You know that feeling when you’ve finished climbing Britain’s tallest mountain and you just really fancy a joint? No, me neither.
It seems some people know that exact feeling though, and have been taking advantage of an emergency shelter situated at the top of Ben Nevis to get stoned.
The emergency shelter, which is only supposed to be used in case of real-life emergencies (the clue’s in the name, I guess), has been repurposed by weed smokers who have taken to getting high after their long climb.
According to reports, individuals have been hotboxing the shelter once they reach the top of the 1,345-metre mountain, before making the long descent to the bottom.
Which, y’know, seems a far cry from eating share bag after share bag of Doritos while having deep, meaningful conversations with your flatmate and trying to find out the meaning of life – but each to their own I guess.
So who’s behind this new trend, you’re probably (not) wondering? Well, the latest smokers were discovered by walker Murray Cheshire, 24, who stumbled upon the group after a waft of marijuana hit his nostrils at the top of Ben Nevis.
The engineer from Kinross, Scotland, followed the smell to the emergency shelter, where he discovered two men chilling with some beers and a few joints.
The 24-year-old then posted a picture of the small brick shelter on top of the mountain to social media, alongside the caption: ‘Climbed Nevis to find two dudes hotboxing the wee den at the top’.
Cheshire isn’t the only person to witness such antics either; other climbers have also reported sniffing out cannabis users on the Scottish mountain.
Another walker, David King, said he walked up Ben Nevis last weekend and ‘the amount of stoners was unreal’, adding that he passed around six groups smoking weed.
Just last month, mountaineers from Yorkshire saw groups of people climbing the mountain while smoking joints, before then walking back down barefoot. Joanne Kent cautioned: ‘People need to take the mountain seriously.’
Which is true; climbing a mountain is already dangerous enough – you could easily get lost, injured, or stranded – without adding drugs into the mix. So you can only imagine what might happen when you do add them into the mix.
Douglas Sykes had a slightly more positive outlook on the whole thing though, adding: ‘It should mask the smell of pish in that hut, least for a wee while.’
Lovely.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).