Walkhighlands

My cousin needs a wheelchair to get around therefore I'm all for increased access.......don't know if we'll be going up the Fairy Hill anytime soon though! That last mile is a bit of a boulderfield no? Discuss!

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/new ... 19887.html

Not to mention the various steps on the way! Madness.

it does say only the first third, perhaps as far as the sheiling, which doesnt get you very far up really

Aye, the first third.. so the mountain itself isnt accessable

I would think someone in a wheelchair would have a better chance of getting up to the first top on tarmachan ridge tbh.. Now there is a fine path! Still wouldn't make it to the summit though

Back off track, the article also says Sheihallion is best known for its conical shape.. I thought it was best known as the inventing place of the contour line?

mrssanta wrote:it does say only the first third, perhaps as far as the sheiling, which doesnt get you very far up really

Good point! Not sure if you can call Schiehallion 'accessible' if you can only reach the shieling! Maybe some sort of chair lift could be constructed on the final two thirds............

Or maybe they could look at a mountain that already has the infrastructure & with effort you could get a wheelchair more or less to the summit, like Cairngorm!

A guy I know is all for access to be made available for everyone to mountain tops. As he says why shouldn't everyone be able to enjoy the views from the tops.
I never quite know how to answer that, except to say it would spoil the real adventure of making a summit for climbers and mountaineers, but he can't see my point.
Then again, some would say that ascending Mont Blanc, after reaching a good way up by cable car is a flawed ascent.
Dave.

basscadet wrote: I thought it was best known as the inventing place of the contour line?

And the first weighing of the earth....

IamAJMiller wrote:Good point! Not sure if you can call Schiehallion 'accessible' if you can only reach the shieling! Maybe some sort of chair lift could be constructed on the final two thirds............

The article doesn't say that the summit is accessible to wheel chair users. It says that the mountain is wheel chair friendly.

Ewan

basscadet wrote:Back off track, the article also says Sheihallion is best known for its conical shape.. I thought it was best known as the inventing place of the contour line?

Maybe they've changed the article since you read it, but it currently says, and I quote, "Schiehallion is famous for its almost perfectly conical form". That doesn't preclude it being famous for contour lines and the weight of the earth, both of which of course were a result of its conical shape.

Ewan

but actually it isn't conical at all!

mrssanta wrote:but actually it isn't conical at all!

Could change a letter MrsSanta and say "but actually it isn't comical at all!"

They obviously haven't been there from what we all know of the path. But, please correct me if I am wrong, isn't there a kissing gate between the car park and the JMT path which no wheelchair could pass.

What the Daily Mail and others meant to say is that the Schiehallion path is listed on a website that has detailed information about routes so that people can plan ahead and assess if they are able to access a particular path. Seems really sensible and a great way to make sure everyone can enjoy the outdoors.

The gate at the start of the path is just a standard open and shut, and as detailed on the website it's 95 cm wide, reckon it would be be passable in an average wheelchair. The boulder field on the other hand -

http://www.phototrails.org/default.cfm?walk=East-Schiehallion-path-to-munro-summit&page=trail&walk_id=275

As I said 'please correct me if I am wrong' - thanks Rozza. I went through that gate 4 weeks ago and I couldn't tell anybody what gate it was . My intention was to get up that hill, sorry mountain. Coming back all I wanted was a seat in my car.