4 Routes on Buchaille Etive Mor

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This mountain seems to stand guard over Glencoe when approaching from Rannoch Moor - yet all it's drainage ends up in Loch Etive!  The Coupall rises at the summit of the Lairig Gartain (GR 529 183), and circles anticlockwise around the mountain to where it joins the Etive (GR 244543) which then flows south-west to Loch Etive.  The Allt Gartain rises very close to the Coupall and flows south-west to join the Etive (GR 170510) near Dalness, closing the circle.  Until 1997 this mountain was had one Munro, Stob Dearg (1022m) which is the summit clearly seen from the A82.  However the revision of 1997 has elevated Stob na Broige (GR 191526) to full Munro status - yet another reason to revisit the mountain!

If the Buchaille has a fault it can only be that there is very little secrecy about the usual routes of ascent - they can all be seen clearly from the A82, and the road can in turn be clearly seen and heard from the mountain.  This view also indicates the nature of the routes on this part of the mountain.  The only 'walkers' route is a long slog up Coire na Tulaich, which is horribly full of loose stones and boulders.  In my view it's one thing to descend loose scree - and quite another to ascend it!

Another indication of the nature of these routes is that they can all be found in the Rock Climbing Guide, albeit with low (to a climber) grades.  However what a climber finds an easy ascent will get most walkers well and truly gripped, placing them in a position of real danger.  Because of this I have made no attempt to describe these routes: instead you will find accounts of my own adventures on them.

This may well be my favourite mountain. I have made several ascents, once in winter conditions.  This is also the mountain on which I have come closest to a serious accident.  The routes are described in the order I climbed them.  Each is followed by it's grade from the Rock Guide in italics.  This view from Jacksonville (GR 237553) gives an excellent view of all these routes, though the foreshortening makes them look more vertical than they actually are.  A more accurate view would be from Beinn a'Chrulaiste (GR 247567) whose summit at 857m is approximately level with the start of many of the climbs.

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