The emergency shelter at the summit of Ben Nevis is out of use after becoming a rubbish and toilet dump with rescuers angrily slamming the dirty culprits for risking lives.
Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team said the shelter – which is a life and death haven at the top of 4413ft Ben Nevis – was “an absolute disgrace” because of the country’s highest litter louts.
The hut also stores ropes and vital life saving equipment for rescues.
John Stevenson, leader of Lochaber MRT, said: “It is regularly used as a toilet and a waste tip by some of the less environmentally conscious people who travel up there.
‘It’s stinking from human waste’
“It is emergency shelter which has saved many lives over the years, but it is now in a disgusting state.
“It is not mountaineers who are doing this – they have too much respect and might need it themselves one day.
“We are volunteers who give up their time to rescue people.
“But somebody from our team has to go up there, clean it and take the rubbish off the hill. If people can take rubbish all the way up there they can have the decency to take it down. It is a sad indictment on society, or parts of it. It is absolute disgrace.
“It is stinking from human excrement and we have had to use bleach and disinfect it. The people doing this would not do it in their own house.
“The summit shelter is for emergency use only and not for having lunch or a toilet inside. In its current state we are unable to use it to treat casualties or easily retrieve rescue equipment if required.”
Ben Nevis attracts over 160,000 walkers a year and the environmental impact is increasing.
An annual clean-up of some of the UK’s mountains – The Real3Peaks Challenge – was previously initiated by Kinlochleven-based mountain guide Rich Pyne.
The most common items among the hauls of rubbish are tissues, tampons, fruit skin and peel, plastic bottles, cans, plastic bags and packets, sandwich wrappers, dog poo bags, cigarette ends, increasing numbers of pistachio shells, discarded walking boots, socks, underpants, and nappies.
