A walk up Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Scotland

Map of the UK

                                      NN 10 74
                                      (1km x 1km)
             NN (100x100 km)          +-----------+
             +--------------+         |           |
             |              |         |           |
             | +--+         |         |           |
             | |  | - - - - - - - >   |           |
           ^ | x--+         |       ^ |        X  | NN 10852 74061
           | |              |    61m| |           |
           | |              |       | x-----------+
       74km| |              |         --------->
           | |              |          852m
        ^  | x--------------+
        |    -->
700,000m|    10km
        |
        *---->
         200,000m
Datum reference point,
somewhere well southwest of the U.K.

That's Ben Nevis at the right, in shadow. To its left is Meall an t-Suidhe, in sunlight. This picture was taken in early April 2006. The snow line is at about 300 meters, so the upper kilometer of elevation was in snow then. It was about a meter deep at the summit. Enough people do the walk that there's a distinct path tramped down, but there would still be plenty of wading through snow.

Here is a relatively uncommon view of Ben Nevis out of the clouds. The broad summit platform is actually in sunlight here, it's the brightly lit area visible over the broad humps. Carn Dearg, to its left, is a lower summit of Ben Nevis and appears to be higher because of perspective in this picture.

As the Scots would jokingly ask, "What are those bright blue areas in the sky? Some unusual type of cloud?"

The weather tends to be challenging. Ben Nevis is up in the northwestern Highlands, along the northwest coast of Scotland. This is where the weather coming off the north Atlantic first hits land.

There is usually quite a temperature difference between the bottom and the top. Some times the cloud base comes down to about where the snow line is in this picture. Usually the summit is in cloud. Walking through snow in a cloud can be disorienting. And it doesn't make for very good pictures....

It will rain until you reach the elevation where the rain turns first to sleet and then to snow. A lot of wind gets funneled through the glens and then blows very strongly as it is forced over the mountains. This gives you the experience of being sprayed with rain and sleet from below.

So, you should take multiple layers of clothing, including a waterproof outer layer. Wear sturdy boots as almost all of the ascent itself is along a rocky path. You walk on irregularly shaped rocks 20-30 cm in diameter. The climb is hard on ankles and knees.

Take water and food, and adequate navigational gear. GPS is wonderful for telling you precisely where you are, but you need a good map and you need how to use it for that to be of any use. See the below discussion of the National Grid system for what that's about. A plain old compass is crucial, the top is fairly flat and featureless and you will probably be in clouds, so you need to make very certain that you don't fall off the cliffs along the northeast face.

Start early to allow yourself plenty of time to get back down off the mountain. I'm not in great shape and I took my time. I made plenty of stops just to look at the fantastic views (at least until I entered the cloud base).

The standard time reference point seems to be Achintee House, where the summit path starts angling up along the west flank of Meall an t-Suidhe. That's at NN 12582 72337, just 45m elevation. I took 4 hours to get from there to the summit, and then 2.5 hours to get back down again. Add in time to get to and from Achintee House from wherever you're staying.

Below is an overview — from Fort William at sea level along Loch Linnhe, east and south into Glen Nevis, up along the flank of Meall an t-Suidhe, turning northeast up Allt na h-Urchaire (Red Burn) onto a saddle overlooking Loch Meall an t-Suidhe, then up a series of switchbacks to the summit at 1344 meters. Ben Nevis looks like a big dome from Glen Nevis to its west and south, but there are very steep slopes and cliffs on its northeast face. The approach to the summit passes close to those.

Below are samples of 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey maps from the very useful Ordnance Survey site. You definitely want to buy a copy of this before starting up. Book stores and other shops in Fort William sell them. Big book stores in Edinburgh have OS maps for all of Scotland, and even some in London sell OS maps for all of Britain. I used the Explorer 392 map, titled "Ben Nevis & Fort William; The Mamores & The Grey Corries; Kinlochleven & Spean Bridge."

I took the map but also carried a small sketch I had made showing the elevations and, more critically, the grid coordinates of the various path intersections and turns. I also had notes about various time estimates for remaining ascent and ascent and return from various points. This let me keep track of where I was on the switchbacks making up the final third of the path. You will probably be in the clouds at that point. It was handy to have a quick reference without trying to read a large map in the wind.

---

Part One — Fort William to Allt na h-Urchaire (Red Burn)

You walk out of Fort William to the east, crossing the Nevis Bridge and immediately turning right to follow the path along the northeast bank of the River Nevis. The path leaves the river and the road and passes through some sheep farms.

Alternatively, you could follow the Glen Nevis road and cross the river on one of the footbridges before you pass Achintee House.

The pictures above are digital pictures of reasonable quality. These showing the ascent itself are from two years before, right before I bought a digital camera. They're scans of prints taken with a US$10 35mm camera

This one shows the path where you leave the Fort Williams streets for paths.

