Ben Nevis
| Ben Nevis | ||
|---|---|---|
 South side of Ben Nevis |
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| height | 1345 m | |
| location | Scottish Highlands | |
| Mountains | Grampian Mountains | |
| Coordinates | 56 ° 47 '49 " N , 5 ° 0' 13" W | |
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| particularities | highest mountain in the UK | |
The Ben Nevis ( Gäl. Beinn Nibheis [ bɐiːɲ niːviʃ ]) with a height of 1345 meters the highest mountain in Scotland and the UK . It's a little east of Fort William .
etymology
"Ben" is the Gaelic name for "summit" or "mountain". The name "Nevis" is an Anglicitation of the Gaelic "Nibheis", which cannot be clearly assigned etymologically. It can either be translated as “bad” or “bad” or in the form “neamh-bhathais” as “head in the clouds” (from: “neamh” = sky or clouds; “bhathais” = top of the head) . The second variant is more likely, as the Ben Nevis massif is a considerable obstacle for air masses from the west (Atlantic), which is why more and more humid air masses rain down and there is fog or rain on around 300 days a year.
history
The mountain consists of around 400 million years old igneous rock from the Devonian period . The 300 meter high north face is the highest rock face in Great Britain.
The first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis took place on August 17, 1771 by the botanist James Robertson. Until 1847 it was thought that the Ben MacDhui about 150 km further east was the highest mountain in Great Britain, only a precise survey of the Highlands by the British Ordnance Survey showed that the Ben Nevis is higher. In 1883 a weather station was built on the summit, which documented the weather on the summit daily for 21 years. Its ruins can still be seen today. Today's “Tourist Route” dates from this time and was built as a paved path for pack horses . There was also a hotel just below the summit that stayed in operation until the First World War .
Ascent
The most used route is the mountain track or pony track , the so-called "tourist route". It starts at the Ben Nevis Inn pub near Achintee in Glen Nevis, or with a steeper climb at the nearby youth hostel, and is about seven kilometers long. From Fort William the start of the trail is about two kilometers away. The ascent begins at about 20 meters above sea level and climbs steeply for the first three kilometers on the southern slope of the neighboring mountain Meall an t-Suidhe . At the so-called "Half Way Loch" ( Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe ) it leads over a saddle to Ben Nevis and climbs steeply in eight bends to the summit. Rough rocky steps dominate the hiking trail for the first three kilometers, followed by a small piece of developed gravel or gravel path. At the beginning of the hairpin bends, the path consists more and more of loose stones until it only leads through a scree desert for the last kilometer.
There are several alternatives to the tourist route: Halfway through the “Half Way Loch”, a path branches off to the north and leads below the north face of Ben Nevis over the ridge of the neighboring mountain Càrn Mòr Dearg to the summit. In addition, a complete ascent over the Càrn Mòr Dearg massif is possible from the north. The route starts here at Torlundy. A shorter and steeper ascent over the Càrn Dearg is also possible from the south. The alternatives are much more demanding, but also much less crowded. On days with good weather, traffic jams can form on the tourist route. In winter, Ben Nevis is a popular winter sports area, especially for ice climbers.
hazards
The ascent via the tourist route is relatively easy if you are in good physical condition. But above all on the rugged and often icy rock faces on Ben Nevis, measured against the height of the mountain, many, sometimes fatal, accidents occur. Fog and snow that suddenly appear often impair visibility and orientation and repeatedly lead to falls and other accidents. The summit is shrouded in fog 300 days a year. Furthermore, the Ben Nevis is climbed by very many inexperienced hikers, who are often inappropriately equipped. The weather on the summit is also often underestimated.
Three Peaks Challenge and Ben Nevis Race
The Ben Nevis is one of three mountains that are climbed in the National Three Peaks Challenge . This is a race in which you have to climb the highest mountain in Scotland, Wales ( Snowdon ) and England ( Scafell Pike ) within 24 hours . In addition, the “Ben Nevis Race” has taken place here every year since 1951, with hundreds of runners running up and down the mountain. This race goes back to the local hairdresser William Swan, who covered the distance in 1895 in 2 hours and 41 minutes.
Puzzling piano find
In 2006, environmental activists came across the remains of a piano just below the summit. In the wooden paneling of the piano there was a complete iron frame with strings; only the keyboard was missing. It is now known that a man had carried the instrument up the mountain for a good cause decades ago to play Scotland the Brave on the summit .
Web links
- Ben Nevis webcam
- Ben Nevis on Peakbagger.com (English)
- Ben Nevis on GeoFinder.ch
- Ben Nevis - information page in German
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kevin Rawlinson: Ben Nevis: Britain's highest mountain taller than previously thought. In: theguardian.com. March 18, 2016, accessed January 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Wandering Aengus Treks: Mountain Information of Ben Nevis ( Memento from January 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Ben Nevis Weather Information Site
- ↑ SCOTLAND: Slide into Nowhere . In: Der Spiegel . No. 14 , 1982 ( online ).
- ↑ Florian Harms: Enigmatic find on a Scottish mountain: solved the mystery of the mysterious piano? In: Spiegel Online . May 18, 2006, accessed January 5, 2017 .
- ^ Martin Wainwright: Mystery of Ben Nevis piano solved. In: theguardian.com. May 1, 2013, accessed January 5, 2017 .