CLIMBING BEN HOPE

Start/finish Grassy lay-by just south of dwelling at NC462477

Distance 9.2km

Total ascent 920m

Time By day, 3½ hours. By night, with a sleep in the middle, up to 12 hours.

Terrain Steep sections, but no scrambling needed (though north-east ridge offers a lot of scrambling play). The summit cone is massive and unrelenting.

Difficulty About as easy as a Munro gets, in terms of proximity to road and lack of technical challenge. But northerliness and considerable, rapid height gain, all make this a fine peak to climb.

Maps OS Landranger 9 (1:50k), OS Explorer 146 (1:25k)