Achintee House is reachable by footpath and footbridge from the main road into Glen Nevis, but the footpath you follow is east of the river, sharing the small access lane. Achintee House is at NN 12582 72337, 45m elevation.

This map shows the initial section of the ascent.

South of Achintee House the path angles to the southeast and slowly ascends along the west flank of Meall an t-Suidhe.

The path is joined by a staircase-like path leading up from the hostel along the road (shown as a red triangle). That intersection is at NN 13313 72031, 185m.

The path climbs steadily with a few small switchbacks as it goes counter-clockwise around the south end of Meall an t-Suidhe. Allt na h-Urchaire, or Red Burn, is a stream coming down the steep-sided valley out of the saddle between Meall an t-Suidhe and the southern Carn Dearg. The path climbs that valley with a large switchback leading to the saddle.

Here's the view looking south through Glen Nevis from just above Achintee House.

Great views, sunny and warm. That will eventually change.

There are three metal footbridges along the lowest section of the path where it crosses burns or streams coming down off Meall an t-Suidhe. This is just above the intersection with the steep hostel path — the rain has started.

You can see here what I meant about the trail being on irregularly shaped rocks.

Coming around the south end of Meall an t-Suidhe, approaching Allt na h-Urchaire, or Red Burn.

The shape of the trees indicates the frequent wind.

And then the weather will suddenly change....

This is looking back down into Glen Nevis from the path along Allt na h-Urchaire.

I got to here about an hour after passing Achintee House. The elevation is 435m.

Here the path crosses Coire na h-Urchaire, a stream coming down off Carn Dearg.

The rain is back, and Carn Dearg disappears into the cloud base.

And then it clears up and the sun comes out for a while!

Here is the view back down to Loch Meall an t-Suidhe, a lake about 600m long on the saddle between Meall an t-Suidhe and Carn Dearg. This section of the climb had the best views, being about as high as you got before going into the clouds.

If you had continued straight at the three-way intersection, the path leads to a mountain rescue hut under the north cliff faces of Ben Nevis. Then it follows the stream Allt a'Mhuilinn north and back toward the road east of Fort William.

From a little higher you may have a nice view down through Allt na h-Urchaire to the lower part of the path, and beyond into Glen Nevis.

Here's a view from even higher, down onto Meall an t-Suidhe and Loch Meall an t-Suidhe.

And, from a switchback turnaround point, a great view down into Glen Nevis. The River Nevis and the road into the glen are visible immediately below.

Fort William is mostly hidden under Cow Hill, the clear-cut area just above the slope of Meall an t-Suidhe and just below Loch Linnhe.

Loch Linnhe runs horizontally to the left, barely visible here, toward the sea. Loch Eil is more visible beyond Loch Linnhe.

Then at some point you will probably enter the cloud base....

Staying on the path requires some attention, as the upper slopes are pretty bleak and nothing but the red rocks of various jagged sizes.

---

Part Four — Across the summit platform

At 1200m the trail splits at the ruins of an old weather observation station. A very dedicated researcher in the late 1800s used to climb up daily to take measurements!

The last 500m along the path is mostly flat, skirting the edges of the cliffs. The cliff face runs west to east, the path follows that. At that point you may be in well-trod snow, making a distinct path. If the snow is fresh, be very careful!

The wind blows the snow into large cornices overhanging the cliff face. If you walk toward the edge, you could drop through a cornice and fall out the bottom before you realized you were near the edge.

There are dire warnings in Lonely Planet's Walking in Britain — "In poor visibility, don't lose sight of the summit cairn until you're ready to descend. [....] To descend you must retrace your steps. If the cloud is down then, from the trig point, walk for 150 meters on a grid bearing of 231 degrees, then follow a grid bearing of 281 degrees. This should take you safely off the plateau and on to the path. Remember to allow for magnetic variation. If you don't know what that means, you shouldn't be up here."

As you near the summit you pass the ruins of a maniacal hotel someone built on the summit. They didn't get much business.

Also a stone war monument, which required the hauling of carved stone marker panels and mortar.

And finally, the survey point at the summit!

NN 1668 7128, 1344m elevation.

Most people making it to that point were wet, cold, and tired, so you snap a murky picture of yourself and head back down.

 

On my to-do list: take the path to the saddle, then continue north and then west instead of turning onto the summit path. The path would lead under the north cliff faces of Ben Nevis and cross the stream Allt a'Mhuilinn.

Then ascend Carn Dearg Meadhonach, and follow the ridgeline from there to Carn Mòr Dearg, and from there along the Carn Mòr Dearg Arête to summit Ben Nevis from the other side.

It would take the right weather to do that, and for it to be worthwhile. I've been told that September and maybe early October would be the right time — the snow would be at a minimum and the weather would be as good as it gets.