12/10/2026
3 peaks complete - Ben Nevis f # done ✅🏔️ difficult to find the words to describe this weekend.
Firstly, the funniest group of people, proper belly laughing until I cried 🤣 🩷 the early mornings, traveling and s**t sleep wasn’t ideal 🙈
We landed at Inverness and Ratrace had emailed to say the summit was too dangerous so they had pulled that section off the route. Although I wasn’t doing the race, my sole purpose was to climb the mountain but now the only way - was to do it alone 😳 so I tossed and turned all night with anxiety about what to do. I’ve solo climbed before… just not in severe weather warning conditions 🤯 on the highest mountain in the UK 😭
So I decided to climb up half way where the route splits off and decide from there, then got there and thought “f**k it, I’m in for a penny now” it was also dry until that point. Then the rain came….. and did not stop, despite layers etc, I was completely soaked through.
Then I got into the cloud, it was grey, hard to see and you could feel the temp drop the more I kept on. Then the sleet and high winds joined in 🥶🤣
I became aware now that that I hadn’t seen anyone above or below for 5-10 minutes, this really scared me and panic started to creep in - at this point I finally thought “what the f # am I doing” 😵💫
Then a girl came along, we exchanged looks and she said “we are going to the top, there’s no way we are stopping now” so we carried on together until we hit the plateau at the top and we both admitted we couldn’t feel our hands or feet now and it was just too dangerous to push on to the summit, so I think we got to 1200m, missing the last 150m. Which pains me to say it, but at long last the sensible part of my brain kicked in, I realised I’d much rather see my kids again than get my summit picture and risk hypothermia and dying at the top!!! The walk down was obviously just as long, bloody painful and so cold. Trying to eat a frozen Kellogg rice crispy bar when you can’t open it with your fingers wasn’t ideal but I had to force some calories in because I knew my body wanted to give up! Coming out of the clouds was a surreal moment - civilisation!!! I am going to make it back !!
