Ben Nevis could get a limited number of cairns to mark the safe
descent route from the summit if proposals by the Nevis Partnership
are approved.
The Partnership consists of 'consists of institutions and
organisations representing the local community, landowners and
tenants, user groups and the local public agencies' and is the
driving force behind a series of improvements on the Ben including
the restoration of severely eroded paths and the improvement of local
facilities. Funding is both by public money and from private sources,
most notably The North Face, which is helping to finance work on the
Allt a' Mhuilinn path.
The cairn proposals form part of the Nevis Strategy - a strategy
document drawn up by working parties - and are massively
controversial. Several years ago, the local Lochaber Mountain Rescue
Team erected two poles to help mountaineers find the correct descent
route from the summit, something that's notoriously tricky in poor
conditions.
The installation of the poles caused serious ructions within the
mountaineering community and they were unceromoniously removed by
climbers, while the Mountaineering Council of Scotland opposed them
on the grounds that 'the poles were counterproductive from a safety
perspective' and also against the ethos of self reliance.
The new proposals seem likely to cause similar controversy and a
consultation process is underway. At the heart of the debate is the
huge number of visitors to the Ben who are not experienced mountain
navigators and might benefit from a small number of carefully sited
claims. On the other hand, many experienced mountaineers will
undoubtedly oppose the move on ethical grounds, viz, 'if you can't
look after yourself, you shouldn't be there in the first place'.
The Mountaineering Council of Scotland's present position is that
most of the debris which makes the summit of the Ben an eyesore
including the marker at the top of No.4 Gully and the abseil posts in
Coire Leis should be removed and 'natural cairns' - not concreted -
should be placed at 100 metre intervals along the main descent
path.
It's anxious however, to garner opinions from mountain users on
issues like the size, shape, spacing and construction of the cairns,
the fate of existing markers, whether there should be a trial period
and indeed, if there should be any cairns at all.
You can find full details and contacts on this
page of the M C of S web site.
Jon Doran
