TNF Contribute £50,000 Towards Ben Path Work

The North Face has contributed £10,000 towards the cost of improving the Allt a'Mhuilinn path on Ben Nevis.

The man with our fave outdoor industry name, Topher Gaylord, who is TNF's European General Manager personally handed over the cheque to the Lochaber Mountain Access Group last week at the foot of the mountain.

It's the first of five annual contributions by The North Face which will go towards an estimated total cost of £200,000 needed to upgrade and maintain the path which leads to the North Face of the Ben from Tor Lundy. You can get a more detailed idea of what work is planned from this page at the Mountaineering Council of Scotland web site.

You can also find details at Alan Kimber's web site. A well known mountain guide, Alan is the secretary of the LMAG and the moving force behind the path project.

The TNF contribution is an interesting move, not least because it brings a North American tradition of major outdoors companies contributing towards ecological projects in the hills to this side of the big pond. After handing the first cheque to councillor Neil Clark, chairman of The Nevis Partnership, Topher commented:

"Our company has a history of investing in outdoor projects such as this in the United States. We are delighted to have been invited to join in this partnership venture and hope that our funding will generate more from others. This will be our first award of this type in Europe and nowhere could be more appropriate than a new access to the North Face of the Ben itself!"

The TNF contribution is around a quarter of the total funds needed, which is a great start. For more information on how to get involved, see the two links above.