How many steps does it take to walk up and down Ben Nevis?

Climbing Ben Nevis is the equivalent of climbing about 6,725 steps, or nearly 700 flights of stairs. For comparison, that's like climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building four times, except that there's no elevator to take you back down at the end.



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How long does the walk take? An average time to the summit and back is 7 – 8 hours. Walkers fit enough to try to climb The Three Peaks in 24 hours need to take 5 hours or less. The winner of The Ben Race each September gets to the summit and back in around 90 minutes.

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The first thing to know is that there are two routes up and down Ben Nevis – the Mountain Track (or Tourist Track) and the Carn Mor Dearg Arête which is typically tackled by more experienced climbers. The Mountain Track is doable as a beginner if you have generally good fitness and go prepared for the conditions.

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If you're an inexperienced climber or attempting Nevis for the first time, we'd recommend going with a guide. Not only will they keep you safe while enjoying the challenge, but they'll make the trip way more fun (and you might even pick up some bonus mountaineering skills on the way).

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How hard is it to walk Ben Nevis? Most beginner to intermediate hikers would classify Ben Nevis as hard. It's certainly not something to take on without any preparation, but it's completely doable as an amazing challenge!

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There are no toilets on the mountain, the only access you have to toilets is at the Ben Nevis Visitors center. The opening hours of these change during the year so it is worth checking with them if you have any questions.

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I would not ever recommend doing Ben Nevin alone. You may think that as there is a good path to the summit, then you will not get lost but unless you have very good map reading skills and the ability to use a compass competently, the risk is there during bad weather.

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The North Face of the mountain offers the greatest challenges of all. The Ledge route is a non-climbing route, but it still has some sections of grade 1 scrambles. You may encounter pockets of snow even in early summer, so it's best to have some knowledge of using ice axes and crampons.

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Mount Snowdon is instead, considered to be the easiest of the three. Scafell Pike is considered to be harder because it has a pretty steep incline. Part of the summit journey also involves a scree slope and this requires hikers to sort of scramble up. Therefore, it is tougher than Mount Snowdon and Ben Nevis.

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Ben Nevis is purportedly the hardest mountain (and highest peak) of the Three Peaks Challenge. That's why people tend to do it first if they're taking the 24 hour challenge.

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The Gondola transports visitors from 100m to 650m up the mountain and takes approximately 15 minutes each way. The Doppelmayr Gondola system comprises of 80 six seat closed cabins running on a continuous 4.6km steel cable weighing 40 tonnes.

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