Bagging the Ben

When we booked to go to Spean Bridge for our Easter break, it was definitely my intention to make the trip up Ben Nevis at some point during the week.  However, there's a certain amount of criticism and snobbery directed at Ben Nevis.  It's not the best walk, it's too busy/touristy, there are much better hill-walks, etc etc.  But as you'll see from the picture above, the outlook from our holiday cottage meant it had been staring at me all week.  Plus there is a certain element of 'it's there' and the allure that goes with it being the highest mountain in the UK.  There are also runners that dismiss the big city marathons as being not for proper runners - I say they're just different.  But Ben Nevis is most definitely the London marathon of the hill-walking world...! 

A trip to the Ben Nevis whisky distillery served to whet my appetite, with the various boards covering the history of Britain's highest mountain.  Like the story of this nut-job here... who knew upright pianos break up at 1000 ft?

Anyway, the allotted day came around, and like almost every day of our holiday it was a scorcher...  But everything I'd read advised you to 'dress for the top rather than the bottom' so I still had on my fleece and long trousers.  10 am on the day before Good Friday seemed to be a very popular start time for the ascent, and of the 10-20 other walkers setting out at a similar time to me, most were not choosing to be so cautious with their attire.  

So I spent the first 15 or 20 minutes overtaking other walkers and wondering how long I could last before I gave in and JUST TOOK MY STUPID EXTRA LAYERS OFF.  I finally relented after about 30 minutes, by which point I was already dripping with sweat. 

By my reckoning, the climb up Ben Nevis breaks down in to 3 broad sections (4 if you count the snow at the top separately).  The first section is all big boulders, man-made steps that are an effort to resist the obvious erosion caused by thousands of people climbing up it each year.  The fact there are lots of foot-high steps mean it's an excellent warm-up for your calves and hamstrings.  

 The middle section is more normal dirt track, going past 'the halfway lochan', a river crossing, great views up and down. (Guess which was my favourite bit). I reached the halfway lochan (which I reckon is more like the 'third or two-fifths-of-the-way lochan, although I acknowledge that doesn't have the same ring to it) after about an hour and a quarter, and rewarded myself with some jelly babies.

The third section zig-zags up the steepest part of the ben. It's all scree and loose rock, a bit of a slog. And a fair bit of it is snow-covered, even in summer.

I started getting more tired at this point and wolfed down some tablet...

Turns out December in Edinburgh was excellent training for Ben Nevis in April

So anyway, the jeans-and-trainers-brigade may have toiled in the final snowy sections, and it did get cooler, but actually it wasn't too bad. Right at the final bit, where it levelled out and the wind kicked in I did put my fleece back on, but I probably would have managed without.  It was busy enough at the top, maybe 30-40 other people. Being on my own there wasn't much reason for me to hang around, but I was happy to get my photo taken at the summit and I did feel a bit of a high from the achievement.

 Plus there were some excellent views of the cliffs on the north face, and the snowy peaks around about.

But, as any good hill-walker or fell-runner will tell you, the top of the hill is only half-way.  After 5 or 10 minutes I was ready to begin heading back down.  I passed a few groups with children under 10 in tow, who were struggling to persuade them up to the top of the hill as if that was the end of it, and didn't envy what I knew it'd be like for them when it took around 3 hours to get back down as well.  There were going to be some stressed out families there.

Anyway, it was easier going down through the snow than it had been to climb (although did throw caution to the wind a little bit and revert to my - admittedly poor! - descending techniques from occasional hill races) and after the grey scree was left behind I climbed up a little way off the trail to sit back and enjoy a late lunch.  It was about 1.30pm by this point, and the traffic seemed to have died down a bit.  The views where I stopped were spectacular and the camera really can't do it justice as you can't capture the full panorama, and the light, well at all.

Soon enough I started back down and felt really good having had a good feed and with the knowledge I'd left the summit and what I thought was the hardest section behind me. Even chatted to a few people on the way down - a group of Germans who'd already done the West Highland Way before tackling Ben Nevis, and then after I'd left them behind, a couple of squaddies (who were the only people who actualy overtook me in either direction).  One of them berated me for having an OMM rucksack but not having actually done an original mountain marathon event.... He didn't accept my explanation that it was now commercially available and was just a good pack, reckoned I should commit to doing it in the next year or two.  Erm.... not sure about that!

It was great to get back to the middle section and on to reasonable, even, dirt track again.  But it didn't seem to last long and on the way down, the final section did seem to just be a total slog. The hard surface was a killer for tiring feet and knees.  I saw my first '3 Peaks' t-shirted group on the way up there, doing Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike over 24 hours to raise money for Help for Heroes. Fair play to them, I was tired enough just doing the one, especially in that heat.

Before too long, and about 5 and a half hours since I started that morning, I was back near the Ben Nevis Inn. I had it in my head that I'd meet up with Shona and the kids there.  Instead though, a change of plan saw me walk a further mile along the river and over a different bridge to go to the Glen Nevis cafe - admittedly a more child-friendly venue, and a pleasant stroll along the river, although it did feel a bit like when you have to rush off at the end of a race rather than stick around and chat to your fellow competitors.  But no room to complain at all given Shona had looked after the kids solo all day on our family holiday, to enable me to do this!  So anyway, I bought a beer in town to have later, instead...

Final thoughts? I got a definite sense of achievement from doing Ben Nevis, there was a good camaraderie between people doing it, it's an accessible but worthwhile challenge and I'd far rather people did these kinds of things than didn't! Especially if it inspires anyone, either directly or indirectly, to get out and enjoy the hills (responsibly) and explore more of the beautiful country we are so lucky to live in. On the day I did it I was lucky to have good weather and the views were truly spectacular.  The sunburn on my neck was equally spectacular - do remember the suncream if you're doing something similar...

My next munro will be pretty different.  I'm staying overnight in a bothy and then tackling Ben Starav.  I may even be the only person doing it that day.  I expect I'll love doing it too, for different reasons.  But for now, going to put my feet up for a bit....