Escape routes, South Glen Shiel Ridge

[cmsmith1972]

Hi, we are a pretty experienced group of friends with 100+ Munros under our belts plus many other hill, mountain and distance walks. We are tackling the 7 Munros in May and are looking for possible escape routes in case some of us start to flag.I know that there is one about Maol Chinn-dearg but was seeking any more info from anyone on the forum. Cheers.

[prog99]

I can advise avoiding the descents on Aonach Air Chrith(unless you like loose scrambling at about grade 1ish) & Sgurr an Lochain(Steep! with a bit of slightly complex nav)

[jmarkb]

I think than the Maol Chinn-dearg and Sgurr Coire na Feinne ridges are the most straightforward options, with reasonable old stalkers paths in their lower sections.

[Cairngorm creeper]

We have made a bit of a project of direct ascents to the Munrro's on the the South Glen Shiel Ridge, these reports show the lines we took which would provide you with escape routes.
Maol Chin Dearg
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=70484
Druim Shionnach
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=66993
Sgurr an Dorie Leathain
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=80973
Aonach Air Chrith
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=56558
They all involved some steep walking ground and a little hands on but the only sustained scrambling was on Aonach Air Chrith which is a really nice grade 1 scramble but probably not what you want when you are tired.

[cmsmith1972]

Cheers for the info. The general consensus is to possibly use escape route, if needed, from the 4th Munro and the rest would continue on with any other escape route being used only in case of an emergency.
Just making sure that we have a back up. We all managed The Ring of Steall fine except that bloody descent 😂 and though it's a different beast, feel confident that most of us will complete the full ridge.
Cheers again.

[Lournieloon]

Cheers for the info. The general consensus is to possibly use escape route, if needed, from the 4th Munro and the rest would continue on with any other escape route being used only in case of an emergency.
Just making sure that we have a back up. We all managed The Ring of Steall fine except that bloody descent 😂 and though it's a different beast, feel confident that most of us will complete the full ridge.
Cheers again.

I intend doing the South Glen Sheil ridge about then too. I intend to wildcamp up when I get too weary to go on. Interestingly I found the descent off the Ring of Steall a bit of a grind too. As was the hike down off Glas Bheinn Mhor. Maybe carrying the overnight gear will reinforce the necessity of a halt we will see !
Part of my Everest base camp workup 😊

[cmsmith1972]

Cheers for the info. The general consensus is to possibly use escape route, if needed, from the 4th Munro and the rest would continue on with any other escape route being used only in case of an emergency.
Just making sure that we have a back up. We all managed The Ring of Steall fine except that bloody descent 😂 and though it's a different beast, feel confident that most of us will complete the full ridge.
Cheers again.

I intend doing the South Glen Sheil ridge about then too. I intend to wildcamp up when I get too weary to go on. Interestingly I found the descent off the Ring of Steall a bit of a grind too. As was the hike down off Glas Bheinn Mhor. Maybe carrying the overnight gear will reinforce the necessity of a halt we will see !
Part of my Everest base camp workup 😊

Totally agree regarding Ring of Steall. Thought it was a great day until that descent

[Ben Nachie]

The first time I did the ring of Steall was in the late '80s. It was winter and darkness fell just as we were beginning the descent. We ended up descending a steep gully and I my abiding memory is climbing in to a birch tree from above, then hanging from its branches and dropping down to the ground below, somewhere on the north slopes of Sgùrr a' Mhàim.