To climb Ben Nevis with no experience?

[CiderWithRosy]

My DH and DS (17) are driving up to Scotland next week to climb Ben Nevis. I hadn't really given it much thought but I mentioned it to my mother and sister today and they were absolutely appalled. They said it was very dangerous and DH and DS shouldn't be attempting this by themselves. DH and DS don't have any experience of climbing mountains. DH (55) is relatively fit, keen cyclist and runner but DS is unfit, typical teenager spends most of his time gaming and has done absolutely no training for this. I've done some googling and there seems to be some pretty mixed information, some sources saying it's dangerous, some saying it's fine. Does anyone have any experience of this? Would they be foolish to attempt it? I feel quite worried now.

Honestly it’s fine, wear decent shoes, take plenty of water and come back down if the weather looks like its turning.

Also this time of year it’s very busy so if anything does happen (it won’t) loads of folk around to help

Depends which route you take! The pony track is fairly tame but less interesting than some of the other breathtakingly beautiful but more dangerous routes. They could always see if they could get a local guide if they wanted to do e.g. the Carn Mor Dearg arête.

Have they ever walked up any mountain before?

If not then it's a really stupid idea.

If they are regular hill walkers then they will know how to prepare.

Just hope mountain rescue can get to them if it goes wrong.

If your DS is unfut he will struggle.

I’m an ultimate couch potato and managed to haul myself up there (won’t be doing that again in a hurry, christ) so if they’re even slightly fitter than me they’ll be fine.

Should be plenty of people about, but you can get GPS flare things that send your location out to the relevant authorities on the tiny chance something happens. Might be worth looking at.

I did Snowdon as an unfit novice and made it up. You go as far as you can then come back down, if it is too much, surely?

If you have a good level of fitness, appropriate clothing and plenty of water you’ll be fine on the pony path. DS sounds a bit unfit but he’s got youth on his side, he’ll be reet.

The main "tourist" path is likely to be very crowded this time of year so very easy to navigate. The path is good and clear. At the top, if there is snow (which there often is year round) you do need to be careful because there are cliffs and cornices but again, the safe path is generally very clear. If there's bad weather, visibility can be low. I climbed it in June with a white out at the top. Just keep your wits about you and you're fine. Take clothes for all weathers. Hats and gloves for the top. Plenty of water. Plenty of food. Charged phones etc.

There are a number of routes on Ben Nevis which are certainly dangerous and only for the experienced climber, but you're unlikely to wander onto these.

Teenager will have sore legs the next day. Its a long and steep walk but a great experience.

I mean, little kiddies go up Ben Nevis. I presume people just go back down when they’ve had enough 🤣
i actually found coming down more of a workout than going up 🤷🏻‍♀️

The plus side is Lochaber mountain rescue are very used to rescuing the unprepared from the Ben.

It's the best time of year to do it as a novice but I'd still not reccommend it. One option could be to go with a guide. There are lots of mountain leaders who will make sure they have the right kit for the conditions (no heatwave in the West Coast just now) and know if/when to call it a day.

It depends on how well prepared they are. Do they have the right equipment and can they use it? The path up is very obvious apart from in the stony bit at the top, which is often in cloud. You could easily get turned around up there as you can't see any landmarks due to the cloud and there is not really a path as it is all rocky and take the wrong direction back down (which would be bad as the non-touristy side is full of cliffs and a hard climb). The rest of the climb is a very well defined path with proper steps in places I have done it a couple of times as a relatively experienced hill climber. It is a long days walk if you aren't fit. I did it in 7 hours first time round if I remember right. Without pushing myself and probably only semi fit as we did it in may, so one of the earlier climbs of the season. There were absolutely loads of people less fit than me who managed it by taking it slowly. What really worried me at the time was passing people on my way back down who were walking up the early stages mod afternoon wearing shorts, tshirts and totally inappropriate shoes with no rucksack and one bottle of water in their hand. There was no way they were making it back down before dark, they were on course for dehydration and if they got lost (no map or compass with them) and couldn't carry on or got injured (likely given the footwear) they were absolutely going to get hypothermia. I was not surprised to hear a helicopter hanging around late that evening.

It's more about the gear, I think. Proper walking shoes and waterproofs, etc. If you are struggling, you can always turn back.

Oh. Snowdon is the easiest of the three. That figures. Then not so amazing I made it up then. Why not just see how they go with lots of water en route or go to Edinburgh and do Arthur's Seat or Salisbury Crags instead? Lots for the teen to do in the capital.

We walked up the Pony track in the summer when ds was 9. It was sunny at the bottom and there was snow at the top! We were in tshirts on the way up, then had freezing rain coming down!

The top is usually windy, shrouded in cloud and covered in snow regardless of the weather in the valleys.

