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Mountaineer Murray’s tale of Aonach Eagach climb

Start grid ref: Distance: Ascent: Time:

NN174567 6 miles 3,281ft

6hrs This could be the easiest route description ever – climb to the ridge and follow it. There’s really nowhere else to go!

Most people traverse east to west – perhaps one of the reasons being that this saves 150m (500ft) of ascent. There’s parking for several vehicles on the north side of the A82 a few hundred metres west of Allt-na-reigh. If this is full then there’s a much larger car park a couple of hundred metres west on the opposite side of the road.

It’s a good idea to leave a second car where you’ll descend from the ridge, between the Clachaig Inn and Glencoe village. Otherwise it’s a long, 4.3-miles walk back to the start. Hitching is an option but not everyone will stop for a bunch of weary climbers. Renowned climber

W H Murray, left, is arguably the greatest mountain writer Scotland has produced. Two of his books, Undiscovered Scotland and Mountaineering in Scotland, are regarded as classics of the genre.

The books document thrilling climbs and the development of the activity in Scotland from the 1930s to the 1950s. The first was written while Murray was a prisoner of the Germans during the Second World War.

The second book contains an incredible account of a traverse of the Aonach Eagach with his friend, Donald Mcintyre, in February 1947. Wearing highaltitude flying suits, the pair arrived at the summit of Am Bodach, at the eastern end of the ridge, at 1.30am.

They traversed the ridge, then reversed their route along the ridge, arriving at the eastern end of the Aonach Eagach before daybreak.