UKC

Can anyone recommend a couple of climbs grade 2/3 in the Glencoe area which dont have an epic walk in? SCNL is a nightmare, especially for our first trip of the season (i.e. lacking fitness...)

In reply to euanryan:

Curved Ridge.

In reply to Gibson:

The approach is hardly that much shorter and its often more prone to avalanche risk. The route when you get there is big and complex.

The answer to the OP is to get fitter. Winter mountaineering often requires pulling a bit of unexpected effort out to get past unexpected difficulties and frankly if you are struggling to get to the climbs in SCNL (which I'd say is below average for a scottish winter approach) you probably shouldn't be on the route...go to Kinlochleven instead.

In reply to euanryan:

I apologise I just discovered you are 19....the answer is to man up: epic nightmare my arse. As we get older some of us have to work hard and be careful with tweaks to get winter fit.

In reply to euanryan: Red funnel gully.

In reply to Offwidth:
I agree it's no epic nightmare, but it is a feckin tedious walk.

In reply to andrew ogilvie:

Where is that?

In reply to nw: Winter Climbing requires this walk and as for the tedium, you are in amazing situations. The sad fact is the lower level routes in Glencoe are very rarely in good nick. I've climbed there more times than I can remember and still have a good ticklist waiting for the lower level routes.

In reply to Offwidth: to get fitter we have to start somewhere...

In reply to Offwidth:

For sure, it has always been well worth it. Just don't enjoy it at the time. Actually, after the first time I've never felt the situation to be amazing until you emerge into the Coire, by which point the bastardness is over anyway.There aren't many views to be had in the lower part. Your own boots maybe, the step in front of you, somebody else's arse perhaps. And sweaty hairy climber arse at that.

In reply to euanryan:
To be honest, I think the walk-in to SCNL is one of the easiest in the Glen! I've always hated the Buachaille walk-in in comparison, even though it is shorter.

In reply to euanryan:

Ditto what Offwidth has said about fitness Euan, though you are quite right in that you have to start somewhere.

Unfortunately though I would argue that the SCnL approach is one of the easiest approaches to winter routes in Glencoe, or at least to ones that are reliably in condition. There are plenty of other grade II/III's around which are far less often climbed and less well-known but many of them involve quite long sections of steep, pathless and fairly complicated approach.

Somewhere to bear in mind is Coire nam Beith, though I dare say most would argue it is much worse than SCnL. It is steeper for its whole length, but in my opinion it is an "easier" approach as it gets you there quicker. That's my viewpoint though as someone who runs in these corries several times a week so it probably isn't representative.

Feel free to message me if you want anymore detailed info on conditions in the glen Euan, best wishes.
James

In reply to Offwidth:

Bit harsh. The walk-in to SCNL is a b!tch. It may not be the longest, but as already said - very tedious.

In reply to Offwidth: A Chailleach " leftmost gully on the face...easily reached from the cairn opposite lairig eilde about 1km east of meeting of three waters" pg256 current smc glencoe guide

In reply to Only a hill:

I agree. SCNL is the easy walk in Euan. That's the walk in you go for when you can't be bothered with anything else. That's not to say it is easy all the time. The first walk in after the christmas/new year festive period last year up to SCNL I ended up spewing at the side of the path.

In reply to Milesy:
Oh God, I remember last October walking in to the north face of the Ben after a heavy night drinking at the Clachaig. Never felt so ill in my entire life! Heavy pack and big boots + hangover + out of practice = purgatory...

In reply to euanryan:
get yas head torch on and start earlier. Arrive at the start of a route just as getting light

Great way to start a day!!

In reply to euanryan: A number of the Southern Highlands venues have shorter or easier walk-ins and shorter routes. Meall Bhuidhe is a good choice. If you're organised you might be able to do a couple of routes in a day.

In reply to euanryan:

If you are able to travel a bit further then for a good alternative (mid/late season) I think the approach to Creag Meagaidh is very easy indeed. It's fairly long I guess but apart from a short steep section at the start it is a romp.

In reply to SARS:

All in your mind. I've never been a super fit climber so a bit of pain was always necessary for the rewards above. I never found it tedious: its a while before you lose the views of the wider glen and even then you have the views back when you stop for a breather and also the memories of the rock climbs opposite. Anyhow, those wanting more continuous views can climb the zig-zags (normally a scramble but great fun when in winter nick) and traverse the ridge to the corrie floor.

In reply to JamesRoddie: I agree, the walk to Meagaidh is very pleasant when the path isn't too covered in snow. I was surprised how easy it was

In reply to andrew ogilvie: cheers

In reply to euanryan:

"to get fitter we have to start somewhere." Sorry, I missed that.

I led a Uni club beginners trip to Glencoe for 10 consecutive seasons. SCNL was a common start place. One thing you might be doing wrong is walking too quickly: a common problem with those starting off or in groups of mixed fitness. If you are working too hard you use too much energy reserves and get dehydrated, which is bad news and can be dangerous. A good test for pace is the ability to hold a conversation (which can also take your mind off things). We took people with little more than general beginners climbing fitness and got them out 5 days in a week quite commonly; at 19 your body gets fit fast providing you don't wimp out or overdo it.

