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
Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles The mountains and hills of the British Isles, are categorised into lists based on elevation (or "height"), prominence (or "relative height", or "drop"), and other criteria (e.g. isolation). These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attempt to reach all the summits on a list, the oldest and best-known, being the 282 in Scotland, which amongst other criteria, must be above . A height above 2,000 ft, or more latterly 600 m, is considered necessary to be a "mountain" in the British Isles, and apart from the Munros (who favour