Find your adventure Individual Adventures UK adventures Ben Nevis Private Ascent - 25th September -1299 days -11 hours -34 mins -47 secs Soaring to 1,345m above sea level, Ben Nevis has the distinction of being the highest mountain in the UK. The famous peak attracts 125,000 walkers a year. Whether you're a keen rambler or you just love incredible landscapes, bagging 'the Ben' should be near the top of your Scottish bucket list. Ben Nevis was once a massive active volcano which exploded and collapsed inwards on itself millions of years ago. From the north, Ben Nevis's shattered north face bears witness to this volcanic birth. Many world-famous summer rock and winter ice climbs have been established on the steep and intimidating cliffs. The popular Mountain Track (sometimes called the Tourist Track or the Pony Track) is the easiest route up Ben Nevis and travels 16km (10 miles) up and down the mountain's benign western bulk. The track begins at the Ben Nevis Inn, at Achintee on the east side of Glen Nevis about 2 km from the town centre of Fort William, just above sea level. The track starts with a steep climb to the halfway Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe, zig-zagging on rocky paths up to the summit plateau. At the summit, a cairn marks the highest point. Your reward on a clear day will be the incredible panoramic views as far as Northern Ireland. You may be able to spot other iconic peaks such as the Torridon hills, or south to Ben Lomond. A ruined weather observatory, which was opened in 1883, is also found on the summit. It closed in 1904 but can be used for shelter in emergencies. You'll be guided by qualified Mountain Leader and Everest Summiter Ricky Munday. Overview Distance: 16km / 10 miles Height Gain: 1352 metres Target time: 7 - 9 hours Group Size: Minimum 4 Date 24 - 26 September 2020 Price Guiding: £65 per person Transport: £20 per person Fundraising: £100 per head plus £30 deposit/registration fee Once you've booked, you'll be sent an information pack and kit list. We can also provide advice on local accommodation and other actvities. Virtual Tour View Virtual Tour of Ben Nevis 3D Route Video How do I pronounce Ben Nevis? Your browser does not support the audio element. Please click here to download the file Itinerary Fri 24th: we'll pick you up at Glasgow Airport in the morning & drive you to your accommodation in Fort Wiliam, where you'll have a free afternoon. Sat 25th: Our meeting time & location will be at the Ben Nevis Hotel at 07:45. It's a short drive to the Ben Nevis Inn at Achintee (PH33 6TE) where we'll begin the ascent at 08:00. The ascent & descent will take between 6-10 hours, depending on the group fitness, ground & weather conditions. We'll plan to stop briefly every hour or so. After descending, we'll drop you off at your Fort William accommodation. Sunday 26th: We'll pick you up from Fort William and transfer you to Glasgow Airport for your flight home. Route Map & Altitude Profile View Route in OS Maps Note: In the map below, it's best to view the route by selecting 'OSM Outdoor' from the dropdown on the top right-hand corner of the map, which defaults to 'RWGPS'. Is it suitable for me? Climbing Ben Nevis requires a good level of fitness and you must be able to walk for up to 10 hours over hilly & rocky ground. The route is not technical, but it is a tough walking challenge in terms of distance and time. Weather & terrain The weather conditions can change dramatically on Ben Bevis and the temperature can drop 1 degree C for each 100m of ascent. This is a full mountain walking experience, which requires proper footwear and good equipment. There can be snow patches on the route year-round and the winds on the summit plateau can be ferocious. Be prepared for all conditions! You can check some local weather forecasts below. Southwest Highlands Mountain Forecast Met Office weather for the Ben Nevis Mountain Forecast for Ben Nevis Water on your walk We recommend a Water-to-Go filter water bottle for this event - it saves you carrying extra weight on this long hill day and you can fill up safely and drink water from the Red Burn at halfway on ascent & descent. What’s included? Mountain Leaders on a 1:12 ratio Live GPS tracking & shareable links for family/friends 20% discount for Montane 15% discount for Cotswold Outdoor 15% discount for Open Air 20% discount on Water-to-Go bottles 25% discount on Uphill Athlete training plans What’s Excluded? Accommodation (but we can provide advice on options) Return transport from Glasgow airport to Fort William Transport to/from your accommodation to our event meet point Personal Food & Drink Safety Your safety is our top priority. Our activities are fully risk assessed and we hold Public Liability Insurance via Lockton LLP. Our leaders carry a mountain first aid kit, an emergency shelter, a fully charged mobile phone & spare battery, spare warm clothing & emergency food and we have two-way radio contact with all of our guides at all times during an event. We also hold a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) Operator Licence. We use a GPS tracking service to ensure that our office always knows where we are, and we provide a public link so your family & friends can follow your progress. Financial protection We comply fully with the Package Travel Regulations and hold Financial Failure Insurance – so your money is fully protected in the event of cancellation or curtailment of your travel arrangements due to the insolvency of Inspire Alpine®. This insurance has been arranged by Towergate Travel through Zurich Insurance PLC. Leader Inspire Alpine® founder Ricky Munday will lead you on this trip. How to book Book below by choosing your ticket type. You can choose: Full payment by bank transfer: £85 Full payment online (1.5% fee added): £86.28 Deposit by bank transfer: £30 Deposit online (1.5% fee added): £30.45 If you choose deposit only (options 3 & 4), you'll also be asked if you'd like to pay your balance by raising funds for our social mission, which means you’ll have nothing else to pay. You'll receive an email acknowledging receipt of your payment/booking. You'll also need to read and agree to both our UK Trip Booking Terms & Conditions and our Participation Agreement & you'll be asked to confirm this during Step 1 when selecting your ticket type. UK Booking Terms & Conditions Participation Agreement After booking, you'll receive a second email requiring you to complete our online UK Trip Booking & Medical Declaration Form, which must be completed before we can confirm your booking. Each individual participant must complete this form so if you’re booking on behalf of a group you must ask each member of your group to complete this. Once you've submitted your UK Trip Booking & Medical Declaration Form, if you have a balance to pay, we'll email you an invoice and this will include our bank details. Fundraise for us Rather than paying your balance, you can alternatively choose to raise funds to support our social mission - with this option, you pay your non-refundable registration fee of £30 when booking and pledge to raise a minimum amount of sponsorship (£100) for our own social projects with disadvantaged young people. We can host fundraising pages directly on our website and you can read some short case studies about our social impact. Read more about fundraising for Inspire Alpine®. Fundraise for Inspire Alpine® Our Social Impact Set up a fundraising page What happens if the trip cannot run due to Covid-19? Your safety is our top priority. Please rest assured that if your event cannot go ahead due to Government-imposed Covid-19 restrictions, we'll offer you a number of options including the chance to: postpone your trip to a later departure of the same event (this year or next) join any other UK event in our portfolio (this year or next) receive a refund of monies paid for the challenge What if there is no official advice against travel, but I want to cancel? We respect that you may feel more comfortable staying at home, and not travelling regardless of the official advice. If you choose to cancel, we’ll action your request but where there is no Government advice against travel to at the time of cancellation, our standard cancellation terms will apply. Donate You can directly support our social mission to close the attainment gap. We support disadvantaged young people to have higher aspirations and feel more confident & resilient. Find out more Booking for this event has now closed.