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There are plenty of issues with inexperienced people walking up Ben Nevis even from the visitors centre. Mostly tourists who don’t realise that it’s quite a hik

There are plenty of issues with inexperienced people walking up Ben Nevis even from the visitors centre. Mostly tourists who don’t realise that it’s quite a hike and set off unprepared. The main path at the base is well trodden and easy to follow, leading people into a false sense of security, but towards the top it becomes difficult, particularly as the summit is snow covered much of the year. For the last segment to the summit you have to walk a dog leg to the south to avoid several steep gullies to the north. These gullies are often filled in with snow and otherwise invisible. Walkers trying to walk in a straight line for the summit can easily stray too close and come to grief. Particularly if they are following a poorly designed sat-nav route and have no actual map and compass navigation experience. A bit about the navigation at the summit: http://www.ben-nevis.com/navigation/navigation.php http://www.ben-nevis.com/navigation/navigation.php

gnufx 5y ago
Right, and this is a common problem with British mountains in areas where people regard the top as some sort of accessible tourist attraction; I've actually seen high heels at the start. They may not be that high, but they can be easy enough to die on. Some comments sound rather as if they think the volunteer mountain rescue don't know what they're talking about (assuming they've been correctly reported). My experience of mobile phone signal is rather different to what others report/assume.