A Model T Ford, a wheelbarrow and a bed have made it to the summit, along with more than 100,000 people every year.
The highest mountain in Britain stands at the western end of the Grampian Range in the Scottish Highlands. Ben Nevis is 1,345 metres tall (4,413 feet), almost 260 metres taller than Snowdon, the highest mountain south of the Scottish border.
The first man known to climb Ben Nevis was James Robertson, an Edinburgh botanist, in 1771. At the summit are the ruins of a weather-watching observatory which was staffed from 1883-1904. For several years one man - Clement Wragge - climbed the mountain every day in all weathers to make his observations.
The records for the observatory are held in Edinburgh and in the supplies requests was a bottle of whisky. Imbuing spirits before walking the mountain is rather a dangerous activity, which is probably why the order was rejected.
Everest
The world’s highest mountain peaks are found in one of the youngest mountain chains, the Himalayas. Sharp, craggy and, as yet, little worn down by ice and rain in the 30 million years since they formed, the Himalayas is home to more than 14 peaks higher than 8,000 metres.
Prime among them is Everest, at 8,848 metres. Known as Chomolangma to the Tibetans and Sagarmatha in Nepal, it is revered as a sacred mountain. First measured accurately for the Great Survey of India in 1856, it was the Royal Geographical Society that gave its official English name, after the former Surveyor General of India, Sir George Everest.
Publicity stunts
Ben Nevis captures the imagination in many ways, not least as a favourite challenge for publicity stunts. A wheelbarrow has been pushed there and back and a horse and cart driven to the top. To raise funds for charity, a barrel of beer was carried up fitted with wooden legs so that it could be set down for a rest. A piano appeared on the summit in 2006. Perhaps the most eccentric was when Glasgow medical students pushed a bed to the top in 1981.
