Ben Nevis Five Ridges
This is a classic mountaineering linkup of the main ridges of Ben Nevis: North East Buttress, Observatory Ridge, Tower Ridge, Ledge Route and Castle Ridge.
Needless to say this route takes in a lot of climbing terrain. Many climbers and guides do this linkup. There are many possible variations but my route details on 15/8/16 were:
3h 39min 36sec
From North Face Car Park
- up North East Buttress (standard route traversing in from the left to above First Platform)
- down Tower Ridge
- up Observatory Ridge
- down Ledge Route
- up Castle Ridge
- return to North Face Car Park
c. 2091m ascent
18.9km
V. Diff climbing standard
DOUBLE LAP VARIATION
On 15/10/2025 Beinn Wright completed a double lap of the Ben Ridges in around 11.5hrs, starting and finishing at the north face carpark.
1. up NE, 2. down Tower, 3. up Observatory, 4. down Ledge, 5. up Castle, 6. down Ledge, 7. up NE, 8. down Tower, 9. up Observatory, 10. down Castle.
WINTER BEN NEVIS RIDGES LINKUP
The winter linkup is a more serious proposition, with climbing up to Grade IV.
Will Rowland and Simon Tietjen climbed North East Buttress, Observatory Ridge, Tower Ridge and Castle Ridge in a 17hr linkup in cloudy conditions from Torlundy in ?2016
Harry Holmes soloed these four ridges and added a descent of Ledge Route in March 2014 - see his writeup