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
Nevis Mountain Dew man that has become paralyzed. Otis L. Guernsey Jr., editor of "The Best Plays of 1978–1979" theatre yearbook, which recognized the two productions that season, made the following observation:""Nevis Mountain Dew" of course invites comparison with this season's British script on much the same subject, "Whose Life Is It Anyway?", and the NEC variation on this theme holds its own. It doesn't confront its invalid's question "To be or not to be?" as polemically as its British counterpart, but it takes a similar stand and a closer look at the effects of such a calamity on those surrounding the victim."