Ben Nevis: Climbing Scotland's Highest Mountain (With Andrew, Who Hates Climbing)

In August 2017, I decided it was time to take on Britain's highest mountain: Ben Nevis. To make it more interesting, I invited my friend Andrew, who hates climbing. This is his story...

[@seatedliberty]

He hates climbing and his last name is Cairns- score one for the god of irony.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Haha :D

[@krissp8712]

Must have been named after the Australian Cairns (which is at sea level) rather than the rocky mounds!

[@pinkpyjamas-ey6rw]

Yes. With a good Scottish name like Andrew Cairns I was surprised to find he is a grumpy Englishman! x

[@ToolkiT73UK]

'It is a very high bar' boom boom!

[@wbell539]

Let's all agree to forgive him for that one.

[@timflatus]

Nope

[@kasperkjrsgaard1447]

Always set the bar as high as possible

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

climbing the highest mountain in Britain for the amazing view. only to realize that the mountain is still part of Britain and therefore cloudy

[@billymcnutt116]

"The summit, which is the collapsed dome of an ancient volcano,[4] features the ruins of an observatory which was continuously staffed between 1883 and 1904." -Wikipedia Well that explains why the summit is covered with broken stone.

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

I can see why they closed it.

[@lonestarr1490]

@@whoeveriam0iam14222 You mean you can't see it. As did they.

[@koningbolo4700]

Tim, one of the last guys with a indestructible Cheerio mentality and perspective on general hardship and miserable (hiking) circumstances...

[@TheTimTraveller]

Annoying aren't I? :D

[@timeflysintheshop]

@@TheTimTraveller you are annoying in the best monte python esque way. When I am reading your comments on comments the voice in my head sounds just like you! 😂

[@wbell539]

Good to see a pair of guys really enjoy an experience like that together.

[@CaeserOct]

The high bar joke made me laugh out loud. Currently binging this channel - amazing work, Tim (and Andrew).

[@Ivan-Manzo]

My hometown is exactly at 1300 meters from sea level just like the summit of Ben Nevis, it never ceases to amaze me that I'm standing above most humans at all times.

[@johncrwarner]

How about doing the new highest mountain in Finland which was a gift from Norway to celebrate their 100 years of independence?

[@TheTimTraveller]

Yes I saw that in the news and am well up for doing it :) I feel like it might require some actual mountaineering skills though - Ben Nevis is just a long hike

[@johncrwarner]

It is the same sort of size as Ben Nevis - though it is a bit remoter - it is called Halti and they didn't give it as a gift in the end.

[@bjrn-steinarhanssen2102]

It is forbidden in our law to give away parts of the country. there must be money involved, or war... Think we take the money then;) In the end Halti was not given away, it is still Norwegian.

[@davidwelch6796]

Probably best that they did not give the mountain away in the end - gift wrapping it would have been a bit of sod.

[@zanelindsay1267]

@@bjrn-steinarhanssen2102 Perhaps Finland and Norway could share the mountain as a goodwill gesture, the way France and Spain share Pheasant Island which I learned about from Tim's video kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnjam6egnM6crKc s

[@daniilashtaev9319]

The brilliant humor in this video compared to the watch count makes this the most underrated video on the most underrated channel.

[@gradyzyner7423]

This is certainly an interesting video, and your recalcitrant friend makes it even more interesting.

[@goldenretriever6261]

I just learned a new word.

[@DJosiahHicks]

Tim you are the first person i have turned the notification bell on for, keep up the great videos mate, love your dry sense of humour.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Ah thanks David, let's just hope I can live up to expectations then - I'll do my best!

[@royhumphrey49]

First time I was in a pub in Fort William, I was asked if i'd climber the Ben, to which I replied 'No'. His reply was "You've ne'er been to Fort Wulliam until yee've cleembed the Bin". A few years later, I climbed it on the hottest Summer's day with work colleagues, as part of the Three Peaks of E, W & S. Thanks for this wonderful reminder Tim.

