Glamaig is the northernmost of the Red Hills on the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It lies immediately east of

Sligachan Sligachan ( gd, Sligeachan) is a small settlement on Skye, Scotland. It is close to the Cuillin mountains and provides a good viewpoint for seeing the Black Cuillin mountains. Amenities Sligachan is situated at the junction of the roads from Po ...

. It is one of only two

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 Co ...

on Skye. From many angles the hill resembles a perfect cone of

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...

, though it is linked to the rest of the Red Hills by way of a

bealach A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migrati ...

, the Bealach na Sgairde (pronounced ''b'ya-loch na skaar-st'ya''), meaning the pass of scree. In 1889, a

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...

named Harkabir Tharpa scaled Glamaig in 37 minutes; his total time for the round trip, starting and finishing at sea level in the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

of the Sligachan Inn was 55 minutes. Legend has it that he ran it in bare feet, and his record stood until the 1980s, despite being attempted by Olympians such as Chris Brasher in the 1950s. From Sligachan one route of ascent (whether

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

hillwalking Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultiv ...

) is simply to head up the scree aiming for the summit - this climb is very arduous, due to the unrelenting gradient and the slipperiness of the scree. Descent may be made by way of ascent; alternatively one may continue along the Red Cuillin ridge to take in other peaks to the south. A slightly less arduous (but longer) climb approaches the mountain from its eastern end at

Sconser Sconser ( gd, Sgonnsair) is a small crofting township on the island of Skye, in Scotland, situated on the south shore of Loch Sligachan. The main A87 road of Skye passes through Sconser and the ferry to Raasay departs from the pier. Less than ...

. Climb first to the secondary summit, An Coileach (The Cockerel), then follow the whaleback ridge to the primary summit, Sgurr Mhairi (Mary's Peak). Once An Coileach is reached at , the more-or-less level ridge allows some respite from the gradient, with a gentler ascent of the final to Sgurr Mhairi. From the summit there are excellent views of both the

Black Cuillin The Cuillin ( gd, An Cuiltheann) is a range of mostly jagged rocky mountains on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The main Cuillin ridge is also called the Black Cuillin to distinguish it from the Red Cuillin ('), which lie to the east of Glen Slig ...

and the Isle of

Raasay Raasay (; gd, Ratharsair) or the Isle of Raasay is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound. It is famous for being the birt ...

Glamaig Hill Race

Glamaig has been the site of an annual

hill race Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

since the 1980s. It begins and finishes at the Sligachan Hotel. While in distance terms a relatively short Category S race covering a distance of 7 km, with 775m of ascent it falls into a Category A climb, and is one of the more challenging races on the Scottish circuit.

External links

Route of ascent on Walk Highlands

Ascent route from Sconser on The Skye Guide

Details of the Glamaig Hill Race
{{coord, 57.29361, -6.12787, type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NG514301), display=title Corbetts Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Isle of Skye