Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK, 1,345 metres of old volcano above Fort William. It is not a walk in the park. The so-called tourist path is a long, eroded grind that still kills people who treat it like a stair machine. The summit is a plateau with cliffs on the north side and, very often, no view at all.

If you go up

Kit, food, a map that is not only a phone, an early start, a turnaround time. In winter it is a mountaineering day. In summer it is still a mountain. Glen Nevis is the glen; the car parks fill; the midges in the lower glen in July are a separate boss fight.

You can have a full day with Nevis in the window and never leave the glen. That is allowed. Fort William will sell you the rest. We put the hill in a tin because the air at the bottom of it — wet rock, wood, a bit of diesel from the town — is still a place. Nevis. Neighbouring drama: Glen Coe.