[@simplicitylost]

As a fellow Andrew who doesn’t like hiking and doesn’t like being on camera, I strongly relate to this video.

[@leelundgren600]

I've enjoyed your content, and your wit 3:57. Keep it up!

[@Tflexxx02]

Yes, your "wit" and your "charm" bring me back to your videos, again and again.

[@Lydus]

This one is a hidden gem!

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

preparing for the climb of Urk I see

[@PiousMoltar]

Yup, same weather as when I did it. And the two times I went up Snowdon. Thankfully the first time I did Snowdon, we were doing the whole range, and after Snowdon itself (which was where we started) it began to clear and we had some great views for the rest of the day.

[@zlate42]

I am having a deja vu: whenever I trick one of my friends to go up a mountain with me, they all stop talking to me for months. Tim, if you ever visit Austria again, you are invited to nice hiking tour in Styria!

[@AndrewG1989]

I remember going to Ben Nevis which was about 17 years ago. Plus the weather was absolutely incredible. Ben Nevis is beautiful 😍

[@davidsparks6146]

Brilliant,... just plain brilliant! Next time rent a dog for your friend.... the video makes me want to visit England again.

[@GiacomodellaSvezia]

It's clear to me why Andrew and you are friends. There's a similarity, which is why I started to like Andrew immediately. Give him my best regards.

[@alexd9432]

Well at least you got him to the top. Hope you had a good climb.

[@koningbolo4700]

Getting to the top is one thing, getting down from it is another matter... #theplotthickensussuallyattheend

[@jonathancook4022]

The buildings at the top used to be a weather observatry, built, as is typical by some Victorians (I think)

[@IntyMichael]

You can't call getting up on Ben Nevis really climbing. It's more like hiking uphill. But being inside of a cloud on the top was a great experience as well. I hope you got your friend a "I climbed Ben Nevis" t-shirt. ;)

[@mcswordfish]

I always forget that there's actually stuff to do in Fort William - for me, it's always just been a place to stop for a pee and some snacks when travelling between Glasgow and Skye

[@michaelfisher6354]

That was hilarious. Kudos to Andrew for suffering through it. Did you buy him dinner?

[@Robutube1]

Wearing jeans for climbing a Scottish mountain (or any UK hill come to that)? No wonder he was past himself ;-).

[@PiousMoltar]

I did it in jeans, skate shoes, etc. Most people had proper hiking boots and waterproof clothes, those hiking sticks etc. But there were a couple of people doing it in kilts of course :P

[@jacob8565]

@@PiousMoltar I'd take a kilt over jeans

[@deKampeerwijzer]

Stupid. Every year they have to rescue ppl from that mountain and many have died. This was hypothermia in the making.

[@klaatujohn]

That was a very funny video.

[@alandargie9358]

Andrew's got a good name for climbing Scottish mountains!

[@thomash2806]

How much do you film in order to have enough footage to edit into a 6-minute video, I’m wondering. I mean for Andrew to be so sick of it. Or perhaps he’s just a real grump. I like your videos a lot.

[@spurioustransients]

That was almost exactly the same view that I had from the top of Snowdon.

[@tomthomas2268]

good vid

[@henningbartels6245]

Climbing Ben Nevis is one thing. Really annoying are these guys who are jogging up and down there - giving you the feeling they are just shortly doing it prior to their breakfast. ;-)

[@KoenVerheyen]

I've stayed in that very hostel. Forgot to climb the mountain however...

[@andie_pants]

You were a little brother, weren't you? Poor Andrew! 😂

[@alenav.804]

Andrew! I am with you! Better watch it on youtube than climbing by yourself!

