Attempted Buachaille Etive Mor's

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Mr Mike

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Well we headed over to Glencoe Friday as planned and woke Sat morning to 21c and sun shinning so decided to give it a go.

OMG :eek:

Turned out not to be just a walk but more like climbing, either that or we went of course :shrug: As we walked we could see everyone else heading up and down the same way so followed on like sheep and headed that way. One guy coming down complete with 2 walking poles had an issue climbing down resulting in him sliding down on his bum and landing in a heap, seconds later and other walker complete we 2 poles landed on his face at our feet lol The path had loose rocks all the way up which started to cause problems with my balance and that along with how wiped I was happy to head back down. Donna has issues with heights when they are close and direct so started to get a little wobbly, the distance type height is no concern hence why she was happy to go up. Here's a laugh, we took lots of energy foods to keep us going for the day but by the time we decided to turn back we had already eaten it all lol I also managed to drink 2 ltrs of water out of a borrowed camel back. We only managed to get to 1900 feet, the sumit is 3444 ft so we failed big time!

So we tried and experienced something new which was great regardless but i think we would have a better idea if we were to attempt another hill in the future.

Anyway couple of pics from the walk, #3 has 2 red spots which i added to give a scale, the distance between the two is around 2.5 - 3 stories high, very deceiving until your actually standing there.

#1
BuachailleClimb3.jpg


#2
BuachailleClimb1.jpg


#3
BuachailleClimb2.jpg


Thanks for looking

Mike
 
well done for trying

it's fair to say this is a BIG day out for any newcomer

best to try others till you feel that 3000+ ft is going to be ok

buy a Munros Book - most will give you an idea of time/distance/severity

once you're up there - it is all worth the effort !!
 
It's a fair old hill that is, my better half and I aborted a snowy ascent of this and then a number of people ( 3 or 4 I think) were killed in an avalanche just a short way from where we turned back less than 24 hours later, the lesson there is 'never regret a retreat' Beautiful place though. Well done on giving it a go and well done for turning back when you should.

DSCF5392Small.jpg
 
Yardbent said:
well done for trying

it's fair to say this is a BIG day out for any newcomer

best to try others till you feel that 3000+ ft is going to be ok

buy a Munros Book - most will give you an idea of time/distance/severity

once you're up there - it is all worth the effort !!
Click to expand...

It was a very BIG day out for a lightweight like me lol Defo glad we tried even if we failed that badly, like you say a smaller hill sounds like a better place to start

SparkUK said:
It's a fair old hill that is, my better half and I aborted a snowy ascent of this and then a number of people ( 3 or 4 I think) were killed in an avalanche just a short way from where we turned back less than 24 hours later, the lesson there is 'never regret a retreat' Beautiful place though. Well done on giving it a go and well done for turning back when you should.
Click to expand...

It doesnt look much from the pictures or even when stood at the bottom but its a completely different storey when you get up a bit. Yeah we didnt feel comfortable with where we were or what was expected of us so decided to make the sensible decision and come back down. Glad to hear you retreated safely that day in question, i do remember hearing the news in Feb this year regarding the avalanche and of course the same happened the year before in the same place. Very scary, i wouldnt go near any hill during the winter months but i can accept that people enjoy this activitiy and are prepared to take the risk, of course no matter how careful or prepared you are mother nature can and will remind us how small we actually are
 
Mr Mike said:
, like you say a smaller hill sounds like a better place to start
Click to expand...
Mr Mike said:
I started with a "walk" up Ben Lomond
then gradually improved - it was worth it.....

unfortunately I developed asthma - as well as "old" knees, so stopped at #46

a book "The Munros" by Cameron McNeish has been gathering dust in my bookcase since then - check out the contents on Amazon

I'd be pleased if it was put to use again...:thumbs:

PM me your name and postal address if you'd like....:D
Click to expand...
 
At least you both got back down safely.
Mountains can be very intimidating. Esp. when there is lots of rock around. From a distance height can seem small. Get up close and the drops become trouser filling.

From your pic I think you strayed off route to the left (probably looked like easier ground at the time to go that way).
Part of the problem now is that thousands of people have gone off route and false trails have developed.

I meant to say earlier that it is always a good idea to have an alternative plan for the day in case things don't work out.
If you go back to Glencoe check out the Lost Valley - plenty on Google. Always good for a short day.
 
Also check out the walk almost facing this, up the Devils Staircase etc, that's a more forgiving trek too.
 
SparkUK said:
Also check out the walk almost facing this, up the Devils Staircase etc, that's a more forgiving trek too.
Click to expand...

And, due to it's elevation, gives better views of the hills on the south side of the glen than from the road.
 
Yardbent said:
like you say a smaller hill sounds like a better place to start

I started with a "walk" up Ben Lomond
then gradually improved - it was worth it.....

unfortunately I developed asthma - as well as "old" knees, so stopped at #46

a book "The Munros" by Cameron McNeish has been gathering dust in my bookcase since then - check out the contents on Amazon

I'd be pleased if it was put to use again...:thumbs:

PM me your name and postal address if you'd like....:D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer but im not really one for books so it would probably just sit gathering dust with me too, sorry to hear you can no longer use it.

arclight said:
At least you both got back down safely.
Mountains can be very intimidating. Esp. when there is lots of rock around. From a distance height can seem small. Get up close and the drops become trouser filling.

From your pic I think you strayed off route to the left (probably looked like easier ground at the time to go that way).
Part of the problem now is that thousands of people have gone off route and false trails have developed.

I meant to say earlier that it is always a good idea to have an alternative plan for the day in case things don't work out.
If you go back to Glencoe check out the Lost Valley - plenty on Google. Always good for a short day.
Click to expand...

I guess with the amount of people that go up and down it wouldnt take too long to create many new paths, of course we did the sheep thing and followed on in the direction of everyone else as they came up or down. Wish we had done the Pap instead but due to photography the Buachaille keeps poping up so although initially i wanted a pic i ended up trying to climb it too lol

We explored Glen Etive and manged some pics which are in the Landscapes Forum

SparkUK said:
Also check out the walk almost facing this, up the Devils Staircase etc, that's a more forgiving trek too.
Click to expand...

Seen that and read about it before but as i said we had it in our heads we were going up the Buachaille and that was that

arclight said:
And, due to it's elevation, gives better views of the hills on the south side of the glen than from the road.
Click to expand...

Defo take this onboard if we return but i think the Pap would be top choice around Glencoe
 
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