Aonach Eagach Route 1
Scotland’s most thrilling scramble traverse – a Grade 2 route along a knife-edge arête – offers the very best views of Glencoe, says Claire Maxted.
A true scrambling classic in Glencoe
Asteep wall of grass stands before you and one of Scotland’s greatest scrambling ridges. It’s a heart-pounding, thighburning 850m climb straight up Sgorr Nam Fiannaidh from your car that will wake you up quicker than any cup of coffee! But once you’re up, you will have reached a wonderful couple of miles of knife-edges, rocky towers, pillars and arêtes to negotiate as you clamber to Am Bodach.
It may not be elegant – sometimes you may use a knee jam or a bum shuffle (both entirely valid scrambling techniques, it’s three points of contact after all!) – and sometimes you may have to pause to wrestle with the frightening exposure of the sheer drops below. However, Aonach Eagach ridge is a Grade 2 scramble that is very pleasantly do-able for hillwalkers with a good head for heights in good conditions, with winds generally lower than 25mph and relatively dry rock. Take your time, for the views from up there are stupendous. Across the valley that you came from, the mighty Buachaille Etive Mor stands sentinel at the start of Glen Coe, and further north The Mamores rise up in sharp triangles of rock to scrape the clouds out of the sky.
After the scrambling, there’s a good old kneetesting descent back down to the road, where if you’re lucky you’ll find your way to the famous Clachaig Inn. Watch this video of the Aonach Eagach scramble before you set off: youtu.be/gR_ lIYJiQrAh