Extreme Sleeps
The Great Outdoors|February 2018

Phoebe Smith set herself the challenge to sleep at all of the extreme points of mainland Britain, by herself, on consecutive nights. Here she recalls what it was like to spend a night alone on Ben Nevis in the depths of winter.

Phoebe Smith
Extreme Sleeps

MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW what it’s like to sleep inside a refrigerator. It was never my intention to be one of the few who might. However, at 2am in the early hours of a December morning, I experienced something very close. I was lying, cocooned within my sleeping bag, in the emergency shelter on top of the highest mountain in Britain.

Above me, every few minutes, a gathering globule of condensation would collect and slowly stretch until, finally and painfully, with the sting of an icicle, it pinged onto my head.

I tried to sleep, but every time I felt my eyelids grow heavy, another droplet would land on my nose or the back of my head and I’d be wide awake again, cold. You might be wondering why a perfectly sane would choose to be here, on the roof of Britain, in the middle of the night, in the middle of winter – so I’ll rewind a little…

This was the penultimate night of seven in which I had set myself the challenge of sleeping at all the extreme points of mainland Britain, by myself, on consecutive nights. A full-time job and other commitments meant that I could only make it work in winter. I’d already ticked off the northernmost, westernmost, easternmost and centremost points of the country and spent the night at the lowest elevation too. Now was the turn of Ben Nevis, the highest point.

Plenty of other people have slept on top of our tallest mountain. Indeed, up until 1916, for a mere 10 shillings you could secure dinner, bed and breakfast in the four-bedroom Observatory Hotel on top of the Ben. All that remains of it now is a cluster of old stones and window arches, at this time of year encased in a thick layer of ice.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2018 من The Great Outdoors.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2018 من The Great Outdoors.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من THE GREAT OUTDOORS مشاهدة الكل
Practice Makes Perfect
The Great Outdoors

Practice Makes Perfect

Preparation is key if you want to enjoy, and not simply endure, the TGO Challenge. Organisers Ali Ogden and Sue Oxley look at how to be ready for the demands of a long-distance walk

time-read
3 mins  |
February 2020
More Ways than one
The Great Outdoors

More Ways than one

Roger Smith calls for more clarity around the increasing proliferation of named trails

time-read
3 mins  |
February 2020
THE LONG PATHWAY
The Great Outdoors

THE LONG PATHWAY

Kat Young and Liv Bolton both walked New Zealand’s South Island from north to south via the country-spanning Te Araroa Trail. Here they each describe a section of this spectacular and life-changing route

time-read
8 mins  |
February 2020
THE CRUX
The Great Outdoors

THE CRUX

Last summer, self-confessed ‘average adventurer’ James Forrest completed all 282 of Scotland’s Munros in an intensive six-month push. Here he describes the most knee-trembling part of the journey – Skye’s famous Inaccessible Pinnacle

time-read
8 mins  |
February 2020
A HAPPY RETURN
The Great Outdoors

A HAPPY RETURN

For more than 30 years, Chris Townsend dreamed about doing a long walk through the high reaches of the Colorado Was it everything he hoped for?

time-read
6 mins  |
February 2020
Happy When It Rains
The Great Outdoors

Happy When It Rains

With an unpredictable winter approaching, here are TGO’s tips for enduring – even enjoying? – our ever-changing climate...

time-read
6 mins  |
December 2019
Mind Boggling
The Great Outdoors

Mind Boggling

Rising rivers, quaking bogs, ferocious winds, possible thunderstorms and annoying theme tunes – will Paul Beasley be able to take all this in his stride and successfully cross Dartmoor?

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2019
Errigal
The Great Outdoors

Errigal

Donegal’s highest mountain is a sight to behold – unless, as Jim Perrin discovered, the weather has other ideas…

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2019
Commuting: Lochaber Style
The Great Outdoors

Commuting: Lochaber Style

For Many Of Us, The Daily Commute Can Be A Chore. But, For Neil Adams, Living And Working In One Of Scotland’s Finest Mountain Landscapes Gave Him The Opportunity To Turn It Into An Adventure...

time-read
9 mins  |
December 2019
The Depths Of Time
The Great Outdoors

The Depths Of Time

James Roddie goes under the surface of Assynt to discover a whole new dimension to an extraordinary, ancient landscape.

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2019