Beinn Eighe

[houdi]

My knees are rapidly becoming a medical phenomenon. After almost destroying them on the Cuillins on Saturday, I hauled them up onto Sgurr Dearg’s west ridge the following day to have a look at the In Pinn (still don’t understand how this lump of rock is classified as a separate Munro instead of the summit of Sgurr Dearg) and limped all the way down Coire na Banachdich convinced I would need to rest them for a few days. Didn’t stop me going to Torridon on the Monday though, and I’m pleased I did as my knees made a miraculous recovery and didn’t bother me all day.

I love Torridon. Almost as much as Glen Coe, in fact. Two years ago I did Liathac on a glorious day, but had to back off from Beinn Alligin the next day when the weather turned foul. So this was the perfect opportunity to right the wrongs of Alligin, except I’d already decided to tackle Beinn Eighe instead. And here’s a tip for everyone thinking of doing this mountain. Providing you don’t wish to visit Coire Mhic Fearchair and it’s loch, it’s much quicker and shorter to ascend and descend via Coire an Laoigh. Once on the ridge it takes only ten minutes to nip up Spidean Coire nan Clach and back down again, and Coinneach Mor can be avoided altogether by a nifty bypass path which cuts across the lower slopes of this top. Retracing your steps from Ruadh-stac Mor back to the bealach cannot be avoided whichever route you take and, this way, you miss out the long trek in (or back) around the mountain via Allta Choire Dhuibh Mhoir, and also the road walk between car parks. Good advice which I wish someone had given me before I set out. I’m a very quick walker but it took me three hours to walk along Allta Choire Dhuibh Mhoir and through the coire to reach the bealach at the head of Coire Mhic Fhearchair, and it was another half hour walk back to my car along the road. It took only an hour and a half to bag the two Munros from the bealach. In saying that, the coire and loch are definitely worth a visit as you get to see the best of the triple buttress from here.

And this is basically the walk report (pretty short for me, eh), except for another tip. If you do Coire Mhic Fhearchair, do not attempt to go straight up the scree to the low bealach. If you look to the left of the main scree you will see a shorter line of scree over boulders. Aim for this as the scree is actually very shallow with a boulder base and very easy to ascend. Above it a nice little path traverses across grass to the point where the main scree line funnels into a rock gully up to the bealach. Where the path ends, take to the rock staircase and gain the ridge without having to walk on any scree at all. It’s the easiest route to any bealach you will find.

Beinn Eighe is huge with ridges running everwhere. It’s a fantastic mountain but, if you fancy doing all the tops, it’s a very long day. Great views too, although none of Loch Torridon as the great bulk of Liathac blocks it from view. Oh, and one final tip. If you take the family mutt up Beinn Eighe, you might like to consider some sort of doggie shoes as that quartzite stuff must be agony on their poor little paws.

Start along the Allta Choire Duibh Mhoir

Beinn Dearg

Climbing up into the coire

Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchair

Ben Eighe’s magnificent Triple Buttress

A wheel from Avro Lancaster TX264

Easy route to the bealach

Rock steps to the bealach

Ridge to Ruadh-stac Mor

Loch Maree & Slioch from Ruadh-stac Mor

The many ridges & tops of Beinn Eighe

Coire Ruadh-staca

A glimpse of Loch Maree beyond Ruadh-stac Mor

Spidean Coire nan Clach

The Big Grey One

Climbing to the summit of Spidean

South-west from Spidean’s summit

Looking north over Ruadh-stac Beag

East to the tops of Sgurr Ban & Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe

Liathac from the summit of Spidean

Coinneach Mor & Ruadh-stac Mor

Trig point on unnamed top 971 – descent route starts here

Descent Path down through Coire an Laoigh

Beinn Eighe in the late afternoon sun

[Johnny Corbett]

Stunning area Torridon, one of the best

[Bod]

Stunning mountain and great report! One of my favourite mountains, and I am looking so forward to going back and viewing it from Liathach, a must do still for me