Ben Nevis - GM/WS-001 SOTA (2022)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Thursday 24th March, 2022.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Ben Nevis, Western Scotland, Scotland.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GM/WS-001 (10 points).
Summit Height: 1345m elevation, 1345m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 56.79689, -5.00368. Maidenhead Grid IO76lt.
Also Activated: GM/WS-003.
Distance: 18.9km travelled with 1510m of ascent.
Difficulty: Winter Grade I.
Elapsed Time: 8hr 50m (incl. operating and other summit(s) on the same hike).
Weather: 0°C, light breeze, cloudy.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: MM1HAX/P.
Contacts: 6 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

Ben Nevis, standing proudly at 1,345 metres, is the highest mountain in both Scotland and the British Isles. Known locally as “The Ben,” this imposing massif dominates the landscape around Fort William and attracts thousands of visitors annually. While most tourists ascend via the well-trodden Pony Track from Glen Nevis, the mountain offers a number of more challenging approaches for experienced mountaineers.

Having successfully summitted Carn Mor Dearg (GM/WS-003) earlier in the day, our route now continued along the famous Carn Mor Dearg (“CMD”) Arete. This spectacular narrow ridge forms a natural horseshoe connecting the two mountains and provides perhaps one of Scotland’s finest high-level mountaineering experiences.

As we descended onto the arete, Ben Nevis loomed magnificently ahead, its imposing north face dominating the view. The ridge traverse was superb, with snow conditions generally good, though the weather began to deteriorate as we progressed.

I led the final push up the steep snow-covered slopes to the summit plateau. Fortunately, the snow was firm enough to support our weight, making the ascent over what would otherwise be an arduous boulder field relatively straightforward. The gradient steepened for the final section before reaching the plateau.

As visibility deteriorated into whiteout conditions, we passed a climbing duo descending, presumably heading towards the CIC Hut. Shortly afterwards, we encountered a lone figure in the mist who ignored our greetings - not out of rudeness but because he was in a state of panic and/or disorientation. We watched in alarm as he slipped and fell at the top of the steep slope we had just ascended. After shouting to him repeatedly, I managed to get him to return to our position.

The tourist was severely underprepared - wearing cotton trousers and trail running shoes in winter mountain conditions. He had no map, compass, navigation app, or even any idea of a pre-planned route. Lost in the whiteout, he had mistakenly followed the climbers, thinking they were heading back to the tourist path. I explained how dangerously close he had come to sliding to his death, though he seemed oblivious to his predicament.

After some consideration, I decided he would be safe waiting for a few moments while I quickly activated the summit for SOTA. My planned leisurely operation from Britain’s highest peak was reduced to a hurried five-minute activation. I managed six contacts on 2 metres FM, working stations including Colin GM0HBK and Robin GM7PKT/P before quickly packing away the radio station.

With compass in hand, I led our now-expanded group off the mountain in the whiteout. We slowly descended about 300 metres vertically until reaching the snow line, with our unexpected companion in tow. I remained astonished at how he had successfully reached the summit in such conditions with such inappropriate equipment.
Once safely below the cloud on the well-defined zig-zag path of the tourist route, with other hikers visible in the distance, we parted ways with the tourist by mutual agreement. We later veered northward at Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe to descend towards Coire Dubh, completing our planned circular route.

About twenty minutes later, a Leonardo AW189 Search & Rescue helicopter appeared overhead, flying directly to the zig-zag path. My heart sank momentarily, fearing for the tourist, but the helicopter appeared to be on a routine patrol, moving between the various summits. It later approached us twice as we descended the pathless terrain towards Allt a' Mhuilinn, perhaps checking if we needed assistance. I signalled that we were fine and continued on towards the car park, crossing the river using an old deer fence.

This Ben Nevis activation was certainly memorable - more for the unexpected rescue situation than the SOTA radio operation - but it served as a stark reminder of the serious consequences of inadequate preparation in mountain environments.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Ben Nevis on Thursday 24th March, 2022.

Walking Route for Ben Nevis

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Ben Nevis. Note that this summit was activated as part of a multi-summit hike and the map below shows the full route taken on the day. The GM/WS-001 summit area is marked on the map with a blue pin icon.

You can download the route shown above as a GPX file suitable for use with most GPS devices. This file is provided for information only, to support your own walk planning and research (it may contain navigation errors, detours and/or safety hazards). The route downloads provided here are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

Station Log

I logged the following 6 amateur radio contacts operating as MM1HAX/P from GM/WS-001 Ben Nevis on Thursday 24th March, 2022 (all times shown are UTC):

In the notes field I will usually log the other operator’s name and the signal report they provided. In accordance with the Summits on the Air rules, I do not make a log entry where a complete exchange of callsigns and signal reports was unsuccessful.

Additional Information

The following resources may be helpful to walkers, mountaineers and SOTA activators interested in Ben Nevis:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for GM/WS-001 Ben Nevis.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Ben Nevis.
• Google Maps Page for Ben Nevis.
• Wikipedia entry for Ben Nevis.
• 360° Panorama near summit of GM/WS-001 Ben Nevis.

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