Ben Nevis Mountain Track
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Britain at 1,345 metres, and the tourist path, officially known as the Mountain Track but colloquially as the Ben Path or Pony Track, is one of the most walked mountain routes in the country, carrying an estimated 150,000 ascents annually up the western side of the mountain from the visitor centre near Fort William to the vast plateau summit. The path was originally built in the nineteenth century to service a meteorological observatory on the summit and the route it follows, while not technically challenging, involves a considerable and unrelenting ascent of approximately 1,300 metres over approximately seven kilometres with correspondingly demanding descent.
The experience of ascending Ben Nevis via the tourist path is one of contrasts. The lower section through the valley of the Allt a' Mhuilinn is gently graded and passes through pleasant moorland and river scenery before the path begins its sustained ascent of the mountain's broad western shoulder. The upper section above the Red Burn is increasingly exposed and demanding, the path crossing boulder fields and scree before reaching the plateau, where the walking surface becomes more level but the conditions can deteriorate rapidly and dramatically at any time of year. Snow can remain on the summit into August and the plateau is subject to violent weather that claims lives every year among walkers who underestimate the mountain's conditions.
The summit plateau provides one of the most dramatic mountain experiences in Britain on clear days, with panoramic views extending across the Scottish Highlands to the distant peaks of the Cairngorms to the northeast, Ben Lomond to the south and, on exceptionally clear days, the mountains of Ireland to the west. The ruins of the Victorian observatory, the emergency shelter and the memorial cairn mark the summit area, and the dramatic cliffs of the northeast face, falling nearly 700 metres to the Coire Leis below, provide a sudden and vertiginous contrast to the gentle western approach.
The Mountain Track approach via the Allt a' Mhuilinn should not be confused with the much more serious mountaineering routes on the north face, which include some of the finest winter climbing in Britain.