Famous Last Words

"Ah, t'is a good day for the Ben today. It should be clearing a bit and you might even get some sun on the top."

We could barely contain our happiness with the hotel owner/breakfast waiter's prognosis for the day's weather. We were scarfing down a good British breakfast of all things fried, decked out in perfect layers of merino wool, wicking fabrics, fleece and waterproofs. We had been looking at weather forecasts all week and it hadn't been promising. The Ben Nevis summit webcam had been grey, dreary and wet every time we logged in. Now this man, a local nonetheless, was telling us it would be roses and sunshine all 1400m to the top! Superb.

Roger, Cathy and Fiona had spent most of the week prepping, so we were amply supplied and suitably attired for all types of weather and situations. But the Ben Nevis climb is difficult enough - 25km with a total elevation change of just over 1400m (4000+ feet) - that any additional leg up was taken gladly.

We had driven from Aberdeen to the Glenspean Lodge, just outside of Fort William, the evening before. The hotel was a great find. It was an old royal hunting lodge so it had a little character to go with the two resident sheep wandering the lawns, keeping the grass cut just to the right level. The bar was comfortable and served an excellent assortment of regular bar favourites and modern gourmet plates. The owners were hands on and helpful. Considering how hard Fiona had to look just to find a place around Ben Nevis in July, I think she did quite well.

After breakfast on Saturday morning, we drove to the visitor centre nestled right at the foot of the mountain. The skies were a mixed bag, and there was cloud hanging at about the 600 metre mark on the mountain. But we had the inside scoop that things would clear, so there were no worries. When the guides at the visitor centre were warning people that the summit would be only 5-8 degrees Celsius, we just made sure our fleeces were packed and headed on up the trail.

Ben Nevis is the tallest peak in Britain. It has several routes to the top, but the most popular, known as the "tourist track", carries about 100,000 people every year. Considering it is well nigh impassable from October through March, you can imagine it was quite busy. No problems, though. We set our own pace and enjoyed the lengthy first section that gradually picks up elevation along a side ridge. It was harder climbing than we imagined, though, due mostly to the state of the track. It consisted of large boulders of granite "arranged" so that the formed a somewhat even surface a few feet wide. It wasn't overly difficult, but you had to pay attention to avoid twisting an ankle or hitting your shins, even in expensive hiking boots.

We learned a few things on that initial section:

1. Read your guide book carefully. Ours had told us that the Ben Nevis tourist track was 12.5 km long. It neglected to say anything about that being one way. Why they thought anyone would be interested in a one way trip up Ben Nevis, I don't exactly know. As Roger kept us abreast of our progress with his handheld GPS, we kept getting funny looks as we talked about being halfway up the mountain at the three kilometer stage.

2. It take all kinds. There were people running past us up the hill. We knew this might happen, but it was strange to see. The record for the Ben Nevis hill run is 1.5 hours We also saw a girl in hot pants (but suitable hiking boots) putting on make up as the rest of her party rested. I was glad I had touched up my mascara in the car so that I could use the rest stops as rest stops.

We hit the clouds at about 600m in elevation and things very quickly turned sour. The rain came down and the wind started to blow. The sections got steeper and more difficult. It got very cold. As you proceed up the mountain, the trail turns into a series of switchbacks, winding ever upwards. I never quite figured out the physics of it, but somehow you always get the wind in your face. It really drove the rain down into all the crevices of your waterproofs, and despite our fine preparations we were all thoroughly soaked when we hit the 1000m mark. How wet was it? I was carrying a water resistant backpack, with a full water-proof cover on it. Items in the middle of this backpack were wet. Nuff said.

At this point it was getting quite cold, which didn't mix well with the damp condition of our clothes. The clouds were hanging thick on the mountain and there were no views in the valleys. I'm not sure why it only dawned on us at this point to ask what exactly we would get out of our further exertions. But nobody had any good answers. We turned around.

The down going was much harder than the climbing. The trail was really wet and the granite "steps" were slippery. It took a lot of muscle power to ensure good footing. We were utterly and completely knackered when we finally got to the bottom. By the time we had driven back to the hotel you could feel the soreness creeping into muscles and joints. Everything ached. Some things hurt. And everyone had a select few body parts that were just down for the count. A lot of it passed overnight, but the general soreness in the calves and knees stuck around for the better part of a week.

So we failed in our attempt. It was hard, and if you had asked me during the hike back down the mountain, I would have said not a lot of fun. But I'm glad we did it. And we'll try it again. Hopefully we get one of those days (1 in 10) where the summit actually sees some sun. God knows we deserve it.