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 and will continue to be a large contributing factor to the overall upgrade of the mountain track. Nevis Landscape Partnership are working closely with National Trust for Scotland to run Thistle Camp Working Holidays which will focus on much-needed maintenance on the first section of the Ben Nevis footpath and allow outdoor enthusiasts to actively be a part of maintaining and protecting the United Kingdom's highest mountain for this generation and many more to come. The Ben Nevis Distillery is a single malt whisky distillery at the foot of the mountain, near Victoria Bridge to the north of Fort William.