glamaig and the first snows

Fri, Nov 23, 2007

After a superb day last Monday on the SW ridge of Blaven, today I decided to go for a stravaig up Glamaig. We’d had snow flurries to sea level yesterday and by morning the peaks were white with new snow. We’d had some snow on the tops a few weeks ago but this was the first chance I had to go walking in the snow this year.

So I jumped in the car and headed over to the layby directly below the An Coileach ridge of Glamaig, just north of the road bridge across the Abhainn Torra-mhichag and began the brutal ascent from sea level to summit in one long rocky sweep.

Of the routes up Glamaig, this is the most direct and enjoyable without hitting the hellish screes on the Sligachan side. You gain height very quickly indeed and in an hour and a half I was topping out on An Coileach in weak sunshine and a slight breeze from the south. The ridge from here to Sgurr Mhairi is superb. An airy walkway high above the glens with a backdrop of the snowy white Cuillin.

A nice walk along the ridge, icy in places with the snow about 1cm deep. Not much at all but enough to transform the landscape and how different it looked from the beginning of the week. I had a bite to eat on the summit and then wandered down to the Bealach na Sgairde. A brutal descent on frozen scree but with Beinn Dearg Mhor and Blaven looking like Norwegian troll peaks. An easy bimble down the glen, past some old shielings (531299) on a faint path. You can pick up the path just above the obvious scree patch to the north of the Allt Mor Doire Mhic-uin.

A superb day out indeed! You can see the pics here.