I’ll add more to this as time permits, but am currently riding in the back to of a car on holiday…
The tl;dr
Hiking Ben Nevis tests your nerve,
and your fortitude, resilience and reserve
I got my 5 Qs
quit as my hands frooze (sic)
and headed down, my heat to conserve
The pileup was furious and banging
F4WBN came in clanging
I worked Coen and U,
And Czechia, times two
Apologies to those I left hanging
72, MM/KK0U/P
There was a young tourist called Jim
Who hiked up the Ben on a whim
But with five QSOs
He was off on his toes
Because the weather had gotten too grim.
Even if the climb isn’t technical it’s still a long way up and the weather is crazily changeable, definitely cold-fingers territory. It must be nearly 40 years since (in the days before SOTA) my dad and my older brother -as GM6PGK/P and GM6PGL/P yomped up the Ben while on holiday with radio gear. Stuff wasn’t quite as lightweight then - they had an FT-480R, a motorcycle battery and a 2m Yagi, but they got good paths as far as Cornwall.
I was too young to have a licence then (the age limit was 14 in those days). Now I’m 52. How did that happen?
Time for more info. To add a little to Tom’s wonderful poem, I’m not young, the hike was planned, and the weather was indeed grim! We had planned for that, though, and had plenty of food, water and gear to see us through.
Gear:
The radio, battery and key were carried in my pack inside a ziploc bag.
At the start:
At the peak:
My gear bag:
The trip:
For those that haven’t hiked Ben Nevis, it’s the most relentlessly uphill hike I’ve ever done. 4 miles and 4400 feet of ascent. My buddy Brad is in better shape than I am, although my time spent cultivating ‘personal insulation’ paid off at the summit. By the time we got to the top, we were both pretty knackered. Good thing we packed decent lunches, and chocolate. As we peaked, Brad asked “how long is it going to take you to do this thing?” “Twenty minutes tops” was my answer.
I set about getting set up while he poked around. Got the fishing pole up with the wire snaked around it, and let the rest fall on the rocks. Plugged that into the 49:1 transformer, hooked up the coax, turned on the rig, and saw a roughly 2:1 SWR and about 3W out. Good enough.
Fumbled with my phone long enough to set a spot via SOTAWatch3, called CQ once, and the game was on!
Note that in the States, even with prior alerts set, I call CQ 2-5 minutes before I get any answers. Not at all the case here.
Coen PA5KM was in the log first, then Ruda OK2QA. I had to turn the keyer speed down to 22 wpm to maintain any sort of decent sending. I knew it was Chris F4WBN blowing the earbuds out of my ears before he even finished his callsign – nice to be able to work him from both sides of the pond! Next, SOTA stallwart Uli HB9CGA got into the log, although QSB almost scuttled our attempt. Last was George OK2KG. I could hear a couple of S5s calling and some others, but knew I’d better shut it down before hypothermia set in. Packed it up pretty quickly, donned my insulated helmet liner, and off we went.
I tend to hike “light” with my clothing, as I heat up rather quickly. I had plenty of insulated base layer, rain pants, etc. in my pack, but I usually try to get my operating in until I get cold, and then head off. If I put a bunch of layers on while at a peak, I’m guaranteed to overheat on the way down. Hence the quick activation. Apologies to the folks who were still calling, but we needed to move out.
On the trek up, at about 1/3 of the way up we got into the clouds. After about 1/2 it started misting, and 3/4 to the top the mist turned to light rain, which stayed with us until we were almost all the way back down to the bottom.
All in all, apart from missing any spectacular views we would have gotten in better weather, I’m kinda happy we got “standard Scottish weather.” It definitely adds to the Type II fun of it all. We’ve been in the UK since the first of June, with a week in London, and then making the rounds through York, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Oban and now Grassmere. Ben Nevis has been the highlight of the trip for me by far, even if I’m still sore!
73, Jim M/KK0U
So who is the other guy? 
Great report, I enjoyed reading it!
Thanks for the catch – fixed!
True. But “planned” doesn’t rhyme with Jim or grim, so you’ll have to allow me some artistic licence. Having now seen your photo, I’m happy to keep the word “young” in the verse…
Bravo Jim! Wish we could have heard you back home 
Well done.
Thanks, Jeff — even though I’m still sore 4 days later, hiking BN has been the highlight of the trip!
72, M/KK0U
Great report and activation. I activated Ben Nevis three times last year. In April, there was little snow. In June, I had this…
Just as well you were prepared for anything!
