In 2005 myself, my brother and my father planned to climb Ben Nevis (Highest mountain in the British Isles). I however couldnt make it because of work though that didnt stop them pair continuing on with the plan. A year later however i got my chance and my brother and I went there recently in 2006.

We were only there for a couple of nights, we set off at 11pm and that was the first time i was thankful i dont have a driving license. Seven hours later we arrive at the camp site, setup the tent and look towards the mountain. Its somewhat of a decieving mountain as you cannot see the top from the glen. With a complete lack of sleep we decide to take a stroll up it to see how far we could get, though my poor bro who had almost no sleep at all didnt get to far, and i only managed to get about a third of the way up.

The second and last full day we were there was the day. We set off somewhere around 7am with slightly worse conditions than the day before, I demanded we take three large bottles of water with us, instead of the smaller ones we were initially going to take, and i paid the price having to carry the backpack all the way up and back down! The further up we went the wetter and foggier it became, but hey, the danger adds to the excitement. When we finally reached the top i was very suprised by what i saw, a sharp rocky surface with some old ruins, a monument of all those that have died up there along with a refuge shelter. With the addition of the thick fog it was exactly how i imagined the gates of hell should such a place exist. A fantastic experience, and great challenge, though going down was defintely harder than going up! Thanks to my dad for funding that venture for me!