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Oh no! - Aonach Eagach!

Oh no! - Aonach Eagach!


Postby The English Alpinist » Sat Aug 10, 2024 5:03 am

Route description: Aonach Eagach

Munros included on this walk: Meall Dearg (Aonach Eagach), Sgòrr nam Fiannaidh (Aonach Eagach)

Corbetts included on this walk: Garbh Bheinn (Loch Leven)

Fionas included on this walk: Pap of Glencoe

Date walked: 06/08/2024

Time taken: 9 hours

Distance: 20 km

Ascent: 1700m

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0 Oh no!.jpg
The Aonach Eagach ridge from west to east.

Oh yes! I was there, I had opportunity, so I thought 'now is the time to do this'. The fates had transpired to get me there. On this day, I was supposed to be nearing the end of the West Highland Way with my 17-year-old son, but it seems that venture had been jinxed from the start by bookings shenanigans and, in the end, a strained thigh muscle on his part which necessitated pulling out halfway through leg two just before Conic Hill :(. We then improvised a weekend, with a Loch Lomond cruise utilizing buses, before going home. More on this in the other forum, but suffice it to say I found myself with unused accommodation bookings and train tickets (as well as the disappointment of course), so I decided to shoot back up (well up) for the ultimate compensation - some Munro bagging!

I did not necessarily intend this to be Aonach Eagach, and favoured a big chunk of the Mamores (safer, especially given fitful weather), but I arrived in Glencoe village after a 7 a.m. train followed by 3-hour bus ride, 15 minutes late to catch the bus I wanted into Kinlochmore due to the driver turning back into Glasgow Buchanan after a false start for whatever reason. So, I checked into the Outdoor Centre Hostel (superb, lovely) and took stock. I strolled east down the village road, thinking I was killing time for the next bus into Kinlochleven and about to settle for a smaller chunk of the Mamores given the later start (2 p.m now); yet I noted I was right there in position to start the Pap of Glencoe ascent and hence onto Aonach. Why hang around? Go! Do it! So, that is how it came to be that I made my bid for this famous (or 'infamous'?) ridge and dual-Munro dual-top.

1 village.jpg
Glencoe village, and an irresistible Pap.

2 early ascent.jpg
Idyllic, yes? If only I was settling for that.

3 higher ascent.jpg
Looking across to Bidean nan Bian.

4 Pap.jpg
The Pap lay ahead.

5 Pap climb.jpg
I spy the Corbett, Garbh Bheinn, pyramid shape. Hopes of tagging that onto this walk.

6 me Pap.jpg
Atop Sgorr na Cliche, otherwise known as the Pap of Glencoe, 2,434 feet (742m).

The Pap - I think we should call it Sgorr na Cliche, as the glandular connations demean it somewhat - is a proper little mountain, especially viewed from the valley floors or when you're standing on its domed summit looking around at the 360 degree views of Lochs and endless more serious mountains. A good number of non-bagging types (good for them) were there to do just that today, with only the lightest of passing showers and cool breeze (so far). It's surely a great introduction to mountain walking 'with touch of scrambling' for any youngsters (or oldies for that matter) who want one, and I applaud the families I saw going up or down from it. Well, this crazy type was going onward to ascend to Sgùrr nam Fiannaidh, Munro and western gateway to Aonach Eagach. It was going to be damp up there, possibly with heavier showers, which was perhaps one reason (along with doing it back to front) that nobody else was going that way and nobody was met once I got up there. Well, I think (I hope) I would have written it off if not for visibility. From what I'd researched, you're likely to be in the biggest trouble (aside from being blown off, or stranded in winter, or exhausted) if you can't see where you're going on those pinnacles. I found out why.

7 Pap view.jpg
Loch Leven, terminating at Kinlochmore, and Garbh Bheinn again lest I forget to do it.

7b Pap view.jpg
Fond memories of a fine snowy ridge walk on Mam na Gualainn across there.

7c onward to Fanniadh.jpg
I dip back off the Pap, and it's up onto Sgùrr nam Fiannaidh, a Munro at 3,175 feet (967m).

8 on Fanniadh.jpg
On Sgùrr nam Fiannaidh's summit, and... so that's the ridge.

10 ridge closer.jpg
Well, no, that's it - Crazy Pinnacles in view now; that cloud drift!

