Ben Nevis
Travel magazine Wanderlust has named the Three Peaks Challenge – which requires walkers to complete the highest peaks of England, Wales and Scotland within 24 hours (Scafell Pike, Snowdon and Ben Nevis) – as one of their 10 endangered destinations in 2011. Several media outlets have asked the John Muir Trust, as the owner of Ben Nevis Estate, for a comment on this story.
The story raises important issues relating to the popularity of Ben Nevis, which the JMT have to deal with in day-to-day management of the hill. Every year around 100,000 people walk to the top of Ben Nevis. This includes people taking part in the Challenge and other fundraising events, as well as individual visitors from the UK and the rest of the world.
There’s no doubt that this large footfall has an impact on the mountain, of which visitors to the Ben, including those taking part in fundraising challenges, may be unaware. The high number of visitors contributes to erosion of the footpath, large quantities of litter being dropped (including banana skins that can take up to two years to decompose), and numerous deposits of human excrement and tissue on the hill.
Ben Nevis is a sensitive upland environment that is home to many rare mosses and lichens as well as sensitive birds like snow bunting and ptarmigan. Organic waste causes changes to the soil composition while scavengers such as herring gulls and crows are doing better on the summit plateau of Ben Nevis than they would naturally because of the amount of edible rubbish that is discarded.
The Trust states that it would like everyone who comes to Ben Nevis to enjoy their visit and to help keep Ben Nevis special by adopting a ‘leave no trace’ approach. That means that everything taken up the hill should be taken back down. This applies to everyone, including those taking part in fundraising events.
Visitors should follow the tips found in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code to ensure they minimise their impact on this special environment. The Trust has also worked with the Nevis Partnership and the Institute of Fundraising to develop a Code of Practice for Outdoor Events, which contains a special section on the Three Peaks.
The recommendations in the latter code include limiting the number of walkers to no more than 200 per event and reducing the pressure on walkers to complete the challenge in 24 hours.
However, groups of more than 15 people should register their climb through Highland Council's website here.
It is hoped that the measures contained in these codes will help ensure that the Ben can continue to be enjoyed by everyone wanting to experience Britain’s highest mountain.
Ben Nevis Facts
- Around 100,000 visitors walk up Ben Nevis every year.
- Litter is one of the biggest problems affecting Ben Nevis. The last quarterly litter pick filled 18 bin bags of rubbish, 10 of which were filled solely with banana skins.
- Bananas have a hard time biodegrading in the rocky and cold upland environment of Ben Nevis and can take up to two years to fully decompose.
- Deposits of human excrement on Ben Nevis are also a problem for visitors and the hill.
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→UK's '3 peaks' are endangered mountains claims Travel magazine
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→https://national-grid-news.blogspot.com/2011/07/uk-peaks-are-endangered-mountains.html
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