walkhighlands

The Lochaber 4000s - a different approach

Munros: Aonach Beag (Nevis Range), Ben Nevis, Càrn Mòr Dearg

Date walked: 16/09/2023

Time taken: 8 hours

Distance: 16km

Ascent: 1850m

Is it possible to ascend Ben Nevis during daylight hours, on a Saturday and with a good forecast, without seeing another living soul until the summit? This task would be impossible using the tourist path, and (I submit) the CMD arete. What route, then, should the walker take if he or she wished to experience the magnificence of our highest hill in marvelous solitude?

For quite a while I had eyed up the most direct route up the Ben, starting from the car park at the end of Glen Nevis, traditionally used by people going to An Steall, the famous waterfall. The route basically goes straight up the hill towards Coire Eoghainn, then either north-west towards Carn Dearg, or north-north-east up the shoulder that makes straight for the summit. The few online reports that people have posted describe doing it by the former, which by all accounts is more pleasant. However, it seemed to me that the latter was more direct, even if it were considerably steeper. Settled, then. The latter it was.

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The route up. No messing about.

Even at 8.30am the car park was almost full. I found out that this was due to an organised race of the Ring of Steall. A marshal at the car park asked me where I was heading, to which I said 'up there', pointing towards Coire Eoghainn. He eyed me suspiciously, perhaps fearing that I was another novice hillwalker who'd been guided to this point by Google Maps. Sensing this, I assuaged his fears by telling him that 'I knew what I was doing'. This statement was, on reflection, not entirely accurate.

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The start of the walk. Looking up towards the entrance to Coire Eoghainn

Steeling myself for 4,000ft of steep, pathless ming I was pleasantly surprised to find that, whilst skirting the Allt Coire Eoghainn on the ascent, a little track was in evidence. Clearly more people than I might have imagined had used this route, meaning the upwards pull was not as much of a penance as I had supposed.

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The lovely Allt Coire Eoghainn, aka 'The Waterslide'. The track clung to the right-hand side of the stream

As the ascent continued the path (such as it was) became less distinct, often being merely sections of flattened grass. However, the weather was tremendous. Though the sun was blazing, a cooling September breeze kept the temperature pleasant. And though the pace wasn't fierce, I found myself gaining height quickly. At the start of the walk I thought that about two hours ought to be enough to see me near the summit, and as I checked my height after a while I could see this was a distinct possibility.

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Quickly gaining height, looking back down Allt Coire Eoghainn

Before too long I found myself entering the lip of Coire Eoghainn and with it a bit of respite from the unrelenting upwards pull.

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Coire Eoghainn looking back out towards the Mamores

At this point I was still undecided about whether to head north-west up Carn Dearg, or keep going straight. The Carn Dearg diversion looked to be pleasant, but I opted for the direct (i.e. steep) approach in the end. The decision was made easier by the clear weather and excellent visibility. I think if the cloud had been down I'd have been tempted to go for the Carn Dearg route as navigation would have been easier. The boulderfields I could see towards the top on my preferred route would have been unpleasant to negotiate in slippery conditions. Something that should be considered by anyone thinking of attempting this route.

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Looking back down towards Coire Eoghainn from the shoulder of the Ben

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Higher up the ridge, with some fair-weather cloud making the scenery prettier

Up I went, and now I was getting close to the summit. I checked my watch and found myself at 1,250 metres with 1 hour 40 minutes having elapsed. Two hours as a guesstimate was not going to be far out. Some boulder hopping saw me almost to within touching distance of the summit.

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What I have always known to be 'Wragge's Well', but can't find much literature online about it. This is very close to the summit

Shortly afterwards I reached the summit, seeing my first people of the day. One hour and 55 minutes had elapsed, which is certainly a record for me. Though the ascent was testing, I didn't feel too bad at all, and decided to make a day of it by going on to the Carn Mor Dearg arete. The weather was still superb.

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Ben Nevis summit, complete with hordes

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Carn Mor Dearg across Coire Leis

I'm no lover of heights, and so for some of the CMD arete I was on the cowards' path that skirts below the main ridge itself. Seeing people skip over the ridge itself gave me the fear. Even the bypass path has a couple of sketchy sections that demand respect. I was glad to summit CMD itself but decided not to linger, as it was standing room only. What to do, then?

