How much is Ben Nevis worth?

Is it possible to put a value on Ben Nevis?

Does the local community and council give the necessary protection and support to Ben Nevis?

Just two questions which popped into my head while guiding a group on Ben Nevis on Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny day and as the previous weekend was the Ben Nevis Race the mountain track was incredibly busy. As a rough guess I would say that there must have been at least 3000 people climbing the Ben via the mountain track.

Sounds like a big number but easily made up by:

• Three Peaks Challenge Participants – at least 4-500 (My personal bugbear).
• Charity Challenge Participants – at least 2-300
• Organised walking groups – probabaly at least a 100
• Individuals and groups walking independently – the vast majority.

This clearly illustrates the enormous pulling power of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, as a tourist attraction for the area.

So what is this attraction worth to the local (and wider) economy? Most people climbing Ben Nevis stay at least two nights in Fort William, eat locally, employ local guides and leaders, and will probably spend some money in local shops and attractions. As a conservative estimate I would think a per head spend of £100 per climber would not be too far wrong. So on Saturday the Ben was worth £300 000 to the local economy. Wikipedia’s excellent Ben Nevis page estimates 100 000 climb the Ben each year. I would have to question that as a low estimate, but for arguments sake lets accept it.

So conservatively Ben Nevis is worth over £10 Million to the local economy.(Just a quick back of the envelope calculation)

What is local business and government doing to preserve and protect this valuable resource? Not enough in my opinion! The Friend’s of Nevis Charity lists only 9 businesses as supporters/friends on their website. As we are personally involved as a sponsor I know that they do get limited local government support but are having considerable difficultly recruiting local businesses as supporters.

In my opinion it is in every B&B’s, hotel’s, shop’s, cafe’s, restaurant’s and business’ interest to be actively involved as a supporter of Ben Nevis, either through The Friend’s of Nevis or The John Muir Trust or local community groups.

Ben Nevis is a resource that needs management and protection. On Saturday I gave up picking up rubbish as there was so much, didn’t say anything to the hundreds of people taking shortcuts – which damages delicate mountain flora and causes erosion – and just felt generally depressed by the exploitation of Ben Nevis.

With proper funding and support from local business and government the Friend’s of Nevis, Nevis Partnership and other involved agencies could do so much more to educate, inform, police, protect and preserve Ben Nevis. Ensuring the long term viability of this fragile resource which is currently taken for granted.

So if you are a business local to Ben Nevis don’t you think it is time to get involved?

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Tagged as: Ben Nevis, Climb, conservation, local business