In reply to Offwidth: We could be walking too quickly actually. Always seem to be over taking people, then having to rest for 10 minutes while they pass us again!

I guess we'll just grin and bare the SCNL walk-in then! I'm too spoilt by road-side cragging over the summer


Thanks for all the advice everyone

In reply to euanryan:

Not Glen Coe, but Castle Ridge on the Ben, esp if you can get a friend with a key to the top car park! - 30-40 mins walking..

On thing I find with SCNL, it is prob only an hour 30 to the base of the coire, but it always looks really close from the road and never gets and closer!

Another route at the grade you are interested in would be Sron Na Larig, a decent walk in, but mostly low gradient

In reply to euanryan: Problem could be that your not getting enough hill time over the summer, as you say your mainly doing roadside cragging and then going into a completely different environment which takes a bit more effort to get into. Next season try a bit more mountain routes so your getting an approach aspect for the entire year.

I don't like approaches at all but I just get my head down and grunt it out, its pretty much the only way to go at it. Plus the fact you get nice views approaching the hills (well sometimes)

I've never done the SCNL approach but what I have done in the Cuillin can be a bit of a killer.

In reply to euanryan:

dinnertime buttress walk in not too bad

watch out for the avalanche risk though

SCNL pretty short really, sron na lairig walk in was a good deal longer, even curved ridge felt longer, though i doubt it actually was

cheers
gregor

In reply to all:

To everyone who calls the SCNL walk in tedious - WTF are you in the hills for in the first place ? you are amongst the most stunning hills in the UK. Get your eyes off your boots and look around you.

In reply to GrahamD:

That is a bit harsh. To be fair when you have done the walk into SCNL so many times there isnt any view. You are hemmed in by the Aonachs on either side. As said previously it only opens into wonder when you get the crampons on at the rock, get up that final slope and emerge into the coire.

In reply to euanryan:

I've always found the walk in to SNCL to e one of the easier ones in the area. Just head down and go, doesn't take too long. That said my husband hates it with a vengeance. He'd rather walk in to the Ben from the bottom carpark. I think that endless staircase up to SNCL must have a negative psychological effect on some people, while others can just ignore it and get on with it.

In reply to GrahamD: its not exactly called 'the hurt lochan' cos its great fun now is it?

In reply to GrahamD:
Dear Graham
Fcuk you very much. Them being about half an hour down the road I am quite aware just how stunning those hills are.One of my very favourite places ever, and I get to see them first thing every morning as a picture of a pristine, snow covered SCNL under blue skies from dawn on my birthday last year is the wallpaper on my PC. So I know exactly WTF I am in the hills for thanks. As people have said above, to some of us it seems like a staircase with limited views, so really not that enjoyable, but as I pointed out, it's always well worth it. Personally much prefer the Ben and Creag Meagaidh walk ins, and even the Cuillin ones. So there.

In reply to bowls:

+1

In reply to euanryan: Glencoe walk-ins are aboot as short as they get in Scotland. They are just steep! If you want easier take yer lazy ass up Aonach Mor on the gondola.

In reply to Milesy:


You scould always go a different and more interesting way if thats a worry, over Aonach Dubh for instance.

You might have gathered this 'convenience' approach to mountains annoys me a bit.

In reply to euanryan:

Getting hill fit should be starting with big hill days through the summer

In reply to Offwidth:

Eeee that reminds me. I think the fittest I've ever been was when I were a young lad after walking around the Highlands for a fortnight one sunny May. We got accused of having run up Quinag by a walker.

Been downhill ever since mind...

In reply to bowls:


I was also going to suggest Sron na Lairig.

Also (depending on your definition of 'Glencoe Area' this would be pushing it, but... the walk-ins to Creag Coire an Dothaidh and the NE Corrie of Beinn an Dothaidh at Bridge of Orchy are relatively amenable. That siad, if you drive from Glen Coe you could be half way up the SCnL path by the time you get there.

FWIW I tend to dislike the SCnL walk-in.

In reply to euanryan:

>"to get fitter we have to start somewhere"

Aonach Mor?

In reply to GrahamD:

It is a grotty decomposing erroded ravine. I don't have a massive urge to "savour the experience". It is a means to an end.

If I am going climbing in the coire why would I take a longer and harder approach? I get my enjoyment from the hills once I am up there in the coire, on a nice route and either basking in blue skies or battling spin drift.

You have no right to tell other people how to enjoy their "hill experience". Most people who have done the walk in to SCNL with a full winter pack, after mosr of the year's absence from the winter game are unlikely to enjoy the walk in and there is no shame in that. It is pretty unpleasent but we mostly just suck it up and think about what is ahead overtaking you standing half way up the approach sucking in the fresh mountain air and shouting the hills are alive with the sound of music.