My Nevis: Pam Beattie
Helping us celebrate 21 years of looking after Nevis is Pam Beattie who shares her memories of climbing her 94th Munro – Ben Nevis.
It was Saturday 19 June 2010: a glorious day with a cloud free sky by the afternoon and an occasional cool breeze. The car park was full of vehicles and walkers and there was a general buzz in the air.
After a quick visit to the Information Centre and a chat to the nice man on duty I set off uphill to find some walkers were already descending. I left the crowds behind when I turned off at the lochan to climb Carn Mor Dearg. The fairly steep climb on to the ridge of Carn Mor Dearg gave good views of the impressive north face of the Ben.
The start of the arete to Ben Nevis was a little intimidating, but the arete itself was no problem, though I did stay on the lower path much of the time. Beyond the arete there were large boulders to navigate to reach the summit. The top gave excellent views in all directions, though my ability to identify many of the mountains was sadly inadequate.
I jogged downhill quickly trying to avoid the many walking poles and was applauded as I re-entered the car park: perhaps I was mistaken for someone on the The Peaks Challenge.
I had promised that I would call into the Information Centre to let the warden know that I had completed my walk safely as he'd been concerned that a female was attempting this route on her own. I arrived with a few minutes to spare before closing time which gave me the chance to treat myself to an ice-cream.
The three-hour drive home made it a long day, but I can't think of a better way of spending my birthday. Carn Mor Derag and Ben Nevis were my 93rd and 94th Munros.
I compleated the Munros in September 2019. This photo is of me on top of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan in Glen Affric, my final Munro. I choose my hillwalking days carefully, but from this photo you'd never know that the burns were in spate the previous day.
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Photo courtesy of Pam Beattie
