Ruadh-stac Mor (Beinn Eighe) 17th Apr 06

[Terry]

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Attendees - Myself, Kathy, Gee and John
Weather - Rain, Hail, Sleet and snow
Distance - 14.7km

The Route


At 1st we sat in the car watching the horizontal rain and were pondering wether we should tackle Beinn Eighe today. After a bit of humming and hawing we decided lets give it a go and donned the full waterproofs. It was off up the glen behind Liathach and followed Coire Dubh Mor. The weather changed every 10 minutes or so.





After a long trudge we finally reached Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchan. The wind was blowing the waterfall back into the loch. Some good views were to be had to the west and North-west.





Also of the impressive cliffs surrounding the coire.



and the mightily impressive Triple Buttress

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The slopes didn't look too menacing to the North, so we decided to head directly up to the summit of Ruadh-stac Mor. The slope remained steep all the way to the summit, with the snow continuously getting icier. I was glad everyone convinced me to bring my ice axe and crampons.



Once onto the ridge proper we put on the crampons as it was very slippy on the ice. The summit was gained shortly afterwards. We then headed south along the ridge


and when we saw the next ascent and with hailstones causing a lot of discomfort, we opted to call it a day and descended via a gully (which is the recommended ascent route) back to Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchan.



Then it was just a case of folling the path back to the car park.

A good day had by all.

[ChrisM]

Cheers Terry. You still get an impressive feel for the Torridons in those photos despite the crappy weather!
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[peter]

Awesome scenes!

Read this with great interest. Last March, JohnK, DaveG and I had this as a possible plan as we headed up that way. Ended up heading towards Suilven instead.

We had half a mind to try camping in the corrie, under the triple buttresses, thought that might be atmospheric, if a bit lumpy under the thermarests. Glad we didn't try it now given the backpack related incidents that saw us call it at Suileag.

Anyway, it looks fantastic up there, a real must see. Isn't there a crashed Lancaster bomber up there?

[kathy]

Yes there is! The downed Lancaster was flying from Kinloss on 14th Mar 1951 when it went missing with eight crew. Volunteers from the RAF tried for weeks to recover the bodies but the last one wasn't removed until the 28th Aug of that year. The public outcry that ensued was a major embarassment for the RAF at the time and prompted the setting up of today's modern Mountain Rescue teams. A plane crashed into the same place in February 2001 and the two crew were recovered in just one day thanks to the dedication of the MRT. You can find a list of the known aircraft crash sites at

http://www.scotcrash.homecall.co.uk

[ewan]

That wee map up the top reminds me that I need to go back and have another crack at Liathach.

Last time I didn't pick a good route to the top, I went up Toll a Meatheach and veared left onto very steep ground. A slip and a wee slide put the sh1ts up me big time and I decided to retreat with my tail between my legs.

When I was back down I could see a line that went off to the right near the top, however, I've since learned that it's easier to go up the East side.

Any of youz done this one? Which way did you go up?