9 the ridge.jpg

9b me the ridge.jpg
Am I worried by this? Not at all.

11 Stob Coire Leith.jpg
At Stob Coire Leith, Munro Top; the fun starts here! (if you're doing it west to east).

The first section - or last section, if you like - held no terrors. Not in itself. But on standing on Sgùrr nam Fiannaidh, the ridge proper begins to present itself. It's not easy, in hindsight, to nail down my feelings about this. There was awe, but that is compromised by the fact you're proposing to do it rather than just gawp at it. Hell, I was scared, yes. It had a hypnotizing beauty in its tortuous precipices stretching away into the distance, but also a distinct air of evil, seeming almost to hiss at me like a living beast with the clouds from the last shower billowing off it. As more of it came into view, I did ask myself 'do I really want to do this?' I answered myself yes, only because I knew plenty of people have done it. Standing on top of Stob Coire Leith, confronted by the main business of the Crazy Pinnacles, I found it hard to believe there was a way over them. I resolved to just concentrate like mad, and be sure of every single hand and foothold, and to take as long as I needed to take and be very wary indeed over the gusty wind.

Sometimes it felt safer once on it, with gullies that took away the exposure and one could even take refuge indefinitely in. Many times, though - certainly more than the 'several heart-stopping moments' McNeish mentions - I was acutely aware of 'here one moment gone the next'; one false step or a trip or a slip. I quickly concluded I was going over the top of them all, as the safer option it seemed to me, no matter how strenuous or awkward. Crampon scratches were extremely reassuring as to the route. I saw no signs of ways around, and did not want to explore any on damp rocks and grass with oblivion to my right, or mistake a false trail and get trapped. A couple of times in the thick of it all, I was alarmed by little muscular twinges and waves of tiredness, but this was partly nervous intensity, and gobbling some energy bloks my confidence in my fitness returned. There was a powerful sense of 'must go on and not attempt to turn back'. Meall Dearg was the finish line and safety point and that was that. Do it.

My worst moment was coming down from the penultimate pinnacle I think, where a steep dip appeared to have no feasible scramble down. A crazy leap maybe, but I ruled that out! So - #$*! - I did have to turn back, or I was stuck then. My stomach sank, fatigue flooded in with despair and panic not far on its tail, but thankfully this only lasted a minute as I discovered the way around the side of the rock. Being alone up there for the entire traverse probably did not help, but on the other hand it is one of life's fantastic and rare experiences to have. It's easy to say it now, but I'm glad of it! Technically speaking I was not alone, because I passed a mountain goat. I wasn't sure what to make of that, my highly-charged brain seeking symbolic or omen-interpretations. The chap certainly stared at me, as if to say 'What do you think you're doing?' As for him, I dread to think what route he had used to get there. I'll never forget that goat.

12 big crazy.jpg
Descending Stob Coire Leith; then, am I really going to try THAT?

13 higher on it.jpg
This bit seemed less bad once on it; there was indeed a way.

14 next crazy.jpg
Down into 'something', then another pinnacle ahead. Fighting back the anxiety.

15 goat next.jpg
So I wasn't alone up there. I think the dip coming up was where I feared I was stuck.

16 goat hind.jpg
Still looking at me as I've gone past; why is he nestling in like that?

17 Dearg look back.jpg
Made it! On Meall Dearg 3,124 feet (952m), the 2nd Munro (looking back west). Squally.

Pleased to get to Meall Dearg, I was, and kind of happy then to bag Am Bodach the top next. I had a definite, relieved sense it was over now. Yet it was not 'over'.The weather, which had mercifully behaved during the traverse, turned its most unpleasant so far. Visibility went, and it was blustery and showery. I needed to descend somewhere, preferably before dark. Possible decisions were the 'normal' route over Am Bodach and down to the A82 from there, and give myself a long trek home along the glen. Confidence and energy surging back, though, I was not willing to forego the full house for this cluster, the Corbett Garbh Bheinn. What's more, it had a straight-forward way down to its bealach from Meall Dearg, and back-tracking the Dearg-Bodach section did not seem intimidating at all after what I'd done. I didn't find the ridge off Dearg quite right to begin with, veering off too soon, but corrected it with a scramble across.

