Day 4 - 0 miles in the LR / 4406 feet up/down

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Fort William, Scotland, United Kingdom
This is the first day that I have set an alarm. Big day today, off to climb the highest mountain in the Scotland (and the UK), Ben Nevis at 4406 feet. Up at 6:30 so that I can get showered and get to
breakfast for 7:00 .

We set off at 8:30 and head towards the visitors centre, the climb from here is a little bit of an easier start than from the YHA (and the bridge was closed for repair). The weather
today is terrible, we are walking in 35-50 mph winds and it is constantly raining in our faces. We get to the half way point (in height any way) and stop for some thing to eat. The second half of the
mountain climb was a lot harder than the first and as we climb higher and higher we get further and further into the clouds and it gets colder and windier as we climb. We finally reach the summit and the visibility is at about 10m and we have to make sure we don't get too close to the wrong edge as there is a 2000 foot drop on the north side of the mountain. Up at the top I get out my stove and make a very welcomed hot chocolate for the two of us and we quickly get a couple of photos taken and the get our asses off the summit as quickly as we could.

The walk down which we though would be a lot quicker and easier was a lot more difficult than we expected. It was an absolute nightmare and was very difficult on the knees and calf muscles. Got back down to the bottom after about 7.5 hours and headed straight for the Glen Nevis Inn for a couple of pints and a portion of chips...lovely, just what I needed. I DID IT, just climbed the UK highest mountain without any prior experience and training and in really bad weather.
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Comments

Dinesh Panchal
2010-02-26

Looks wet!

2025-02-11

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