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There is a relatively simple route to the summit known as the 'Tourist Route' that begins at the Glen Nevis Visitor Centre about one mile from Fort William town centre. The mountain is notorious for fickle weather, and considered dangerous; hikers have been killed as a result. Controversy continues to rage about the placing of navigation poles near the summit, currently they have been cut by environmentally conscious climbers who object to the aesthetic intrusion.
The origins of the name of the mountain are unclear. The word ben is certainly the Gaelic for peak. However several possibilities for the meaning of nevis have been suggested. This include 'venomous','burst' or 'flow' (from neb) and 'brow of keen air' (from neamh meaning 'keeness of air' and bhathais meaning 'brow'). Finally a locally popular suggestion is that the name derives from naomh meaning 'heaven'. However this etyomology is rejected by linguists.