West Coast Mountain Guides have been guiding hillwalkers & hikers up Ben Nevis since 1988.
At 1345m (4409ft), Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the United Kingdom. Easy to reach for Fort William, it dominates the skyline and attracts hillwalkers from around the world. Of all the Munros in the Scottish Highlands, Ben Nevis is the undisputed king, being the highest land in any direction for 740kms.
West Coast Mountain Guides offers privately guided walks on Ben Nevis for groups of up to 8 hillwalkers. As you are hiring a mountain guide privately, we can arrange dates to accommodate you. All our guides hold the Mountain Leader award, ensuring that you are in safe hands. Our team is familiar with the landscape and history of Ben Nevis, and as you climb you will discover more about this once active volcano and the landscape around it.
We take the Mountain Track up Ben Nevis. This is the easiest of the Ben Nevis walking routes, but, as should be expected on the highest mountain in Scotland, is still challenging. The route starts as a well-maintained path and becomes rockier towards the summit. Our guides will discuss with you the best time to climb Ben Nevis, but this is generally between April and the end of October. If you are a very confident hillwalker and are looking for an even bigger challenge you may want to consider our winter guided hikes of Ben Nevis.
Winter Cimb of Ben Nevis Great experience with a great guide (Will). I appreciated his skill, patience, kindness, knowledge, flexibility, and passion for the hills. Would highly recommend this guide and company for Ben Nevis.
Great winter climbing course with Sally We had an amazing day with Sally from West Coast on the winter climbing course. From initial contact to finals plans the night before we felt like we were in good hands. She provided the gear and took three of us up the hill and had great patter. Once we reached the snow we were led through the training with the ice axes and crampons before tackling the climb full... read more
Great Mountain Guides - Recommended Fantastic experience with West Coast, from the initial booking and correspondence through to the guiding from Simon. Everything was brilliant. Highly recommended.
5 day intro winter climbing Alex is genuinely the best instructor I've had the pleasure of learning from. I wasn't sure what to expect from the 5 days, but would have been happy coming away from it feeling I'd learnt something and having ticked off a few routes. I ended up having the most enjoyable and educational experience I've had since getting back into climbing. I feel Alex perfectly balanced getting us up the routes... read more
Introductory winter climbing course I completed the 5 day intro to winter climbing course with west coast mountain guides Our guide Alex Kay did a great job, he tailored each day to suit the groups aims and we learnt a lot in the short space of time whilst still keeping it really enjoyable. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who's thinking about it, just get it booked in, you won't regret it!
Winterising climbing skills Our guide David Whiteley was fantastic, fantastic teacher and made a great effort to find good routes in less than ideal ground conditions.
Winter summit of Ben Nevis Awesome day with guide Craig who was knowledgeable, friendly and good fun. In great conditions we made it to the summit with some expert nav from our guide!
Awesome intro to winter climbing Awesome intro to winter climbing over three days with David and Dave. Learnt the basic safety and technical skills and managed to do some challenging climbs as early as the second day
The Mountain Track (which is also known as the Pony Track or Tourist Path), starts in Glen Nevis at 20m above sea level, and finishes on the summit of Ben Nevis at 1345m. The total distance to the summit and back is 16km. How long to climb Ben Nevis will depend on conditions, but the average time to climb Ben Nevis is between 6 and 8 hours. The path is never too steep, although the climb itself is fairly sustained, so a good level of fitness is recommended. It’s a big undertaking at any time of year, and should not be underestimated. Our guides are experienced and fully qualified, their job isn’t just to guide you, but to share their intimate knowledge of Ben Nevis and the surrounding area with you.
Your safety on the mountain is our top priority, so we cannot guarantee reaching the summit of the mountain. Our team will take into account the Ben Nevis summit weather, and strong winds can on occasion prevent us from getting all the way to the top. That said, we will guide you safely, develop your knowledge and make the most of prevailing conditions.
We would expect most people attempting to reach the summit of Ben Nevis to be fairly experienced hillwalkers. You won’t need any experience of scrambling or climbing. You should be fit enough to sustain up to 8 hours of sustained mountain hiking.
Privately guided hikes to the summit of Ben Nevis are offered to groups of no more than 8 hillwalkers, providing a 1:8 guide-to-participant ratio. There is no minimum group size.
Prices include guiding and instruction and are dependent on group size. You will also need to take accommodation, food, personal equipment and insurance costs into consideration. See Kit Requirements for more detail on what to bring.
Ben Nevis is the hardest mountain of the popular 3 peaks challenge. If you are considering tackling the 3 peaks challenge and would like West Coast Mountain Guides to guide you on this leg, please contact us.
Ben Nevis near Fort William is a former volcano and as a result the route up the mountain takes you through areas of light-coloured granites before reaching the ancient volcanic plug, which is made up of andesite and makes up the bulk of the mountain.
The name Ben Nevis (Beinn Nibheis in Gaelic) is thought to mean either the ‘mountain with its head in the clouds’ or simply ‘the venomous mountain’. The history and mythology surrounding Ben Nevis, together with the spectacular Ben Nevis summit view, combine to make this the most coveted mountain walk in the Highlands.
This is the enquiry form for questions about the Ben Nevis Guided Walks Base. As this walk is run by arrangement, please include the dates that would suit you and how many will be in your party.
Most common enquiries are dealt with in our FAQs – try there first.
If your question isn’t answered there, please complete the form , we will get back to you as soon as we can.
If you would prefer to tackle Ben Nevis by a more difficult route, such as the CMD Arete or Ledge Route, we can arrange this for you. Private guiding can be arranged on dates to suit you, and we can tailor the course or guiding to match your needs and aspirations. There are no limits for the number of participants on privately guided days, so whether you are an individual after 1:1 guiding or tuition, or a group or club looking to develop their collective skills or reach a particular summit, please get in touch.
