Ben Nevis
United Kingdom · Europe
About Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the United Kingdom, at 1344.527 m / 4413 ft - it gained about a metre during a 2016 official survey. It's near the town of Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, at the southwest end of the Great Glen. It's reckoned that over 100,000 people climb it each year, usually by the straightforward "Mountain Track". The North Face has 700 m cliffs, with routes only suitable for skilled mountaineering and rock- or ice-climbing. There's a ski resort on its north flank, Aonach Mor.
The mountain's Gaelic name Beinn Nibheis is variously translated as "venomous mountain" or "mountain with its head in the clouds". In the Devonian era 400 million years ago it was a volcano, then in the Carboniferous 350 million years ago its inner chamber dramatically imploded. What's left is the imploded dome, much weathered by glaciation.
Ben Nevis travel guide
Getting there
Ben Nevis is on the outskirts of Fort William, which is reached by road from Glasgow (105 miles) or Inverness (65 miles) via the A82. Fort William has trains three times a day from Glasgow, and an overnight sleeper train from London Euston. There are also regular buses from Glasgow, Inverness, Oban and Portree on Skye. Shiel Bus N41 runs between Fort William and Roy Bridge, via Torlundy (for the North Face route), Nevis Range Ski Centre and Spean Bridge. It runs seven times a day M-Sa. Twice a day (at 9AM and 5PM) year round, it extends from Fort William to Glen Nevis Youth Hostel. May to Oct it's supplemented by Bus N42, which run six times daily to the Youth Hostel, with three buses extending to the Lower Falls. This means that if you use the bus to start and finish your walk, the earliest you can reach the foot of the ascent is 9AM M-Sa and 10AM summer Sundays, and your last bus back is around 5PM. It's barely enough to climb up and down again, and you don't want to be hurrying downhill when you're tired. Parking around the mountain: don't use Achintree Lane (north bank of Glen Nevis) unless you've accommodation there. It's so cramped and limited, you'll end up reversing a mile to let a tractor past.
1 Braveheart one mile up Glen Nevis Lane is handy for the West Highland Way, but a mile short of the path up the mountain. Free, space for 30 cars. 2 Glen Nevis Visitor Centre near the start of the usual mountain path has toilets. Cars £4 per day. 3 Nevis Gorge is at the top of Glen Nevis Lane. A tough ascent of Ben Nevis starts here, and the four-Munro "Ring of Steall". Free, space for 40 cars. 4 North Face car park is off the A82 at Torlundy. Free, space for 30 cars.
Go next
Walk a long distance path: - The West Highland Way is 154 km from Milngavie near Glasgow to Fort William. - The Great Glen Way is 127 km from Fort William to Inverness. Climb more of the Munros, the Scottish hills over 3000 feet (914 m). There are 282 Munros and 227 subsidiary tops. Each has its own scenery, interest and challenge, but only one (on Skye) needs technical rock-climbing skills.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.