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 Mòr are also on the Nevis massif. The western and southern flanks of Ben Nevis rise in about above the River Nevis flowing down Glen Nevis – the longest and steepest hill slope in Britain – with the result that the mountain presents an aspect of massive bulk on this side. To the north, by contrast, cliffs drop some to Coire Leis (pronounced Koruh Laysh.) A descent of 200 metres from this corrie leads to the Charles Inglis Clark Memorial Hut (known as the CIC Hut), a private mountain hut above sea level, owned by the Scottish Mountaineering Club and