Beinn a Chleibh via the western ridge

[jonny616]

Having failed to get past Luss two weekends previously i was planning to go out on saturday if the thaw cleared up the roads, but was not sure of the hill i was going to climb untill i read dalmallywalkers Ben Lui report. Having been up Lui in November 09 but not managed to continue onto Beinn a Chleibh because of the weather, the idea of going up the western ridge seemed ideal.

In the off road layby for Lui & ready to go by 08:30.

Lui & Chleibh

Walked the 1k down the very slippy road noticing that there is a clearing big enough for a car just before & just after you are parallel to the bridge, which would knock 2k off the walk. The one after shown in the photo below.

The bridge is locked but easy to get over if you are 2in taller than me. Check the lines clear over & over the fence on the other side.

fast flowing Lochay from the bridge

We then took a line through the cleared plantation which was fairly treacherous, partly snow covered, mulchy, slippy branches & hidden tree stumps.

Route through the clearing

Then a deer fence! Some one has previously unclipped the top part so you can push it down to climb over, but i saw rolls of wire all along ready for it to be repaired.

From here we traversed right to get around the crags on the map, very steep & further than it looks. Once round the line is prety much due east with the cruachan range behind you.

Harry at summit of Beinn a Chleibh

Grassy all the way to the summit. Up in 3 hours, down in 2.5 with 30 mins stops along the way.

Ben Lui in the afternoon sun

Had arrived at the carpark complete with sledges, but left them in the boot as we could see there was not enough snow, which was a shame because it would make a great run if completely covered.

[dooterbang]

Well done guys, nice report.

Shame you didn't get to play on your sledges

[rockhopper]

Nice trip - I can sympathise with you on the deer fences which always seem to appear at the wrong time. You do get great views over to Ben Cruachan and neighbours from up there.

[mountain coward]

The more I read about this route, the more I think I'll probably go up this way! If they do mend the deer fence, you can always climb over them - we had to climb 3 deer fences in a couple of days in Kintail so it's possible but a bit awkward. It's also not very nice if they're over a steep bank as 10 foot or so up a fence above a steep bank looks horrid!

I suspect that little pull-in you saw wouldn't be advisable to park in as it's probably there for either railway workers or forestry workers, being near the bridge over the river...

Great report and pics anyway - very useful for me

[jonny616]

Nice trip - I can sympathise with you on the deer fences which always seem to appear at the wrong time. You do get great views over to Ben Cruachan and neighbours from up there.

Thanks Rockhopper.

Your right about the views to Cruachan although it was a bit hazy so no great pics.

Regards

Jonny

[jonny616]

Well done guys, nice report.

Shame you didn't get to play on your sledges

Cheers Dooterbang, i'm sure we will have a chance before the winter out

[jonny616]

The more I read about this route, the more I think I'll probably go up this way! If they do mend the deer fence, you can always climb over them - we had to climb 3 deer fences in a couple of days in Kintail so it's possible but a bit awkward. It's also not very nice if they're over a steep bank as 10 foot or so up a fence above a steep bank looks horrid!

I suspect that little pull-in you saw wouldn't be advisable to park in as it's probably there for either railway workers or forestry workers, being near the bridge over the river...

Great report and pics anyway - very useful for me

Hi MC

If you are doing Lui as well you could go this way & drop down to the beleach, but i remember coming down to the beleach from Lui thinking i was glad i was not going up that way!

Crossing the river from the car park is ok. last November when we did it we took trainers & towels, put our boots on after we had crossed & left trainers etc in a bag ready for our return. Going up Lui from the lochay side is MC friendly.

Me & the Lochay

[mountain coward]

It's a good idea to take some shoes to wade the river in - I normally just take my boots and socks off but then the stones hurt my poor, delicate feet and I end up swearing loudly all the way across! I'm pretty sure I'll be doing Beinn a' Chleibh via yours and Dalmally Walker's route and will definitely pop up onto Ben Lui as well. But I'd like to have a go at the frontal routes of Ben Lui from Cononish as well and know that's the way my walking buddy Richard wants to go so I'll probably end up doing Lui twice. At least if I've already done it and find I don't like the frontal routes, I can chicken out as I'll already have done Lui

[dalmallywalker]

Glad you had a good day, some great photos. There was far less snow for you to contend with than the other week when we did it.

[DEADEVEN]

done this route on sat 8th jan and there is a lot more snow on it now
done both these hills before so if i was doing them again in winter when you cant cross the river
without getting wet i'd use the bridge then walk back along the railway track(15 mins) and head through
the forest and straight for the bealach, its a quicker route and leaves time to do both tops

[jonny616]

done this route on sat 8th jan and there is a lot more snow on it now
done both these hills before so if i was doing them again in winter when you cant cross the river
without getting wet i'd use the bridge then walk back along the railway track(15 mins) and head through
the forest and straight for the bealach, its a quicker route and leaves time to do both tops

Hi Deadeven

Glad you had a good day, jealous about the snow, cause i wanted to do some high level sledging

[Rekrab]

the Western Top of this hill is interesting, it's a Murdo, which means it's over 3000ft but and has a drop of 30m

MacKenzie,