RING OF STEALL THE MAMORES
There are loads of amazing peaks in Scotland. But if you were asked to name the truly great mountain ranges of the UK’s bumpiest nation the pickings get rather slimmer. There are plenty of groups. Dozens of scatterings. But a range is different. And rarer, if we’re talking a hoisted complexity of peaks, corries, summits, lakes and waterfalls, with all the stature and drama the name implies sealed up in its own little world of high adventure. Names that come to mind are the central Cairngorms, the Cuillin Ridge, Ben Nevis and the Grey Corries – and, of course, the Mamores. The Mamores suffer from Cinderella syndrome, being overshadowed by a burlier, uglier sibling that commands all attentions. And while the views of Ben Nevis that you are confronted with from the high ridges of the Mamores are good – despite Britain’s highest peak having its back turned from here – all you’ll be thinking about is where you are, and how much fun you’re having. The beauty of this range is the slingshot of ridges comprising the oh-socleverly named Ring of Steall, which totters in a loop around the ramparts of the Mamores’ inner keep. It’s a big climb out of Glen Nevis – with the memorable vista of the namesake Steall Falls guarding the gate – but once you are up, the way is an exhilarating, bucking crest of precipitous-but-not-too-precipitous slopes that rarely drops below 3000ft. It’s something of an expedition in winter – but don’t forget, this is more than just a mountain. This is a range.