Where do I begin? We chose Inspire Alpine for our first ever ascent of Ben Nevis, and we are ever grateful we did. For me, Nevis isn't just something you go out and "do" on a whim, it takes planning and preparation, it is after all, the UK's highest peak, and people run into trouble for various reasons. We got in touch, set up a chat with the guide, and talked through or fitness levels (low), and the potential dates, and persons in the party for the ascent. Once the date was set, there was no looking back! Ricky monitored the weather prior to the ascent and recommended we started early, due to having young ones amongst us, and factoring in the hot weather, we set off at 06:30 at the pre arranged meeting point. The ascent itself was awesome, we were fortunate enough to experience this on a dry day with excellent visibility. The climb was tiresome but achievable, Ricky would give us little helping tips (to us as beginners) such as making full contact with the soles of our boots rather than bounding up on the balls of our feet, this allowed us to gently stretch the calf muscle without putting too much strain on our lower legs. We were offered short but regular breaks to make the climb manageable. Once at the top, Ricky helped us take some snaps as this was definitely a Kodak moment! The decent was something I'll not forget. We were tired, slow and cumbersome going down, and my 11yo son had wobbly knees. Ricky recognised the sustained exposure to heat and sun would cause further issues should we allow him to continue with very slow steps back down. In this, his advice was to offer support on either side, stabilising his body weight, allowing him to descend concentrating on footing, not falling. This clearly managed decision was a life saver, as my son could've and would've worsened with fatigue and heat exhaustion. We got him down to the cooling water falls where he regained his composure. Thank you Ricky. On the final quarter, my 9yo son complained of light headedness and feeling giddy. Having seen his eyes rolling, my wife and I asked for Ricky's best advice, which was, he'd accelerate the descent with my son to get him out the Sun's unforgiving heat and into shelter down below. To which again, I have no doubt, that without Ricky's expertise and guidance, we could have ran into a medical emergency. As a family, we feel indebted to Ricky, for his professionalism, his guidance, and that he guided us up together and back down safely. I would recommend Inspire Alpine, on every occasion, and we as a family trust Ricky for all his help and advice on this memorable trip.
