A very busy day on Saturday on Ben Nevis. I was involved with Marie Curie Cancer Care. Thanks to Gavin Kellett for these three images. We were not the only charity enjoying the superb weather and the supreme effort of the teams involved with Wheelchairs on Ben Nevis
was awesome.

The John Muir Trust were also on the mountain building up the important cairns on the summit plateau. Thanks for that, please make sure some of them are really high, and appear above the winter snows.

Unfortunately JMT do not share much enthusiasm with mountain charity events and would rather they went elsewhere. Personally I feel they should have thought about that before buying the mountain. JMT own many other mountain estates, which are undoubtedly iconic wild land areas and should remain that way. Ben Nevis, due to its height supremacy in the UK will always attract a different type of visitor from those who prefer solitude. Mountains like people need treating in a variety of ways and Nevis is no exception. The mountain, due to it's popularity has the potential to pay its way.

I'm not sure of the numbers involved over the weekend, but it was well into 1,000's. It would be really great if all of those who climb Ben Nevis could be encouraged to put £1.00 into the upkeep of the 'Mountain Path'. If everyone could offer up a simple quid it would raise well over £100K per annum. Then, all of those folk who spend hours in committee rooms, struggling to find methods of raising revenue for footpath upkeep could get out more!

Better still, an Alpine Lodge at the Halfway Lochan would really solve all of the issues surrounding funding for Britain's highest peak.