Bidean nam Bian via Dinner-Time Buttress

[Les Stuart]

The Buttress

We set off from the car park at Achnambeithach on the A82 next to Loch Achtriochtan. The hills on the south side of Glencoe were covered in heavy mist, though looking north the hills were clear.

Glencoe village and Loch Leven

We headed south east from the car park to the buttress following a faint path, then a more pronounced path began to take us uphill to the lower part of the buttress.

Heading up to the Buttress

It was getting very steep then just below the face of the buttress we did some scrambling then just as you could not go any higher there was a clear path to our right, which took us into a break in the buttress, where there was a small corrie and followed the path all the way to the ridge.
Up until this point it had been a steep walk and in the thick mist views on the ridge were non existent, hence very few photos were taken during the day. A good path on the ridge took us to the summit of Stob Coire nan Lochan where we had a deserved rest and tried to get a spot out of the strong wind. After some food we set off down the ridge, then a steep climb to the summit of Bidean nam Bian.

Almost at the summit of Bidean

We did not hang about as the wind was very strong and cold in the heavy mist.

Coming out of the mist

Our descent took us north west to Stob Coire nam Beith and when we reached there the mist had lifted though Bidean was still covered and stayed that way for the rest of the day. We had a break and took in some of the views to the west and north.

Dropping down from Stob Corrie nam Beith

We then headed north along the ridge then picked up a path which took us down into the corrie past a couple of waterfalls and back to the car and a well earned drink at the Glencoe Hotel.

Looking back at the Buttress

It was a hard day though the route was different with the only disappointment of being no views up high.

[houdi]

The DT Buttress route is on my 'to do list' but there is a traverse across to Ossian's cave which I hope to include. Shame about the clag on top. I was lucky. Did it on a perfectly clear day December 27th 2008. It's high time I got back up there as Bidean is a superb hill.

[monty]

Nice one Les,
Shame about the mist though. Nice picture with the buttress crock piles. Going up there in two weeks time so I hope to get better weather

[mountain coward]

Wow that definitely looks like hands rather than poles territory! I'm amazed you managed to find a way up there! Would be helpful if you could draw the line of the route on the last photo

[Les Stuart]

Wow that definitely looks like hands rather than poles territory! I'm amazed you managed to find a way up there! Would be helpful if you could draw the line of the route on the last photo

I have added a new photo with a more straight on view. You can see a large gap and a smaller gap to the left side. Higher we went into this gap then onto the ridge, I think as I was following and just concentrating to get up.

[Les Stuart]

Nice one Les,
Shame about the mist though. Nice picture with the buttress crock piles. Going up there in two weeks time so I hope to get better weather

It was a good route though mist spoiled it on the ridge as you could see pinnacles sticking up from the corries on our left side in the mist. Hope it is clearer for you.

[Les Stuart]

The DT Buttress route is on my 'to do list' but there is a traverse across to Ossian's cave which I hope to include. Shame about the clag on top. I was lucky. Did it on a perfectly clear day December 27th 2008. It's high time I got back up there as Bidean is a superb hill.

I will do again sometime in future with clearer sky as it is a great walk.

[mountain coward]

Wow that definitely looks like hands rather than poles territory! I'm amazed you managed to find a way up there! Would be helpful if you could draw the line of the route on the last photo

I have added a new photo with a more straight on view. You can see a large gap and a smaller gap to the left side. Higher we went into this gap then onto the ridge, I think as I was following and just concentrating to get up.

If I'm looking at the right gap, it looks even nastier than I first though... guess it's worth an explore up there sometime though... what kind of level scrambling would you say you had to do to get up it?

[kinley]

Nice one - someone mentioned this route to me recently. Not explored that area of Bidean yet so will do some research.

Up there in 10 days so you never know

[Les Stuart]

Wow that definitely looks like hands rather than poles territory! I'm amazed you managed to find a way up there! Would be helpful if you could draw the line of the route on the last photo

I have added a new photo with a more straight on view. You can see a large gap and a smaller gap to the left side. Higher we went into this gap then onto the ridge, I think as I was following and just concentrating to get up.

If I'm looking at the right gap, it looks even nastier than I first though... guess it's worth an explore up there sometime though... what kind of level scrambling would you say you had to do to get up it?

I have added another two photos which show that there is a good path as it zig zags and the scrambling was only a short distance and easy.

[Les Stuart]

:D Nice one - someone mentioned this route to me recently. Not explored that area of Bidean yet so will do some research.

Up there in 10 days so you never know

Well worth doing if you have not done Bidean by the normal route.

[mountain coward]

Thanks for the extra pics. Would defo have to be an exploration with no set intention of re-reaching the summit as it looks very steep indeed so I may turn back! I'd love to have a go at it sometime though, especially if the scrambling isn't that hard