When traveling between Inverness and Ullapool, it’s impossible not to notice vast sprawling lump of Ben Wyvis which dominates views across Easter Ross. The huge west/ north west face face of this mountain coupled with a summit plateau that, given it’s altitude (1046m) is unusually grassy, make it an obvious objective for anyone keen to fly the bigger mountains of the Highlands. Ben Wyvis is best flown in very light north west through to westerly or nil wind conditions. Take off is at an altitude of 3000ft and it is important to pay close attention to the upper level wind speeds when planning a flight here especially as, perhaps due to Ben Wyvis being more prominent than other hills in the immediate vicinity, the summit plateau tends to be a particularly windy place even when at valley level things might seem quite calm.

From the car park at Garbat follow a newly built path which leads up the Allt a' Bhealaich Mhoir through mixed woodland. After a couple of kilometers, the path opens up and a sign marking the entrance to the Ben Wyvis National Nature Reserve is reached. From this point the path becomes much steeper as it zig zags up the hillside to the top of An Cabar, (946m) which forms the south western end of the Ben Wyvis summit plateau. There are plenty of areas from which to take off here. Note: the most commonly used take off faces NW, but it is also possible to walk eastwards a little way across the summit plateau and fly the SE face of the hill. Landing options are plenty. When flying the NW (main) face of the hill, it is best to land either at the foot of the hillside before the forest, or, given sufficient height gain ATO, in the meadows beside the Black Water River. Parking can be found at Garbat which is just beyond Garve when traveling north on the A835 Tore to Ullapool Road. From the car-park a well marked trail leads up through woods to the prominent top of An Cabar. Ben Wyvis is in the Highland Restricted Area (HRA) and midweek flying is subject to strict restrictions. Ben Wyvis is in the Highland Restricted Area (HRA) and midweek flying is subject to strict restrictions.

It’s worth paying attention to the wind of the surface of Loch Garve when en route to Ben Wyvis. An indication of anything more than a very light breeze on the surface of the loch will usually mean that it’s going to be too windy high up to fly. If conditions are strong, do not be tempted to launch from lower down the face as this is not a hillside to be pinned against and hoovered up - the scale and topography of Ben Wyvis make it a dangerous place to fly in strong conditions. In summer it is also important to watch out for the easterly sea breeze kicking in. It has a tendency to be funneled between An Cabar and Little Wyvis (Tom na Caillich). This may not be immediately apparent from the air and so can catch out the unwary if setting up to land between the Garbat Forest and lower slopes of the hill. Note also that in winter the slopes of Ben Wyvis are particularly prone to the build up of windslab and avalanches are not uncommon.