This was organised by Charity Challenge for Macmillan,
the cancer charity; it was my first piece of work for Charity Challenge.
We gathered at the Nevis
Centre in Fort William, first the staff of Charity Challenge to set everything
up, then the caterers, then the mountain leaders, then the participants. After
a rousing welcome from the Macmillan representatives and a stonking meal, we
climbed into minibuses and headed off to the Visitor Centre at the beginning of
the footpath.
As we set out, conditions were
not promising. When it wasn’t raining heavily, there was persistent drizzle of
the kind that gets everywhere. On top of that, it was very windy, and foggy
from about 700m. I was not sure that it would be safe to go right to the
summit, but I told my group that I could not make that decision until we
reached the edge of the summit plateau, and that we would have to go with the
uncertainty as we ascended.
We trudged along gamely,
trying not to get too hot, then trying not to get too wet, then trying not to
get too cold. We paused at the checkpoint at Lochan Meall an t Suidhe (the name
of which means the
little lake of the hill of the fairies), where two participants dropped out
with knee trouble, either to join a slower group, or to descend in the care of another
mountain leader.
We carried onwards up the zig-zags and into the fog, but
before we reached the summit plateau, the night stated to give way to day,
which made everything much easier.
One participant in my group
was really struggling. I admired her fortitude and determination, but she was
exerting herself at an unsustainable rate, so it was my painful duty to pass
her to a slower-paced group with which she soot a greater chance of reaching
the summit – later I saw her very close to the summit, waving cheerfully, so I
assume she actually made it.
Although it was still foggy,
by the time we reached the decision point, conditions were safe for us to go
all the way to the top, which was just as well, considering the effort we had
put in getting there.
We spend a few triumphant
minutes at the summit, taking photos and looking at the ruins, then retraced
our steps towards the checkpoint. Just before crossing Red Burn we dropped
out of the clouds, and were treated to beautiful clear views of the valley
below – I could feel the mood of the participants lift, and my own mood, too.
Conditions by now were so
good, and with a good distribution of mountain leaders coming down, that I
allowed the members of the group to proceed at their own individual comfortable
paces instead of trying to keep everyone together, which seemed to suit
everyone much better.
A hearty breakfast was
waiting for us at the Nevis Centre, then for the participants there were
coaches back to Glasgow.
The summit of Ben Nevis is
at 1,343 meters, making it the highest mountain in the UK by a good margin; it
is also quite a long walk up and down: 15km, according to my route card. But
whereas many mountain walks start from two or more hundred metres up, this walk
started close to sea level, at about 18m, so it doing it all is a good
achievement by any measure, and especially at night and in such conditions. So,
well done to all the participants, and especially to those in the group I
looked after.
