Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis (or Beinn Nibheis in Scottish Gaelic) is the highest mountain in the British Isles. It is situated in the west of Scotland, close to the town of Fort William, in Lochaber, Highland. It is one of 284 Munros (mountains in Scotland that reach an elevation of 3,000 feet (914.4 m) or more).

Ben Nevis is somewhat infamous for its inclement weather. The summit boasts the following statistics:

355 days a year cloud-covered, on average.
261 full gales per year, on average.
4,350 mm of rainfall per year, compared to only 2,050 mm in Fort William, just a few miles away, and about 600 mm in Inverness, Edinburgh and London. Rainfall on Ben Nevis is about twice as high in the winter as it is in the spring and summer.
The draw of the highest peak in the British Isles attracts over 100,000 ascents a year. A significant number of these visitors have little experience of mountains, and many are caught out each year by the quickly changing weather. Between 1990 and 1995 alone there were 13 fatalities on the mountain. (Eight of these were due to falls while rock climbing.)

The origin of the name Ben Nevis is unclear. The word ben is certainly from beinn, the Gaelic word for "peak", and Ben Nevis is sometimes referred to as 'The Ben'. Possibilities for the meaning of nevis include 'venomous', 'burst' or 'flow' (from neb) and 'brow of keen air' (from neamh meaning 'keeness of air' and bhathais meaning 'brow'). A locally popular suggestion that the name derives from naomh meaning 'heaven' is rejected by etymologists.

Ben Nevis is one of three British mountains climbed as part of the (National) Three Peaks Challenge.