Scotland\'s highest mountain (1344m) may be a huge whaleback from the south with a major track ascended by around 100,000 people annually but its North Face is the grandest rock face in these islands, home to routes of an Alpine scale. The North Face (much of which actually faces east!) is 2km long and over 600m high, with five major ridges and innumerable lesser spurs tumbling intricately into the huge trench of the Allt a\' Mhuillinn. Left to right these are a) North-East Buttress, with the huge Orion Face on its right b) Observatory Ridge, squeezed between Zero and Point Five Gullies c) Tower Ridge, which comes much further down into the corrie than Observatory Ridge, almost to the CIC Hut, and has Garadh Buttress part way up its right-hand flank. d) the complex of spurs focussed on Ledge Route, the bottom of which is sliced off by the verticalities of Carn Dearg Buttress and e) Castle Ridge, the rightmost ridge on the face. The Ben is globally famous for its superlative winter climbing but also has excellent summer rock routes which with a few exceptions are largely unfrequented. Of the big ridges only Ledge Route is a pure scramble but Castle Ridge is only Moderate and provides a target for ambitious scramblers (most will want a rope at the exposed crux though).