AND SNOW CONDITIONS
The most useful and accurate Internet forecast is at Mountain Weather Information Systems www.mwis.org.uk. This site has links to snow reports from various Fort William climbers and guides. The Scottish Avalanche Information Service issues forecasts of snow conditions and avalanche risk daily for Glencoe and for Lochaber (Ben Nevis area) from December through to Easter at www.sais.gov.uk.
A webcam for Ben Nevis is at visit-fortwilliam.co.uk/webcam. For Glen Coe, see the Meall a’ Bhuiridh ski area (or not, if the cloud’s down) at www.glencoemountain.co.uk/webcams.html.
Safety in the mountains
In Glen Coe and Lochaber you’re usually within a few hours of a road; but the downward ground may be steep with crags. Safety and navigation in the mountains is best learnt from companions, experience, and perhaps a paid instructor; such instruction is outside the scope of this book. Those experienced in smaller, less steep hills will need some extra fitness and endurance, and a level of map expertise that enables you to get away safely when the headwind that’s cutting you off from your descent route is also going to shred your map should you attempt to unfold it.
The international mountain distress signal is some sign (shout, whistle, torch flash or other) repeated six times over a minute, followed by a minute’s silence. The reply is a sign repeated three times over a minute, followed by a minute’s silence. To signal for help from a helicopter, raise both arms above the head and then drop them down sideways, repeatedly. If you’re not in trouble, don’t shout or whistle on the hills, and don’t wave to passing helicopters.
To call out the rescue, phone 999 from a landline. From a mobile, phone either 999 or the international emergency number 112: these will connect you via any available network. Reception is good on most summits and ridges, but absent in places without direct sightlines to Fort William, Glencoe village or the mast behind Kings House. Sometimes a text message can get through when a voice call can’t. For this you must pre-register your phone with the emergencySMS service (www.emergencysms.org.uk).
Given the unreliable phone coverage, it is wise to leave word of your proposed route with some responsible person (and, of course, tell that person when you’ve safely returned). Youth hostels have specific forms for this, as do many independent hostels and B&Bs. You could also leave word at the police stations at Glencoe or Fort William.
Being lost or tired is not sufficient reason for calling the rescue service, and neither, in normal summer weather, is being benighted. However, team members I’ve talked to say not to be too shy about calling them: they greatly prefer bringing down bodies that are still alive…
There is no charge for mountain rescue in Scotland – teams are voluntary, financed by donations from the public, with a grant from the Scottish Executive and helicopters funded by the Department for Transport. You can make donations at youth hostels, tourist information centres (TICs) and many pubs.
Maps
The mapping used on lower walks in this book is from the Ordnance Survey’s Landranger series at 1:50,000 (enlarged in Routes 49 and 58). For high mountain walks, too, these maps were for about 40 years the only ones available, and are perfectly satisfactory: Sheet 41 is Ben Nevis and Glen Coe with part of Black Mount and Glen Etive; the rest of Black Mount and Glen Etive, southwards to Ben Cruachan, are on Sheet 50 (Glen Orchy) – annoyingly, the two sheets don’t overlap.
The Harveys Ben Nevis British Mountain Map, at 1:40,000 scale, covers the whole area as far south as Loch Tulla and the head of Loch Etive. Just 15 of the routes here (notably, Cruachan) aren’t on it. It is beautifully clear and legible, marks paths where they actually exist on the ground, and is made of plastic so robust that one lightweight gear guru uses it as his groundsheet.
Heading south along Beinn Fhada (Route 65)
For detailed exploration of crags and corries and pathless boulder slopes, you will be helped by the extra contour detail at 1:25,000 scale. The two Harveys Superwalker XT25 maps ‘Ben Nevis’ and ‘Glen Coe’ score very highly. They cover much the same ground as the Mountain Map, and overlap conveniently, so that Kinlochleven is on both. Also at 1:25,000 is the Explorer series of the Ordnance Survey. These maps have excellent contour detail on the lower ground, but many of the summits are so obscured with crag-marks that the contour detail is almost illegible. Harveys also offer an A4-sized Ben Nevis summit map at 1:12,500. This is equivalent to the summit enlargement on their 1:25,000 map with its useful addition of 100-metre grid lines for GPS users.
I’d suggest the Ben Nevis Mountain Map, with Landranger Sheet 50 (Glen Orchy) for the far south around Cruachan. But for ambitious mountain explorations, the Harvey Superwalker is preferable.
Compass and GPS
A compass is a very useful aid in mist, even if your skills only extend to ‘northwest, southeast’ rather than precision bearings. Magnetic deviation is about 1° west (2016): to convert a map bearing to a compass one, add 1. No magnetic rocks have been found in this area; it’s you that’s wrong, not the compass!
GPS receivers should be set to the British National Grid (known variously as British Grid, Ord Srvy GB, BNG, or OSGB GRB36). GPS readings are normally good within 10m, and I have given 8-digit (10m accuracy) grid references at various tricky points, such as where you turn down off a ridge. I have recorded these on the hill, checking for plausibility against a 1:25,000 map afterwards. I have found GPS less reliable on steep slopes, such as the corries of Bidean, with a smaller sky in sight, and poor in the Nevis Gorge; such readings should be regarded with some caution. Somewhere on the gadget, if you press the correct buttons, you can find the degree of inaccuracy. The GPS readings are supplementary; this book is designed to be used without a GPS.
Meall a’ Bhuiridh (Route 82)
Using this guide
A glance ahead into the book will show two different sorts of mapping. The low-level and mid-level routes have 1:50,000 mapping; this scale is large enough for use on the actual walk. The linear through-route walks are on the overview maps at the beginning of the book; the mountain routes have similar hand-drawn sketch maps at a larger scale. These sketches are not sufficient for route-finding on the actual mountaintop. A full-sized walkers’ map is needed so that you know not just the route you’re walking, but also the bad-weather escape route which may take you into a different glen altogether.
Each of the Munros (3000ft/914m mountains) has its well-worn ‘standard route’. That will be the quickest and most convenient – and fairly straightforward – route, but usually not the most interesting. I have pointed out those routes in the preambles, and they are listed in several guidebooks, including Steve Kew’s Walking the Munros Vol 1. However, I’ve concentrated on what I consider the most rewarding routes for each hill. These may also be a little more demanding, as they seek out the steeper scenery and avoid the flat Landrover track.
But for the very finest hills I have left the choice to you. The Grey Corries, the Mamores, and the Black Mount;
