Sgùrr nan Ceathreamhnan () is a mountain in the

Northwest Highlands The Northwest Highlands are located in the northern third of Scotland that is separated from the Grampian Mountains by the Great Glen (Glen More). The region comprises Wester Ross, Assynt, Sutherland and part of Caithness. The Caledonian Canal, ...

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 between

Glen Affric Glen Affric ( gd, Gleann Afraig) is a glen south-west of the village of Cannich in the Highland region of Scotland, some west of Loch Ness. The River Affric runs along its length, passing through Loch Affric and Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin. A minor ...

and Glen Elchaig, some 30 kilometres east 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 ...

. With a height of it is classed 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 ...

and ranked as the third highest mountain north of the

Great Glen The Great Glen ( gd, An Gleann Mòr ), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic "Glen of Scotland" ) or Glen More (from the Gaelic ), is a glen in Scotland running for from Inverness on the edge of Moray Firth, in an approximately straight ...

(after Carn Eighe and

Mam Sodhail Mam Sodhail or Màm Sabhail (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic), sometimes anglicised "Mam Soul", is a mountain with a height of in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Classed as a Munro, it is beside Carn Eige in the secluded country on the nort ...

Geography

E.J. Yeaman in his ''Handbook of the Scottish Hills'' deems Ceathreamhnan the fourth-most difficult Scottish Munro to climb, taking into account its remoteness and its height. It is a massive mountain which covers 24 square miles (62 square km) and stands many kilometres from the nearest public road, it has a tent like appearance and throws down many long ridges to the valleys. It has five subsidiary “tops”, three of these stand on the northern ridge, they are Stuc Bheag (1075 metres), Stuc Mòr (1041 metres) and Stob Fraoch Choire (918 metres). The Western Top (1143 metres) is also regarded as a "top". Stob Coire na Cloiche (915 metres) on the eastern ridge was removed as a Munro Top. In addition to this Sgùrr nan Ceathreamhnan has three tops which have been deleted from the list over the years, making a total of eight distinct summits on the mountain in addition to the highest point. Its outlier to the north east, Mullach na Dheiragain, is regarded as a separate Munro. The

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

name means "peak of the quarters", referring to the large amount of land it divides with its ridges. Sgùrr nan Ceathreamhnan’s summit has twin peaks linked by a curving ridge with the western pinnacle lying 500 metres away from the highest point and reaching 1143 metres in height. There is a small amount of scrambling involved in traversing between the two summits.

Ascents

The ascent of Sgùrr nan Ceathreamhnan is a major undertaking best done during the long hours of summer daylight. The shortest approach is from the Alltbeithe youth hostel in upper Glen Affric at grid reference 3.5 kilometres south of the summit; however, it is a major undertaking just to get to the hostel, with long walks in from

Loch Cluanie Loch Cluanie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Cluanaidh'') is a loch in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland at the south-east end of Glen Shiel. It is a reservoir, contained behind the Cluanie Dam, constructed by Mitchell Construction and completed in 19 ...

to the south or from the road end in Glen Affric. It is also possible to start walking from Iron Lodge in Glen Elchaig but a bicycle is needed to travel up the estate road, another approach starts from the car park in Strath Croe. From the Alltbeithe hostel the ascent goes north up a stalkers path to the col between Sgùrr nan Ceathreamhnan and An Socach - the latter a minor Munro which can be easily "bagged" on the way to Ceathreamhnan’s summit with little extra effort. The view from the summit is one of remote mountainous country, although with the help of binoculars it is possible to see

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

and the

Kessock Bridge The Kessock Bridge ( gd, Drochaid Cheasaig) carries the A9 road (Great Britain), A9 trunk road across the Beauly Firth at Inverness, Scotland. Description The Kessock Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Beauly Firth, an inlet of the Mor ...

, over 70 kilometres away to the east.

References

* ''Handbook of the Scottish Hills'', E.J. Yeaman, * ''The Munros (SMC Guide)'', Donald Bennet et al., * ''100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains'', Ralph Storer, * ''Hamish’s Mountain Walk'', Hamish Brown,

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sgurr Nan Ceathramhnan Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Northwest Highlands One-thousanders of the British Isles

Geography

Ascents

See also

References

Footnotes