Worth going up for?

Any camp sites nearby? Need a toilet at the least, shower would be awesome to take the VW camper up.

There's one by Corpach on Loch Linnhe that's pretty nice. Loads of bikers using it last time I was up.

Alternatively, there's one in Kinlochleven so you can get the Devil's Staircase done too

Devils Staircase?

Great site in Glen Nevis. Pub is just a short walk away and they do bar meals.

The Devil's Staircase is a push up followed by a 7 mile descent into Kinlochleven. Fantastic riding and should definitely be on your to-do list

For some reason when people talked about the Devil's Staircase I assumed it was the other way round, ie climbing from Kinlochleven.

Where is this Devil's Staircase?

Glen nevis is a ride away on most bikes, but it does depend what bike. great facilities and loads of space, but it does get boggy when it rains a lot.

Actually on the devils staircase theme – im up there in early Aug doing Red XC at Ft W mixed with a holliday but the wife will also be there – im thinking of getting her to drop me off in car nr the Gelncoe ski resort end and then meeting her at Kinlocheven – doable – how long time wise?

You do the Devil's both ways, and can throw in the Ciaran Path too.

We camped at the King's House Hotel at Kinlochleven, which was free (win!) but no showers.

http://freespace.virgin.net/kings.house/

Someone on here will have a route map.

Does the King's House do camping? No mention of it. I guess I can cope without a shower, but a toilet is a definite must as don't have one in the camper!

There's free camping there yeah. There's a bar. Buy a drink or few in the Climber's Bar in teh pub (it's nice) and you can use their loo. Superb pub and a stunning setting. Not in the morning though, but then you could use the ones when you get to Nevis range.

Why not a stunning setting in the morning?

You can't have your morning dump straight away…

There's also deer right there that mingle with the campers. It's stunning.

Here's the photos from our trip out there-

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/big-scotch-mountains

Note made!!!

Just got the dilemma of what bike to take also – Specialized Pitch Pro '08 or my Genesis Alpitude '10

I took both my Evil Sovereign hardtail for the DS and Ciaran and Norco bouncer for the Ben. We did have a big van though.

If you've not got space then the bouncer I'd say- definitely not neccesary for the DS/Ciaran but can't hurt, eh?

The Nevis Red's definately worth the trip, to answer the actual question 😉 Nice big tough trail. Black not red in my humble but that's all relative of course. If I was you I'd take the Pitch though the Alptitude will be fine too (had my Soul last time, taking the Hemlock this time) if only because if you get organised and on the gondola early you can get in a lot of runs. Plus the Pitch will be more suitable if you decide to take on the world cup route (no matter what, you'll want to ride the last part of the WC DH as the red doesn't go all the way down, or at least didn't when it closed last year)

Unsure about camping, but the red run is awesome, i did it on my 100mm full bouncer, only trail to be amazing fun in places but scary in others!

I think I'd probably have a fair bit to criticise about the trail design on the red if I had to ride up to the top 🙂 But I'll forgive the wee niggles because of that. Certainly nowhere else I've ridden (UK only so far) allows so much quality riding in a day, and the bedrock stuff is mint- like a slightly easier McMoab except without the cardiac arrest.

Oh, I sort of touched on it but it's worth saying, get there as soon as the gondola opens for bikes and don't waste time, I saw loads of people sat around in the car park chatting and eating bars and the like then complaining about how long it took to get back to the top. If you can, ride off the trail straight to the lift, straight back on, eat and rest in the gondola and if you must at the top, get your runs in and your money's worth. The lifts close irritatingly early for no apparent reason so don't waste your day.

Were going in a couple of weeks time for the first time. Can someone advise what time the lifts open and close?

Decent but commercial campsite at glen nevis – just along road. Glen Nevis campsite into google. Its a massive place.

"Were going in a couple of weeks time for the first time. Can someone advise what time the lifts open and close?"

"Times – gondola uplift for bikes available 10.15am – 3.45pm "

3:45? Whats all that about?

Apparently it's something to do with their licence. I think maybe it's because it'd cost too much to change the signs… Or maybe something more pragmatic like shifting the still-twitching corpses off the downhill would mean the lift staff would have to stay back late otherwise.

carbon337 – Member

3:45? Whats all that about?

Trust me its enough time. Today we allowed an hr for a run, top to bottom.
Did 3 runs today, after doing 10 UTHB yesterday.

B

I got 8 runs in last time… Could've done more if it's stayed open, ended up doing the WC course and bits of the 10UTB course afterwards instead. But I was solo so zero faff time, amazing how much you can get done.