The Boys' Brigade Mountaineering Club

Ben Nevis / Beinn Nibheis is the highest peak in the British Isles. Because of this, its summit attracts a huge number of visitors. There are over a thousand Bens or Beinns in Scotland, but Ben Nevis is the only one that mountaineers would affectionately refer to as The Ben. It has a large stone-covered summit plateau with very steep drops to the north. The summit is marked by a large cairn with a trig point on top of it, near which can be seen the the remains of a meteorological observatory built in 1883, on top of which there is now an emergency shelter. There is a popular Tourist Route to the summit from Glen Nevis. But the best approach is from Coire Leis, to gain views of the magnificently rugged and steep North Face with a final Grade 1 scramble up the Càrn Mòr Dearg Arête.

See its entries on Walkhighlands or Wikipedia or view it from above on Google Earth.

Ben is the Lowland Scots version of the Gaelic word Beinn, which means Mountain. Nevis is an anglicisation of Nibheis, but its meaning is obscure. The name could come from antecedents of the Modern Gaelic words Nimh (Poison or Venom) or Nèamh or its Proto-Indo-European root *Nebh-, meaning Sky, Clouds or Heavens. Nevis could also derive from Neimhidh meaning Sacred. So, Ben Nevis could mean Venomous, Cloudy, Heavenly or Sacred Mountain, but Venomous Mountain is the most likely meaning. The peak might also have been named after the River Nevis in Glen Nevis whose upper reaches can often be enveloped in cloud or mist.

A popular, but less likely, interpretation is that the name comes from Beinn Nèamh-Bhathais (Bathais means Brow or Forehead), giving Mountain with its Head in the Clouds.