[@Tinu-1987]

He need to go again with you when it's nice weather

[@k.jamescarters9557]

I would love to do something like this. How hard is it? It looks hikeable rather than climbing in your video but are there parts that are seriously difficult? I’m assuming the next day you will have calves on fire

[@TheTimTraveller]

Hi! The main tourist route, the one that is signposted from the hostel, is very doable - no difficult bits, it's just a looooooong walk upwards. Of course, if you WANT difficult bits, you can take other routes to the top which are much more "fun" :) The next day I climbed it again because I am a lunatic. The day after that though, yes, my calves were complete toast.

[@k.jamescarters9557]

The Tim Traveller I think the long, scenic but easier route to start. I bet that must get choppy in places! I wouldn’t want to chance it in rain or ice for example

[@k.jamescarters9557]

dogwyllie amen. I’m going to need a lot better research than KZbin for starters! I honestly thought Ben Nevis needed ropes and a pick so I Learnt something new literally this week!

[@calvinhobbes5686]

Hilarious! But with a name like Cairns, your friend should love climbing piles of rocks!

[@MrGreatplum]

What a view... oh. Did you buy him dinner? 😀

[@SleeveZipper]

Is he still your friend? :-)

[@TheTimTraveller]

Haha, yes, even though I make him go up mountains and annoy him the whole way, he still comes back for more - he has a starring role in last month's video about the Monte Palace Hotel

[@SleeveZipper]

@@TheTimTraveller Then there is room for some more nagging and waving the camera in his face :-)

[@koningbolo4700]

@@TheTimTraveller I wonder what about the Monte Palace Hotel he was misinformed or mislead about? The Monte or the Palace part...

[@roberttyler6454]

Done it got t-shirt ( for charity) summer? right clothing,winter, others short & t-shirt, on top it was winter?? Thanks for sharing your video cheers take care

[@jamesmccann5644]

Could've been much worse. Yeah, it could have been. I climbed the other side, or at least tried, cause the gully had like a metre of fresh powder snow in it

[@maryabreu6924]

I laughed so hard !!!

[@MicrobyteAlan]

Andrew, it’s all down hill from here.

[@nobody.no-one]

😂😂grumphy turn happy 👏👏

[@anjachan]

Andrew should have a dog ... then he would be a bigger friend of climbing LOL

[@underwaterlaser1687]

We took the 🚠 but had three small children in tow at the time.

[@FilmscoreMetaler]

On your way back you should've climbed the devil's staircase as well, it's not far from ol' Ben.

[@HenrysAdventures]

Imagine if Ben Nevis has a railway like Snowdon!

[@petertaylor4980]

I climbed Snowdon in the snow once, when the railway wasn't running, and some people took a sledge up and used it to slide down the railway tracks.

[@pauliboo2]

I’m with Andrew, except you would find me walking up hills

[@Anthaghoull]

Consider visiting Romania?

[@SQYDMUSIC]

Cheer up Andrew - it might never happen!

[@ChetanMota]

the fart in the end :) haa haa haa

[@stuartmiller7419]

Great video, although I hope you didn't refer to any Scots as 'Scottishmen' to their faces heheh. 3:24 Acht!

[@maunster3414]

True, so true. Even this Canadian knows that.

[@benfindlay123]

Don’t listen to Tim, makes it sound like a doddle. I done it today (29/08/20) and it is full of very big inclines and rocky roads. And the way down is just as hard

[@slowshop]

Ben Nevis ia a whisky, not a mountain. 😉

[@GeoDetective]

Next time order better weather...

[@Jacksirrom]

you brought him up in JEANS? lol

[@danielfay]

Jeans?!?! on Ben Nevis? He's dressed for a trip to the shop, people die up there every year. Not a good move.

[@larrycherrington7338]

I did not enjoy the video. Suffering Andrew in such a beautiful setting is awful.I know too many Andrews. But thanks for the attempt Tim

[@dickmartino9933]

Worst double act ever.

[@Knutwolf]

You Brits and the grouchy friendships you put up with. I’m afraid I don’t understand it.

[@CallieMasters5000]

Hiking 3+ hours to go look at a war zone?! No thank you!