Beinn Damh (or ''Ben Damph'') is a Scottish mountain situated in the wild mountainous area between Upper

Loch Torridon Loch Torridon ( gd, Loch Thoirbheartan) is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland in the Northwest Highlands. The loch was created by glacial processes and is in total around 15 miles (25 km) long. It has two sections: Upper Loch Torridon ...

and Glen Carron, 25 kilometres north northeast of

Kyle of Lochalsh Kyle of Lochalsh (from the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic ''Caol Loch Aillse'', "strait of the foaming loch") is a village in the historic county of Ross-shire on the northwest coast of Scotland, located around west-southwest of Inverness. It is loca ...

. Beinn Damh is classed as a

Corbett Corbett may refer to: * List of Corbetts (mountains), 222 mountains in Scotland between , with prominence over * Corbett, Oregon, a community in the United States * Corbett Award, US award for athletics administrators * Corbett (surname), people w ...

reaching a height of 903 metres (2,962 feet) failing to qualify as a

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

by eleven metres, despite this it is a fine mountain with a four-kilometre-long undulating summit ridge with three tops, it has steep slopes and crags with its eastern face being especially dramatic with huge buttresses and cliffs. The mountain has the conspicuous “Stirrup Mark” just to the south west of the summit, this is a semi circular area of white

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

surrounded by grey rock which stands out when the mountain is viewed from the south west. The mountain's translated name of “Hill of the Stag” is apt because it stands in the middle of the Ben Damh

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

estate.

Ascent

The ascent of Beinn Damh starts from the Loch Torridon Hotel in

Torridon Torridon (Scottish Gaelic: ''Toirbheartan'') is a small village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. However the name is also applied to the area surrounding the village, particularly the Torridon Hills, mountains to the north of Glen Torrido ...

village on the A896 road at grid reference and follows the Allt Coire Roill for just over a kilometre, passing a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

, the path then divides, the right fork climbs to the summit ridge by the easier route up the corrie of Toll Bàn while the left fork carries on up the glen to a small

loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots and Irish language, Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is Cognate, cognate with the Manx language, Manx lough, Cornish language, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

an at the head of the glen and then climbs by the steep north eastern ridge which skirts the difficult eastern buttress and requires some awkward

scrambling Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. It is also used to describe terrain that falls between hiking and rock climbing (as a “scramb ...

in places to reach the highest point direct. Utilising both these routes, one for ascent, one for descent, gives a circuit of the mountain, with an out and back trip needed to climb the northern outlying top of Sgurr na Bana Mhoraire (687 metres), which is worth visiting for the fine views over

. The highest point of Beinn Damh lies at the southern end of the summit ridge and gives good views of nearby

Beinn Alligin Beinn Alligin ( gd, Beinn Àilleagan) is one of the classic mountains of the Torridon region of Scotland, lying to the north of Loch Torridon, in the Highlands. The name Beinn Alligin is from the Scottish Gaelic, meaning ''Jewelled Hill''. ...

Liathach Liathach (pronounced , ) is a mountain in the Torridon Hills, in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It stands between Loch Torridon and the neighbouring mountain Beinn Eighe. The mountain is a ridge running east–west, with several peaks, and i ...

and the

Applecross Applecross ( gd, A' Chomraich) is a peninsula north-west of Kyle of Lochalsh in the council area of Highland, Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1,300 years old and is ''not'' used locally to refer to the 19th century village (which is ...

hills as well as the Glen Carron

Munros A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

and

Corbetts This is a list of Corbett mountains in Scotland by height. Corbetts are defined as Scottish mountains between in height with a prominence over ; solely imperial measurement thresholds. The first list was compiled in the 1920s by John Rooke C ...

References

* ''The Corbetts and Other Scottish Hill'', (SMC Guide) * ''100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains'', Ralph Storer, * ''Climbing the Corbetts'', Hamish Brown, {{Coord, 57.492846, -5.518149, display=title Corbetts Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Northwest Highlands Torridon