Climbing Beinn Nibheis (Ben Nevis)
Beinn Nibheis, or less-pretentiously written (unless you’re Scottish) and more commonly known as Ben Nevis… The mountain proudly standing tallest in the UK, with a summit of 1,345m above sea level. So, we climbed it.
The stats
Distance: 16.86km
Elevation gain: 1,329m
Moving time: 5hours 43 minutes
Calories: 3,319
This was one of those things we said we wanted to do when we went to Scotland, but didn’t plan it, and especially didn’t plan to do it that weekend. We went to Fort William to escape the rain on the East coast, and see what all the hype was about on the West of Scotland. Well, as it happened, we’d previously made some friends and their two friends were coming from France that weekend, and all six of us were going to be in Fort William for the whole weekend without a plan… Aaaaaaaaand the weather was actually good!
With not much research, other than looking at mountain-forecast.com to see what the conditions would be like up big Ben that morning, we decided let’s do it! What better way to introduce Scotland to a couple who’d been there all of 24 hours?!
Tora and I used this as a perfect excuse to indulge in all the outdoor shops Fort William has to offer and we treated ourselves to new backpacks, I got a gilet and I even bought myself a mozzy net to go over my head for future travelling. During that trip, we clocked the Ben Nevis t-shirt in Mountain Warehouse, and if that isn’t a good enough reason to climb it, then I don’t know what is!
With a packed lunch and my new gilet packed into my new bag, and Tora flaunting their rather swish new Deuter Lite, we set off to Ben Nevis Base Camp where we’d meet our four friends and begin the climb. The weather was perfect!
The start of the walk consisted of a lot of really nicely done paths, with not too many people around and anyone we did see was so pleasant, giving a nod of the head and a “y’alright?” greeting as we naively and eagerly got going.
It wasn’t long before I realised the scale of what I’d signed up to, as I could see ant-sized humans in the far distance (and up rather high!), with their brightly coloured raincovers on their packs. I was near the bottom and wondered how I’d ever make it. But, with the thought of a new t-shirt to spur me on and Tora rooting for me from my left-hand side, I put my worries and plans of faking my own death to one side and ploughed on.
We spotted a beautiful loch with some people camping at its edge, and they were fishing a little further along; what a nice relaxing day they’re having, I thought, as I stopped to catch my breath again. But as we progressed, we saw a waterfall in the distance, gushing from the side of the mountain, and it was right where we were heading to. Imagining the view I’d have of the loch from the waterfall, and feeling its energy as I stood closeby, pushed me to keep going again.
I was right; the views from this point on were incredible. If the hike itself wasn’t taking my breath away, the scenery around us certainly was! We were right up in the clouds, and we could feel the temperature difference from when we started. The rain was coming, and we could then understand why we could see the colourful raincovers on those ants in the distance… the ants that we now were to the people at the bottom.
At this point, we all started walking at our own paces, but knowing I’d previously been struggling to motivate myself, Tora stuck by me and we chatted as we walked, stopping every now and then to breathe, and take in the outstanding views. It was also around this point, that those pleasant greetings we were getting at the start of the hike had stopped and people were a mix of absolutely knackered but absolutely over the moon with their achievement and were happy to be heading back down.
We started to get a bit peckish, and with a nice sunny break between showers, we found a spot and took out our lunchboxes. Well, it didn’t last long…
The heavens opened all over our pasta, and it was absolutely freezing (as you can probably tell by my leg hairs standing almost as tall as Ben Nevis itself, and my red-raw thighs). We quickly popped our lunchbox lids back on, packed back up and set off again.
Not long after the failed lunch incident, some of our friends met us on their way down - they said they hadn’t gone much further becuase it was too foggy. The fog was so thick that they couldn’t see 2m in front of them! Tora and I decided we’d go and see this for ourselves before agreeing to end our hike there, and to our joy (mixed with a bit of dread), the fog had shifted and we were able to continue with the climb.
After one last push, WE MADE IT! We were freezing and soaking, but it was all worth it, to reach the top of Ben Nevis and feel the buzz amongst all the people who’d just achieved the exact same thing as us.
We found some interesting ruins, and and an emergency shelter at the top. Sad as I am to say it, there was so much litter left in the shelter… People can be so self-centered and thoughtless sometimes! Imagine climbing to the top of a mountain, taking in the beautiful views, having a celebratory packet of crisps and thinking “oh this shelter that’s here for when the weather takes a bad turn, and people need a place to sit so they can survive the storm, looks like an excellent place to lob my empty packet”?! It makes absolutely no sense. But hey, that’s humans for you.
We’d initially thought we could eat the rest of our lunch while we were up there, but since the temperature was 3°C with a real feel of -5°C, we decided let’s make a swift exit and begin our descent.
During the walk down, we took in all the outstanding views again, and enjoyed the fact that with each step, the temperature was on the rise! We ended up sitting by that waterfall we saw on the way up, and finally getting our lunch eaten.
We were greeted at the bottom by our original two friends, Mat and Vic, who’d kindly sat waiting with McVitie’s hobnobs and a flask of coffee. What better way to end a hike?
Post-hike Tips
Enjoy yourself
Take plenty water
Take snacks like cereal bars, fruit and nuts, rather than a packed lunch box full of pasta
Don’t look at the time, just look at where you are and the beauty that’s surrounding you
Take gloves for the top! - Ideally waterproof ones because the rain gets really heavy up there
Although the path starts off nice and paved, it does get quite stoney up there, so make sure your shoes have a thick enough sole to protect your feet, and a good enough grip so you don’t skid back down
Walk at your own pace - feel your rhythm and stick to it without trying to catch other people up
Wear/take suitable clothing for all weathers. I wore shorts and a long-sleeved hiking t-shirt and packed:
a thin second layer (Rab Nexus hoodie)
my new gilet ;) (Tresspass gilet)
a cagoule
a more substantial jacket (Passenger Ocean Recycled Insulated)