Great Mountains: The Mamores

The Mamores are not a single mountain but a range of ten mountains of Munro status plus another seven Munro Tops that can all be done in a single walk of over twelve hours, however, that would be madness and reduces what is a fabulous range of mountains to just an exercise of ticking a list. Great mountains deserve time spent on their traverse and none more so than the Mamores. I had first glimpsed the Mamores in 2004 while walking the West Highland Way, but it wasn’t until the year after, and with considerably better weather, that I made my first venture into the Mamores and was instantly smitten by this complex chain of sharp peaks that are connected by narrow ridges. The best mountain walking is ridge walking and the ridges in the Mamores are excellent with little difficulty on the main backbone, but with three narrow arêtes that provide some exciting walking that raise this range into the upper echelons of hillwalking. My ascent route in 2005 was based on the walk described in Ralph Storer’s “100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains” but I soon came across difficulty on the path beside the Allt a’ Choire Dheirg. More modern sources now recommend starting beside another stream, the Allt a’ Choire Riabhaich, and this is what I tried to do when attempted to do the walk again in 2012
only to end up beside the Allt a’ Choire Dheirg again.

Whichever route is taken they both end up on the north ridge of Mullach nan Coirean, which is the westernmost and smallest Munro in the Mamores. What it lacks in height it makes up for in the view east across the range and in 2012 I had excellent weather that enabled me to take many great photographs. In 2005, I didn’t take a camera with me although the weather was almost as good. Further west of Mullach nan Coirean is an extension of the ridge to Meall a’ Chaorainn, but since it fails to achieve the magical height of three thousand feet, though only just, it is usually ignored, however, in 2005 I nipped across to the top before returning to start my traverse of the Mamores ridge. With little variation in height the ridge rounds the top of Coire Dearg passing over a Munro Top before rising to the spectacular quartzite topped summit of Stob Bàn. This is a great mountain with a stunning appearance from all directions particularly in the bright sunshine that I was fortunate to enjoy on my two visits. A steep scramble down the craggy eastern slopes leads to the head of Coire a’ Mhusgain and the lowest point on the Mamores ridge. Here a path descends north towards Glen Nevis and was my route down in 2012, but in 2005 I was able to keep going.

The ridge rises to Sgorr an Iubhair, which enjoyed the limelight as a Munro from 1981 until being demoted again in 1997. The day after my walk in 2005 I passed over this Munro Top, but the day before I took a path that bypasses below to the start of a narrow arête that is known as the Devil’s Ridge and projects north away from the main Mamores ridge. In good weather, such as I had in 2005, this is a relatively easy, though very high and narrow, ridge except for one point where a gap needs to be crossed, but is still a thrilling traverse that I would love to do again. At the end of the Devil’s Ridge is the striking Sgurr a’ Mhàim whose abundant covering of white quartzite stones dominates the view up Glen Nevis. In 2013 I was walking down Glen Nevis from Loch Treig with the Mamores to my left and this mountain came into view looking as majestic in the sunshine as an alpine peak constantly attracting my attention as I passed down the valley. This mountain is often ascended as part of the Ring of Steall, which is a classic Highland walk on the narrow ridges around Coire a’ Mhail. I have never done the whole walk in one go, but in 2005 I covered almost the whole route in two days.

A zigzagging path climbs from near the Steall waterfall to the ridge that tops out on the Munro of An Gearanach where a deliciously narrow ridge continues over An Garbhanach before climbing to the Munro of Stob Coire a’ Chàirn that I described in this blog as “a very proper looking hill”. I climbed this way in 2005 and then descended back over the ridge the following year in much worse weather. The Ring of Steall continues along the main ridge with a stiff cliff up to the top of the Munro of Am Bodach before crossing to the aforementioned Sgorr an Iubhair at the start of the Devil’s Ridge. A path descends to Loch Leven from the ridge between Sgorr an Iubhair and Am Bodach, but I have never taken it, however, I have taken the path that descends from the col after Stob Coire a’ Chàirn. This is a very broad, grassy saddle and I took the path south into Coire a’ Chàirn in 2008 in poor weather and again in 2017 in improving weather that soon deteriorated as I descended. I have never had much luck with the weather in the eastern section of the Mamores, but the walking is still first class. A prolonged climb ascends to a broad top that is not the Munro, but the northwest top for Na Gruagaichean, whose summit is the other side of a very tricky gap that was particularly difficult to cross when I made the traverse in the wet in 2006.

I was fortunate to have a view from the top of Na Gruagaichean, in 2017, after the earlier rain cleared. The main ridge concludes with two Munro Tops ending with Sgòr Eilde Beag, but a side ridge branches off from the previous top to Binnein Mor, the highest Munro in the Mamores. Although I reached the summit in both 2006 and 2008 it wasn’t until 2017 that I had a view from the top as the rain stopped just as I reached the narrow rocky ridge at the summit where I had a stunning view of the retreating rain. Finally there are two isolated Munros that are not connected to the Mamores ridge, but are still considered to be part of the Mamores. Opposite Binnein Mor is the conical peak of, appropriately, Binnein Beag, while opposite Sgòr Eilde Beag is Sgùrr Eilde Mor. I climbed both of these in 2017 in good weather, but lacking the connecting ridge with the rest of the Mamores robs them of the same satisfaction inherent in the Mamores of stringing together multiple Munros along a ridge. Mountains are never at their best in isolation and the density of mountains in the Mamores is a large part of their appeal. These are not just one great mountain, but a whole string of great mountains connected by narrow ridges that are an immense pleasure to traverse.