129 m away
North Castle Gully
A great pairing with South Castle Gully, if steep and extreme is your aim of the day.
Extreme Ski Touring
- Distance
- 1.2 km
- Ascent
- 9 m
- Descent
- 367 m
Deep cut, steep couloir for the entire length - a great tick.
Ski Touring Extreme
Two deep cut gullies split carve their way down from Castle Ridge, down to the corrie floor. Both of these two couloirs are flanked between towering rocky walls either side of them and both require large snow depths to make a descent possible and fill in the large rocky steps that are usually present during low snow years.
Both gullies are graded Grade II within the climbing guidebooks, but become fairly banked out during deep snow seasons, to make a passage by skis a little more amiable!
Saying that, even during deep snow years, these gullies frequently have rocky steps that either need to be down climbed or rappelled, so it’s always necessary to bring a rope and some protection in the event of a rappel needing to be set up.
South Castle Gully is the left hand gully of the two Castle Gullies as you are looking at them from the valley floor. South Castle Gully is closed in from the get-go, with the large towering walls greeting you as soon an you drop in that don’t every really open up until you’re spat out at the bottom, so make sure you’re focused in performing tight jump turn after tight jump turn!
You’re able to see right the way down this gully from the top as it weaves its way through the large rocky buttress, which helps to make sure you’re not going to be dropping in on any unsuspecting climbers/skiers in these confined spaces!
Once at the bottom, traverse above the large cliff band that flanks the corrie floor to make your way back to the CIC Hut.
Extreme
Extreme skiing terrain above 45 degrees. These routes are reserved for experienced experts.
129 m away
A great pairing with South Castle Gully, if steep and extreme is your aim of the day.
Extreme Ski Touring
248 m away
Stretching down the north face for 350m, Number 5 Gully is the longest of the named Grade I gullies on the north face
Severe Ski Touring
616 m away
A great introduction to skiing on the north face, yet still requiring strong technical abilities
Severe Ski Touring
891 m away
This is one steep and poker straight gully!
Severe Ski Touring
1 km away
Ski mountaineering & steep skiing on the UK's highest peak and adjacent mountains
Severe Ski Touring
1.1 km away
Technical, narrow and steep, a hidden gem!
Extreme Ski Touring
1.3 km away
Starting only slightly below the summit of the Ben, you’ve got a fantastic 650 metres of skiing ahead of you all the way down to the CIC Hut through alpine-like scenery
Severe Ski Touring
3.8 km away
A fantastic way to get way out of the resort boundaries and down into a wild and remote corner of Aonach Mor/Aonach Beag.
Difficult Ski Touring
4.3 km away
The north face of Ben Nevis hosts some of the finest steep skiing in the Highlands, with a huge range of routes accessible straight from the doors of the CIC Hut
Easy Ski Touring
5 routes · Ski Touring
8 routes · Ski Touring