walkhighlands

Himalayas or the Scottish Highlands?

Route: Bidean nam Bian

Munros: Bidean nam Bian, Stob Coire Sgreamhach

Date walked: 01/03/2020

Time taken: 7 hours

Distance: 15km

Ascent: 1500m


our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



Stuck in lockdown I found myself reminiscing about one of the best days in the mountains to date.

For me, the adrenaline and excitement always starts pumping when Aonach Eagach comes into view as you round the bend from Glencoe village.
07E35DC8-34CD-481D-AE3B-5715AB1F71FB.jpeg
Aonach Eagach

The days goal was the amazing, complex and fathers favourite mountain, Bidean Nam Bian. accompanying me was my childhood friend Harris who had just turned 20, we set off from the car park towards Coire nan Lochan feeling absolutely tiny in the presence of the 3 sisters.
5DF6084A-97B8-404E-8280-A870F850D75E.jpeg
Coire nan Lochan looking imposing

366CC495-3914-49FD-A63D-2CDCD49B3F22.jpeg
Harris making his way up

10061D0A-EA56-4C10-B160-455E996E0E1A.jpeg
Myself

AF09CD71-F91F-4A62-AA3F-4F120C373BCA.jpeg
Simply stunning conditions

walking beneath Coire nan Lochans buttresses and icy gullys always reminds me of the Lord of the Rings
62544E61-1700-4077-8B83-15372EBC83AC.jpeg
signs of skiing

moving on we ascended Coire nan Lochans western ridge passing by impressive cornice and pinnacles and eventually made it to the summit.
B168F465-641D-41AB-9A6E-734414380B7B.jpeg
western ridge

341A227C-5EE5-44CE-8B2D-3B7A48CFAE2D.jpeg

BE015705-0169-4A39-834D-A9ECFE5F0A0A.jpeg
Coire nan Lochan summit

2DA12D62-0486-46FB-9976-A56E76978C7D.jpeg

After a few minutes we descended to the bealach between Stob Coire nan Lochan & Bidean nam Bian, as we paused to put on crampons we met another hill walker and nervously laughed together looking at the very steep icy ascent to the first munro of the day. we waited for the hill walker we had just met to ascend first allowing me to get some amazing pictures of her showing the sheer scale of the mountain!
D57D96D3-1A47-4D46-BFEF-C6DEF84F1CAF.jpeg
can you spot the person?

7F323499-1785-492F-A968-096D723C4AA1.jpeg
zooming in

61ACA13A-A6C3-4F02-B2A6-EB8797A94E80.jpeg
there they are

E84D9882-0593-420D-A01E-BF3A93B714BB.jpeg
can just make out the person nearing the top - a little dot

now it was our turn!
D380A397-F13F-4F12-B7F0-95505B4D55E0.jpeg
Harris on his way up

244C5F28-C7CC-4A7D-8443-F4E7598748FB.jpeg
nearly at the summit of Bidean now

Finally on top of Bidean Nam Bian the views were spectacular, it felt like we could've easily been in the Alps or Himalayas! the heat was amazing we were both in t shirts 1150 meters high in Scotland in March!
after spending some time taking in the views we continued down the brilliant ridge on route to Stob Coire Sgreamhach.
2266D20F-2344-4DFE-AA40-CBDD7B0197AC.jpeg
on top of Bidean

1149BFE7-56C2-4324-B62C-7B3D308D4430.jpeg

649C6BC5-C70F-4F6C-B439-84A7911B3C36.jpeg
Schiehallion

C352500B-D52B-4519-BC5E-32B6DFEADC98.jpeg
Ridge to Stob Coire Sgreamhach

F4E02077-FB4D-42E1-99E8-6E4DF6CBD2C1.jpeg
Looking back at Bidean

Just before we started the ascent to Stob Coire Sgreamhach we saw that our original plan to descend into the Lost Valley was not possible as massive cornice was blocking our way, this didn't really matter as when I was planning the route I knew it was unlikely we couldve safely gotten down that way so I had a plan B which was to descend down the north east ridge to Beinn Fhada. after making it to the 2nd munro of the day, Sgreamhach, we continued down towards Beinn Fhada. initially it was very steep and exposed which was exciting but levelled out more after a scramble down a sizeable cliff.
4C2DCB88-8E8E-45A6-B1DD-CBC90F628F01.jpeg
the route we had taken down from Sgreamhach, can make out the large cliff near bottom of the shot we had to descend

DCAEC9C6-C3D4-410B-A6FC-D8E1A6A6FC96.jpeg

Just before Beinn Fhada we saw an opportunity to safely descend into the Lost valley, it was less steep than descending into Lost Valley via Bealach Dearg's incredibly steep head wall and so we carefully made the descent. now on the tourist path it was straight forward all the way back to the car. what a day!
3E20F303-B9F2-4405-BFF2-7B516D4BADD4.jpeg
Looking back at where we had descended

7F18C3AE-0FA4-4351-BE51-E78354ED7BC2.jpeg

EEB2B0FD-2C8D-4CB2-8DF5-7F5ED15D88A0.jpeg
Lost valley

901B625F-CCCB-4B4E-B5A6-0A3FFB71D4C4.jpeg
Lost Valley and Bealach Dearg's steep head wall

1DD41485-6231-4C00-A1D1-360E51AD9094.jpeg

Click to mark this as a great report. Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).


Joseph Harper


User avatar
Location: Slockavullin Argyll
Occupation: Student
Activity: Mountain Walker
Mountain: Sgurr Mor... so far
Place: Colonsay
Ideal day out: Winter climb in the sun.

Munros: 53
Corbetts: 1
Sub 2000: 2



Filter reports


Statistics

2020

Trips: 1
Distance: 15 km
Ascent: 1500m
Munros: 2


Joined: Jun 25, 2020
Last visited: Nov 08, 2023
Total posts: 1 | Search posts