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 Cana ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Its height is , making it 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 Nevi ...

. It lies eight kilometres south of Shiel Bridge in the Glenshiel Forest, between

Glen Shiel Glen Shiel (; also known as Glenshiel) is a glen in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The glen runs approximately from southeast to northwest, from the Cluanie Inn () at the western end of Loch Cluanie and the start of Glenmoriston to se ...

and

Loch Hourn Loch Hourn () is a sea loch which separates the peninsulas of Glenelg, Highland, Glenelg to the north and Knoydart to the south, on the west coast of Scotland. Geography Loch Hourn runs inland from the Sound of Sleat, opposite the island of Skye ...

Overview

Sgùrr na Sgine is a

and Marilyn with a height of 946 metres (3104 feet). Though a fine mountain in its own right, it is overshadowed by its near neighbour

The Saddle The Saddle () is one of the great Scottish mountains; seen from the site of the Battle of Glen Shiel it forms (with Faochag) one of the best-known views in the Highlands. It is in the Highland local government area, on the boundary between ...

, regarded as one of the finest mountains in Scotland. Sgùrr na Sgine is not well seen from the A87 road to the north east. The best view from valley level is from the remote country to the south west. It looks particularly fine from the top of the Mam Barrisdale pass from where it takes on a more dramatic appearance than The Saddle.Hamish Brown, ''Hamish's Mountain Walk'' p.214. Details of view from Mam Barrisdale. The mountain's name translates from the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

as "Peak of the Knife". This is thought to refer to a wall of rock beneath the summit on its eastern flank which takes on a blade like appearance from some angles. Irvine Butterfield, ''The Magic Of The Munros'' p.134. Gives details of name translation.

Geography

Sgùrr na Sgine has a subsidiary Top along its north eastern ridge called Faochag (The

Whelk Whelks are any of several carnivorous sea snail species with a swirling, tapered shell. Many are eaten by humans, such as the common whelk of the North Atlantic. Most whelks belong to the family Buccinidae and are known as "true whelks." Othe ...

) which reaches a height of 909 metres. The peak, which is seen as a sharp distinctive cone, alongside The Saddle when viewed from the

A87 road The A87 is a major road in the Highland region of Scotland. It runs west from its junction with the A82 road at Invergarry (), along the north shores of Loch Garry and Loch Cluanie, then down through Glen Shiel and along Loch Duich to Kyle ...

at the

Battle of Glen Shiel The Battle of Glen Shiel took place on 10 June 1719 in the Scottish Highlands, during the Jacobite rising of 1719. A Jacobitism, Jacobite army composed of Highland levies and Spanish Marine Infantry, Spanish marines was defeated by British gover ...

site (grid reference ) in what is regarded as a classic mountain view. Faochog was for many years classified as a “Top” in Munro's Tables before being deleted in 1974 when remapping showed it to have insufficient height.The Munros and Tops 1891-1997.
Spreadsheet giving details of successive changes to Munro's Tables. It is now a Corbett Top with 62 metres prominence. Sgùrr na Sgine's steep, narrow north ridge has been christened “Concorde Ridge” by famed Scottish hill walker

Hamish Brown Hamish Brown Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. Royal Scottish Geographical Society, 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 ...

after he and a companion were startled by a vast flock of terrified

ptarmigan ''Lagopus'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans (). The genus contains four living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas. Taxonomy and etymology The genus ''L ...

when descending in winter conditions.Hamish Brown, ''Hamish's Mountain Walk'' p.246. Details of Concorde Ridge incident. The cliffs to the east of the summit are more precipitous than shown on the map and a direct descent should not be attempted to the

Bealach A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migration throughout history ...

a Toiteil. Walkers should contour round the side of the cliffs to reach the bealach which connects the mountain to the Corbett Sgùrr a'Bhac Chaolais.

Ascents and summit

Sgùrr na Sgine is usually climbed with The Saddle to which it is joined by a

col A col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; a mountain pass or saddle. COL, CoL or col may also refer to: Computers * Caldera OpenLinux, a defunct Linux distribution * , an HTML element specifying a column * A collision sig ...

, the Bealach Coire Mhalagain, at 699 metres. The mountain can be climbed as an extension of the South Cluanie ridge, a line of seven Munros south of the Glen Shiel road, but this makes for a long, hard day in the hills. A direct ascent of Sgùrr na Sgine is possible from Achnangart Farm (grid reference ) in Glen Shiel, almost at sea level, giving a hard climb up the grassy slopes of the north east ridge to Faochag. From there the gradient eases considerably giving an easier walk to the summit plateau, though with a rocky scramble up Concorde Ridge. A circuit of Coire Toteil can be completed by continuing from the summit to take in the Corbett Sgùrr a'Bhac Chaolais before descending to Glen Shiel. The top of the mountain has two high points. The North West Top has a height of 942 metres and is a Munro Top. The Munro is a further 300 metres south east and 4 metres higher. From the summit there is an excellent prospect northwards to the Forcan Ridge on The Saddle. The Kintail Forest Munros are seen to the north east and the remote area of

Knoydart Knoydart () is a peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, on the west coast of Scotland. Knoydart is sandwiched between Lochs Nevis and Hourn — often translated as "Loch Heaven" (from the Gaelic ''Loch Néimh'') and "Loch Hell" (Gaelic: ''Loch ...

is seen to the south west.

References

External links

* ''The Munros (SMC Guide)'' Donald Bennett et al., * ''Hamish’s Mountain Walk'',

, * ''The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland'', Irvine Butterfield, * ''The Magic Of The Munros'', Irvine Butterfield, {{DEFAULTSORT:Sgurr Na Sgine Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Northwest Highlands