With fine weather still in charge, I opted to drop down to the bealach between CMD and Aonach Mor/Beag. This meant losing a lot of height, but I had already toyed with the idea of going to the summit of Aonach Beag so this was the only option. Halfway down I stopped for a drink and a piece of chocolate. A fine wee path leads from the summit right down to the bealach

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Looking back up towards CMD

At the bottom I had lunch and recharged the batteries, readying myself for the upwards march onto Aonach Mor. Having done this ascent countless times over the years, I knew just how steep it was. The steepest of the day, in fact. Three hundred metres of unremittingly hard uphill at an angle close to 40% gradient. But because of its angle, quick progress is made. Twenty five minutes later I was on the shoulder of Aonach Mor, looking back at the hulking brutes of CMD and Nevis.

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Nevis and CMD from the shoulder of Aonach Mor

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The impressive edifice of Aonach Beag. Scotland's last piece of winter snow from winter 2023 is just visible at the foot of the cliffs

I had my drone with me so I decided to fly it into the coire and get a better snap of the old snow.

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Just visible at the bottom-left of the picture

After I had packed the drone away I then went to the summit of Aonach Beag and decide next where to go. South-west off the shoulder or south-east to Stob Coire Bhealaich? I opted for the latter, seeing as how the weather was still fine and I wanted to make the most of the day. Plus I knew from memory that the descent of this top down to below Sgurr a' Bhuic was grassy and soft: ideal for glissading.

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From the summit of Aonach Beag
The glissade was so good, in fact, that I reached the bottom after about five minutes, losing 250-odd metres without expending any energy, or bashing my feet and knees. Bliss.

From there it was just a case of following the obvious shoulder that leads down to Steall meadow, and then along back to the car park. Some wonderful light allowed for superb views in virtually every direction. I didn't have my good camera with me, and I cursed this. However, when undertaking a big day like this it's either the drone or the camera. Taking them both means the day becomes too much like hard work.

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Sgurr a' Bhuic

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Binnein Mor on the descent

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An Steall from the drone

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Walking back to the start by Steall meadow. Coire Eoghainn can be seen in the distance

People have asked me if I would recommend this route as an ascent or descent. The honest answer is that I would neither recommend it nor dissuade people. It's a brutally hard ascent, suitable only for very fit walkers and those that don't mind no paths for large sections. It also requires careful navigation in poor weather. As a descent back to Glen Nevis it would extremely quick, but with the caveat that its lack of paths mean careful foot placement would be required. For my part I enjoyed it, but only because I have a masochistic streak when it comes to hills. I like taking routes that others don't. If you're into that, and tick the other boxes, you'll probably enjoy it as well. I could not in all conscience recommend this route to novices. The consequences of something going wrong here are obvious.

As a footnote, taking the drone on the trip turned out to be worth it, for the views in Glen Coe. I stopped and put it up over Loch Achtriochtan for sunset.

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ronofcam


Activity: Mountain Walker
Pub: Keel Row, Fionnphort
Mountain: Aonach Beag
Place: Too many...
Gear: Satmap

Munros: 174
Sub 2000: 1



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Statistics

2023

Trips: 1
Distance: 16 km
Ascent: 1850m
Munros: 3

2022

Trips: 2
Distance: 17 km
Ascent: 1115m
Munros: 4

2020

Trips: 2
Distance: 88 km
Ascent: 7800m
Munros: 12

2016

Trips: 4
Distance: 95.1 km
Ascent: 7160m
Munros: 14

2015

Trips: 2
Distance: 37 km
Ascent: 2027m
Munros: 3

2014

Trips: 1
Distance: 16 km
Ascent: 1845m
Munros: 2

2012

Trips: 1
Distance: 55 km
Ascent: 2695m
Munros: 5

2010

Trips: 1
Distance: 20 km
Ascent: 1771m
Munros: 1


Joined: Aug 10, 2010
Last visited: Mar 24, 2024
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