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 (horse) Ben Nevis (horse) Ben Nevis (1968–1995) was a British-bred racehorse who became the third American-owned steeplechaser to win the Grand National at Aintree and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2009. In the United States he was known as Ben Nevis II. Ben Nevis was a chestnut gelding with a white blaze bred in England by A S Pattenden.Ben Nevis was named after a mountain in Scotland. He began his career on the amateur Point-to-point circuit but had little success and was exported to race in the United States. In America, Ben Nevis