contains short pitches of rock climbing graded as "difficult". It is one of the few mountain routes inScotland with sufficient length and exposure to be considered Alpine in character.In winter it is graded Scottish Grade III, partly because most of its difficulties (in particular the Eastern Traverse and the Tower Gap), lie high up on the route.
A number of distinct features can be identified on the ridge. In ascending order, these include:
# The Douglas Boulder, the first "tower" on the ridge. This offers the most strenuous climbing on the ridge and is often avoided by inexperienced parties.
# The Douglas Gap, where parties avoiding the Douglas Boulder can join the ridge.
# The Little Tower, a first steepening of the ridge beyond the Douglas Gap.
# The Great Tower, a second steepening of the ridge. A direct ascent of front of the Great Tower is hard and it is often ascended by first traversing a narrow ledge (the 'Eastern Traverse') around the left hand side before climbing.
# Tower Gap, a small nick in the ridge beyond the Great Tower, and the crux of the route. The gap is no more than 3 metres deep but the ridge narrows at this point to less than one metre wide, with steep drops to either side. The Gap can be avoided by extending the leftward traverse typically commenced before ascending the Great Tower (which is thus also bypassed by the extended traverse), passing below the gap, and regaining the ridge at a higher point. Escape into the neighbouring Tower Gully is also possible by this route.
# A final, easy ascent from Tower Gap to the summit plateau.External links
* [http://irishmountaineeringclub.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=321 Account of a winter ascent of Tower Ridge]
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