Navigation on the Pony Track is usually straightforwards, make sure you go back the same way and don't stumble down a technical route like the CMD Arête by mistake.

It's a slog. I seem to remember it being 6+ hours (it was a long time ago) and we were young, fit and used to hill walking. If you get knackered or injured from lack of practice, there's no easy escape off. I'd be more worried about an unfit gamer 17yo with no experience than an outdoor sports man in his 50s. Partly for the mental endurance, but also because youth alone isn't enough insurance against a repetitive strain injury on untrained muscles.

Appropriate gear is easy enough to research. Spare layers and emergency rations are important. A map, compass and the skills to use them are also important. Do not rely on phones/ GPS.

Like Snowdon, plenty of Novices do it and without incident, but popular mountains are still mountains nonetheless and need treating with appropriate care.

DH and I just did it, via the pony track.
We live somewhere with mountains and hills on our doorstep and hike up them on a weekly basis.
We therefore found the 4000ft climb a piece of cake.
What we found utterly soul destroying was the non-stop wind and rain once we were above cloud level. I own all of the right technical clothing, but every single layer was soaked through. I think these sorts of weather conditions are pretty common up there.
So yes, your DH and DS will probably be fine (accounting for the fact that teenagers have the gift of youth, if not fitness, on their side) but don't underestimate the weather.

I went up Ben Nevis last summer, regularly climb mountains in the UK.

Fitness wise you will be fine- they might get a shock at how hard it is walking continuously uphill for 4-5 hours, scrambling etc. particularly the teen, but you will probably make it.

The bit that’s concerning is the lack of mountain experience. If you go up and back on a clear sunny day and start early enough in the morning, maybe.

But this is Scotland, the weather changes super fast: do they know what to do if fog comes down and they can’t work out which direction to walk in? Can they use bearings on a map and compass. Nevis has a huge drop on one side and multiple people have died simply by walking off the top of the mountain in the wrong direction.

will they be taking warm clothes and suitable boots/equipment? There is snow about a certain height on Nevis, all year round. Your boots need to be broken in and confident you will not get blisters as this will severely slow you down.

Have they practiced judgement about knowing when to turn back if the weather turns/they are slower than normal/injury etc? Nevis is not a mountain I would want to be walking down in the dark so you need to have a decent judgement on how long it will take you to walk back down what you have just walked up. Can be slower depending on how technical the terrain is. The top of Nevis has many switchbacks on gravelly, slidey slate and it’s a bit of a slog to get both down and up as you really have to concentrate

Take LOTS of suitable food, water, glucose tablets, snacks, you will burn much more energy than normal. Take more than you need for a day in case you get stuck/have to stop. Take a more layers than you think, Scottish weather is super unpredictable- we started in blazing sunshine and met fog and snow on the way up (in June). The weather forecast for the local area will not account for what happens at the top of the mountains, though I believe local mountain rescue in the area provide some more detailed info!

overall please remember that mountain rescue teams are volunteers who donate their own time to rescuing people from these locations and raise their own funds to do so.

They need to prepare for massive changes in weather.
Ensure they have got foot wear that is comfortable, supportive and waterproof.
Take plenty of food and water.
Have a map and know how to use it.
Have worked out roughly how long it will take them and have agreed check in times. So if they don't make a check in you know to be able to call for help.
That area of Scotland is notorious for changeable weather gorgeous sunshine one minute dense fog moments later.

Oh and we were inexperienced I guess (we'd been up Snowden before but that's about it) and it was easy, you just follow the path basically (although we had a map). We left early morning, had hiking shoes (I think anyone who willingly wears walking boots in summer heat is mad!) a bottle of water each and lots of sweets. I don't recall it being any harder than Snowden, Scafell Pike or Slieve Donard, you basically just keep putting one foot in front the other and eventually you get there!

Going down is mentally much harder when you're tired, and often gruelling on the knees.

I love walking poles.

While it's "easier" in that it doesn't get your heart rate up, it's easy to trip or make daft mistakes when you're tired.

Came on to say this.

I went up and down the pony track the first time I did it. It's a long day but very safe and no cliff edges.

It's also really busy, so if anything should happen (sprained ankle etc) then there are plenty of people around to help.

Water, decent boots and plenty of snacks. Don't even need a map, just follow the crowds.

It’s absolutely fine my parents took me up aged 9 and I loved it

Take the main track, make sure they are prepared for all weather (eg sunscreen right through to a woolly hat, gloves, scarf, waterproofs for body and legs); take more than the food they'll need. But they'll be fine if they stick to the main path. The other paths can be dangerous with rock climbing elements.

As long as they're fully and appropriately equipped, and aren't completely ignorant about how to care for themselves during the climb. I think it's a bit mad, though, I mean, they could have had a practice first!