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Home   Glossary
Ben Nevis Title Image
Meaning Possibly - Cloudy hill
Altitude 1344 metres     (Munro)
Grid Ref. NN16697127
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  41   Ben Nevis, Fort William & Glen Coe
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Ben Nevis
(Click to enlarge)

Tower ridge from the summit of Ben Nevis, look closely for the hard core people climbing up!

© Samantha Munro

Image by Samantha Munro
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Mountain Description
Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, forms a horse-shoe shape ridge with Carn Mor Dearg, the massive Nevis dwarfing the latter (9th highest). The two mountains are connected by a narrow ridge with a rocky crest, the Carn Mor Dearg (CMD) arete.The easiest ascent of "The Ben" is from Glen Nevis, via Meall an t-Suidhe to the W following the old road which was constructed to service the hotel and observatory, now both ruins near the summit. This route reveals little of the magnificence of Nevis, and there is an alternative route for hill-walkers who can cope with scrambling, via Carn Mor Dearg and the CMD arete. An ascent is also possible via the head wall of Coire Leis to join the southern end of the CMD arete. Both these routes approach the summit of Ben Nevis form the E. The N face of the Ben should be left to mountaineers with rock climbing experience.
Available Routes
  Ascent Distance Time Including... Description Rating
1 1778 m 16.68 km 6.5 hrs Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg  This is a more difficult ascent with some exposure and scrambling, but it avoids most of the crowds and gives a taste of real mountaineering. Navigate with care, this is a dangerous mountain for the unwary. 4 / 5
2 1370 m 14.83 km 5.5 hrs Ben Nevis  This is the "Tourist Route" which thousands climb each year, it is fairly strenuous. It can, however, be a serious ascent as the "path" disappears on the higher boulder slopes and navigational errors can and do lead to disaster. 3 / 5
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Kev at the summit

© Lee Paterson

Image by Lee Paterson

At the summit (honest)

© Lee Paterson

Image by Lee Paterson

Scott on trig point

© William Brown

Image by William Brown

Myself on Ben Nevis

© William Brown

Image by William Brown

My Wife Shirley on the summit of Ben Nevis, pity about the cloud

© Colin Barclay

Image by Colin Barclay

me with the north face in the background

© Glenn Cooper

Image by Glenn Cooper
Weather & Maps, etc ...
Links to the nearest available forecast to Ben Nevis.
Nevis Range
by Accuweather
Scotland Forecasts
by MWIS (PDF format)
West Highlands
by Met Office
Ben Nevis
by Metcheck
View Location
(Detailed Ordnance Survey maps are available to registered users)
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Comments Submit A Comment (M)
Lee Paterson
wrote on September 27, 2008:
It never ceases to amaze me how unprepared some people dress for the scottish mountains. Jeans, t-shirts, trainers even dress shoes! the cloud base was 650 mtrs, it was raining, visibility was about 20 mtrs on the summit. So, lets dress for the high street!! These idiots spare no thought for the poor sods in mountain rescue, who might end up having to leave their warm homes, or even beds to come to their aid. The hills are for all, but come on, dress for the environment. For your own sake!
Paul Barker
wrote on May 4, 2008:
On April 27th 2008 myself (Paul) and Dave came, we saw and we conquered Ben Nevis. The day was clear, bright and sunny with hardly any cloud cover. The going was quite hard, even from the start, but we got to the ice and snow and that where the real difficulties started. The climb in snow and ice without crampons is relentless and very hard on the knees. I was very tempted to turn back on a number of occasions, but was spurred on by my friend and the teasing summit looming up at me. We also slid down the snow pack on the way down. brilliant, but challenging day.
Alan Cantwell
wrote on May 3, 2008:
My son Alan & I decided that we would make Ben Nevis our first Munro together. We had a brilliant day with summer conditions at the base and Arctic conditions at the summit! This mountain gets a lot of stick for being "touristy" and so on but I would recommend it to anyone. Everyone we met was friendly and approachable! We had intended to do CMD at the same time but weather conditions and a sensible decision half way up stopped us!
Showing the latest 3 comments. There are 20 available to members.
Local Accommodation Options
Showing the nearest 10 of 51 within 100Km of the summit of Ben Nevis. Would you like to view all 51?
6.1 km Glenlochy Guest House - Nevis Bridge, Fort William, PH33 6LP   Tel: 01397 702909
6.2 km Braemar - Lundy Gardens, Fort William, PH33 6PD   Tel: 01397 705988
6.2 km Farr Cottage Lodge and Activity Centre - Corpach, Fort William, PH33 7LR   Tel: 01397 772315
6.7 km Stobhan - Fassifern Road, Fort William, PH33 6BD   Tel: 01397 702790
7.0 km highland-view-cottage - caithness place fort william, ph33 6at   Tel: 07901 992771
7.4 km Ashburn Guest House - Achintore Road, Fort William, PH33 6RQ   Tel: 01397 706000
12.1 km Inverour Guest House - Roybridge Road, Spean Bridge, PH34 4EU   Tel: 01397 712218
13.7 km Blaich Cottage - Blaich, Fort William, Invernesshire, PH33 7AN   Tel: 01422 882061
14.3 km Dunhafen Bed and Breakfast - Glenspean Park, Roy Bridge, Inverness-Shire, PH31 4AS   Tel: 01397 712830
15.0 km Roy Bridge Hotel & Grey Corrie Lodge - Roy Bridge, Inverness-shire, PH31 4AN   Tel: 01397 712236
If you would like to have your accommodation listed on MunroMagic, please read our participation information page.
For information on camping visit ScottishCamping.com who also produce a map of scottish camp grounds.
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