Ben Nevis the summit only to find "fragments of earthen and glass ware, chicken bones, corks, and bits of paper". It was not until 1847 that Ben Nevis was confirmed by the Ordnance Survey as the highest mountain in Britain and Ireland, ahead of its rival Ben Macdhui. The summit observatory was built in the summer of 1883, and would remain in operation for 21 years. The first path to the summit was built at the same time as the observatory and was designed to allow ponies to carry up supplies, with a maximum gradient of one in five. The opening of
Ben Nevis has been made possible by Heritage Lottery Funding. Now in project year three (March 2016 – March 2017), there have been significant positive changes implemented by Nevis Landscape Partnership and their projects, most significantly the upgrades to the Ben Nevis Mountain Track. Work to upgrade the mountain track started in November 2015 after two contracts were awarded to McGowan Ltd. & Cairngorm Wilderness Contracts. Both contractors immediately started bagging stone from high up Ben Nevis to be brought down to by helicopter to replace crumbling steps and stabilise eroding parts of the path. The project will eventually upgrade 3.5 km