Càrn Aosda is a Scottish mountain situated 12.5 km south of the town of

Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' prop ...

, in the county of

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

. It stands near the summit of the

Cairnwell Pass The Cairnwell Pass ( gd, Càrn a' Bhailg) is a mountain pass on the A93 road between Glen Shee, Perthshire, and Braemar, Aberdeenshire, in the Scottish Highlands. The border between the two counties crosses the summit of the pass. With a sum ...

on the

A93 road The A93 is a major road in Scotland and the highest public road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from Perth through Blairgowrie and Rattray, then through the Grampian Mountains by way of Glenshee, the Cairnwell Pass and Glen Clunie to Braem ...

, in the midst of the

Glenshee Ski Centre Glenshee Ski Centre is an alpine snowsports area in the Scottish Highlands. It is located above the Cairnwell Pass at the head of Glen Shee on either side of the A93 road between Blairgowrie and Braemar. Glenshee is Britain's largest alpine ...

Overview

Càrn Aosda reaches a height of 917 metres (3008 feet), at one point in time it had the honour of being the lowest of the

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 ...

s but more accurate mapping techniques have changed this and it is now the 279th ranked mountain in that classification.www.scottishsport.co.uk.
Gives Munros in height order. Càrn Aosda, along with the adjoining Munro of

The Cairnwell , photo = The Cairnwell (An Càrn Bhailg) (Cairngorm Mountains, Aberdeenshire, Scotland).JPG , photo_caption = The north-eastern side of ''The Cairnwell'' as seen from near ''Sron na Gaoithe''. , elevation_m = 933 , elevation_ref = , promi ...

, is regarded as the easiest of the Munros to ascend,"The Munros, Scotland‘s Highest Mountains" Pages 104 “The Cairnwell and Càrn Aosda are probably the most accessible Munros in the country“. this is because of the high starting altitude of over 640 metres at the ski centre and the easy walking conditions on rough vehicle tracks which lead directly to the summit. A fit hill walker can complete the 275 metre ascent from the centre car park in half an hour. Apart from being the easiest Munro, Càrn Aosda also has the reputation as being one of the most despoiled,"The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland" Page 144 “The commercial development on their slopes make these hills even less inviting than before“. with the mountain having

snow fence A snow fence, similar to a sand fence, is a barrier that forces windblown, drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place. They are primarily employed to minimize the amount of snowdrift on roadways and railways. Farmers and ranchers use snow fe ...

s, ski tow supports, huts and vehicle tracks right up to the summit as part of the Glenshee ski centre. The mountain has four

piste A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

s on its slopes, there is a run for beginners plus two for intermediate level on the easier slopes which go south from the summit into Butchart’s Corrie. There is a piste ranked as difficult on the steeper slopes of the eastern shoulder. There are also three towbar lifts on the southern slopes to service the ski runs one of which goes past the 900 metre mark to just a few metres from the summit.ski.visitscotland.com.
Map giving details of pistes and ski tows on mountain. The mountain's name translates from the

Scottish Gaelic language Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

as "Aged Hill/Cairn" with ''aosda'' meaning aged or ancient and most guide books carry this meaning."The Munros" Page 104 Gives translation as “Hill of Age“. However an alternative meaning has been put forward as “Hill of the Inn” derived from the word ''òsda'', in history there was an inn at the foot of the mountain at the Sean Spittal bridge where the Cairnwell Burn flows under the main Cairnwell pass road and this is could possibly have given the mountain its name."The Magic of the Munros" Page 94 Gives translation as “Hill of the Inn“.

Geography

Càrn Aosda throws out a four km long northern ridge which descends to the hamlet of Baddoch on the A93 road. Another shorter ridge goes NE and along with the north ridge encloses the Dubh- choire. Càrn Aosda's southern slopes descend into Butchart’s corrie which is drained by the headwaters of the Cairnwell Burn, the corrie is surprisingly unnamed on OS maps being well known by the skiing fraternity with two of the ski tows being named Butcharts access poma and Butcharts T Bar respectively. The easy inclined broad slopes which go south west from the summit descends to the 795 metre col at the head of Butchart’s corrie from here the neighbouring Munros of The Cairnwell and Càrn a' Gheòidh can be easily climbed. 200 metres west of the col is Loch Vrotachan, owned by the

Ballater Ballater (, gd, Bealadair) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, immediately east of the Cairngorm Mountains. Situated at an elevation of , Ballater is a centre for hikers and known for its spring water, once said to cure ...

Angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniqu ...

club this offers good

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

fishing at a height of 750 metres.www.wild-fishing-scotland.co.uk.
Gives details of fishing on Loch Vrotachan. The summit itself is made up of small light coloured

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 ...

rocks, giving the mountain a distinctive appearance. There are

twin summit A double summit, double peak, twin summit, or twin peak refers to a mountain or hill that has two summits, separated by a col or saddle. One well-known double summit is Austria’s highest mountain, the Großglockner, where the main summit of ...

bumps with the western top having a height of 903 metres while the true top lies 400 metres to the east and is marked by a small pile of quartzite boulders. Càrn Aosda very much belongs to the eastern half of Scotland and all drainage goes via Glen Clunie and the River Dee to reach the east coast at

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Ascents and view

Càrn Aosda is invariably climbed with one or both of the nearby Munros of The Cairnwell and Càrn a' Gheòidh. This walk offers the Munro bagger the opportunity of climbing three Munros with minimum effort. The walk starts at the ski centre car park and only involves 580 metres of climbing to ascend the three mountains from the col at the head of Butchart’s corrie; this can be done in three hours. A more aesthetically pleasing route for the mountain purist which avoids the ski area altogether begins on the A93 at the start of the track to Baddoch (grid reference ) and climbs the long north ridge to the summit. The view from the summit takes in the ski area to the south but in other directions there are excellent vistas of the mountains of the

Mounth The Mounth ( ) is the broad upland in northeast Scotland between the Highland Boundary and the River Dee, at the eastern end of the Grampians. Name and etymology The name ''Mounth'' is ultimately of Pictish origin. The name is derived from ' ...

and the

Cairngorms The Cairngorms ( gd, Am Monadh Ruadh) are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park (the Cairngorms National Park) on 1 S ...

."The Munros" Page 104 Gives some details of ascent from ski centre.

References

*''The Munros'', Donald Bennett (Editor) *''The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland'',

Irvine Butterfield Irvine Butterfield (1936–2009) was an environmentalist, hillwalker and author of several books about mountains and the outdoor environment who took a significant role in the running of organisations with such interests in Scotland. He was a go ...

, *''The Munros, Scotland's Highest Mountains'',

Cameron McNeish Cameron McNeish FRSGS is a Scottish wilderness hiker, backpacker and mountaineer who is an authority on outdoor pursuits. In this field he is best known as an author and broadcaster although he is also a magazine editor, lecturer and after dinn ...

, *''The Magic of the Munros, '', Irvine Butterfield, *''Hamish’s Mountain Walk'',

Hamish Brown Hamish Brown M.B.E. FRSGS is a professional writer, lecturer and photographer specialising in mountain and outdoor topics. He is best known for his walking exploits in the Scottish Highlands, having completed multiple rounds of the Munros and be ...

, Footnotes {{DEFAULTSORT:Carn Aosda Munros Mountains and hills of the Eastern Highlands Mountains and hills of Aberdeenshire Ski areas and resorts in Scotland