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North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor


Postby LeithySuburbs » Wed May 27, 2015 7:14 pm

Munros included on this walk: Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mòr)

Date walked: 23/05/2015

Time taken: 4.5 hours

Distance: 5.7 km

Ascent: 770m

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Unusually, I had a Saturday to myself with basscadet at a wedding. A good forecast meant another thumbing through my copy of Scrambles in Lochaber. The chosen route would be the North Buttress of the Buachaille - a grade 3 scramble up the huge face in the middle of the classic Jacksonville view.


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Altnafeadh carpark was already full when I set off at about 10am on a lovely morning. It didn't take long to reach the base of the buttress having taken the excellent path skirting the lower slopes.

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Stream just before the point you leave the main path

I found an obvious path leading to two prominent boulders described as the start of the route in the guide. However I soon left this as there was obvious scrambling to be enjoyed to the side with lots of interest even before reaching the main rock face.

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Looking up from the main path

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Looking ahead from the two boulders near the start

At the start of the steep stuff I headed up the prominent gully in the centre of the buttress. The scrambling was steep and sustained but the rock and holds were good.

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Gully

I stepped onto a ledge after a couple of moves because the book described leaving the gully after a short distance to head up the face before rejoining it. I wasn't sure if this was the point described so decided to stick to the gully - a case of "better the devil you know". A tricky squeeze/pull to the left at a steepening led me to easier ground just to the right of the gully.

From here I zig-zagged up sharply on superb ground with great foot and hand holds. I returned to the gully for the final tricky part.

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Second gully section

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I had seen groups ahead practicing rope work here earlier. There was another tricky move out the gully to the right followed by a couple of exposed pulls up to a wide ledge.

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Looking back down :shock:

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Crowberry Tower

It would be possible to walk to the summit from here but I sought out as much hands-on stuff as I could before the final short wander to the top of Stob Dearg.

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Creise

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Stob na Doire

I had some lunch and a break before the rapid descent down Coire na Tulaich and stroll back to the car.

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Wee Buachaille

This is one of the best scrambles I have done to date. 550m of constant and, sometimes, hard scrambling in a stunning setting on superb rock - I loved every second 8) .
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LeithySuburbs
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Re: North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

Postby SAVAGEALICE » Wed May 27, 2015 7:26 pm

looks like fun! ......till I got to the pic of the view looking down!! :shock: !! ..would like to tackle some of the scrambling routes at some point
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Re: North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

Postby Mal Grey » Wed May 27, 2015 8:52 pm

That looks superb, though I think my hard scrambling days may be behind me based on my unsteady performance over rock in recent years...
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Re: North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

Postby gman » Wed May 27, 2015 9:00 pm

Excellent, still to do this one :clap:
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Re: North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

Postby jupe1407 » Wed May 27, 2015 9:12 pm

That "looking down" pic :shock:

Excellent stuff :clap:
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Re: North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

Postby LeithySuburbs » Wed May 27, 2015 10:47 pm

gman wrote:Excellent, still to do this one :clap:

Going by your reports, you'll love it.
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Re: North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

Postby rockhopper » Wed May 27, 2015 11:35 pm

Jings, some of those shots look rather steep :shock:
You make it sound quite easy :shock: but looks the complete opposite ! - cheers :)
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Re: North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

Postby dav2930 » Thu May 28, 2015 11:10 pm

Wow that looks brilliant - a great alternative to Curved Ridge perhaps? There are some hills one never tires of and Stob Dearg is one of them! :clap:
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Re: North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

Postby Sunset tripper » Fri May 29, 2015 1:31 am

Great report and vertigo inducing pics 8)
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Re: North Buttress, Buachaille Etive Mor

Postby LeithySuburbs » Fri May 29, 2015 7:44 am

dav2930 wrote:Wow that looks brilliant - a great alternative to Curved Ridge perhaps? There are some hills one never tires of and Stob Dearg is one of them! :clap:

A cut above Curved Ridge IMO :) .
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