At the bealach, I took stock of time. I could call it a day and reach the Kinlochmore road by dark, or push myself up this blasted Corbett and endure a spot of benightment, but probably being half way down it by then. After all this, I had to go for it. To not do would be like a great rugby try without the conversion, or a Michelin star meal without the desert (not that I'm an enthusiast for either). Garbh did not have an obvious safe way up from this side, and the way I chose - a little left and then up, thinking it having protection from exposure - was probably wrong. A waterfall section provided good rock-step type terrain for a while, but I got hit, albeit very breifly, by an exposed scramble which was actually harder than any Crazy Pinnacle section technically. Well, I was up, and would you believe my camera refused to take because of capacity, so I spent several minutes cursing against the fading light and cold wind freeing up space. As you see, I got my shots, then got down.


17a Bodach mist2.jpg
I reach Am Bodach, Munro Top and the usual eastern start. Now I backtrack to Meall Dearg.

0 map Aonach.jpg
I backtrack because I want to add that Corbett. It does seem a sensible option to get down too, though.

19 down to Garbh.jpg
Meall Garbh looks quite imposing to be honest. Not sure yet if I'll try it.

21 Sron Garbh view.jpg
Looking west as I ascend Garbh Bheinn.

20 waterfall.jpg
A 'waterfall walk', I suppose you could say.

22 back view ridge.jpg
Aonach Eagach from the north; doesn't look menacing at all!

23 Garbh Beinn.jpg
Sunset on Garbh Bheinn, Corbett, 2,838 feet (865m).

23a Garbh better.jpg
Atmospheric, spectacular, you had to give it that.

On the upper reaches of Garbh Bheinn, there is a beautiful crisp path towards the Kinlochmore road. I had hopes this would continue all the way down, and I could practically jog. This was dashed, as it turned quagmiry, and then non-existent. It could well be I was unable to keep track of it, as things turned into a torchlight walk (or rather a splash and slither). It took a diabolic long time to cover the bottom half of this mountain, the fact I was safe being a bit of consolation, but it was a lousy business squelching through the gloom. When I finally hit the road, I could see it was indeed a rivulet I had been walking in and not a path at all! Another thought: it occurs to me now that this group of mountains is tackled from sea level, so no wonder there is effort inolved. Also, when you're standing in Glencoe, you're truly seeing what 3,000 foot mountains look like. Heck of a place, but I was glad to be back at the hostel at 11 p.m., and even gladder to have Aonach Eagach done. I conclude by offering a sober piece of advice to anyone unfamiliar with Scotland (I'm 'getting' familiar):

Do not, simply do not, attempt the Aonach Eagach ridge unless you've at least competently done Striding Edge or Sharp Edge in the Lake District, or some equivalent knife-edge scramble. Then think an increase of a factor of three.

24 newt.jpg
Little fella on the night road to Glencoe.

25 lounge.jpg
Bliss at Glencoe Outdoor Centre Hostel.

This walk was followed by 'Drenched and Aquaplaning around Ballachulish'
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=125655
Last edited by The English Alpinist on Sun Aug 11, 2024 4:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
The English Alpinist
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 373
Munros:72   Corbetts:13
Fionas:30   Donalds:28+16
Sub 2000:2   Hewitts:136
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Oct 27, 2015
Location: Lancashire England.

Re: Oh no! - Aonach Eagach!

Postby Sunset tripper » Sun Aug 11, 2024 2:25 pm

Nice one. I had a similar day to this a couple of years ago. This is the route I took up Garbh Bheinn which I think was the easiest line. It was very very steep in parts but I think that's unavoidable. I had the benefit of a nice clear day and could suss it out on the way down off the Aonach Eagach.
20220913_120349.jpg

I think you took a more direct line up from the bealach.

Cheers :D
User avatar
Sunset tripper
 
Posts: 3123
Joined: Nov 3, 2013
Location: Inverness

Re: Oh no! - Aonach Eagach!

Postby The English Alpinist » Sun Aug 11, 2024 4:04 pm

Yep, I was eyeing up something like your route but didn't fancy the scree. I got less scree but a more dodgy crag section. People can take yours as the official way!
User avatar
The English Alpinist
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 373
Munros:72   Corbetts:13
Fionas:30   Donalds:28+16
Sub 2000:2   Hewitts:136
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Oct 27, 2015
Location: Lancashire England.

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