Sròn a’ Choire Ghairbh is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

mountain situated on the northern side of

Loch Lochy Loch Lochy () is a large freshwater loch in Lochaber, Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland. With a mean depth of , it is the third-deepest loch of Scotland. Geography Located southwest of Loch Ness along the Glen Albyn, Great Glen, the lo ...

, 13 kilometres north of

Spean Bridge Spean Bridge () is a village in the parish of Kilmonivaig, in Lochaber in the Highland region of Scotland. The village takes its name from the Highbridge over the River Spean on General Wade's military road between Fort William and Fort A ...

in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

Council area.

Overview

Sròn a’ Choire Ghairbh reaches a height of 937 metres (3074 feet) and is classified as both 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 ...

and a Marilyn. It is highest of the Loch Lochy hills and is invariably climbed along with the neighbouring Munro of Meall na Teanga to which it is joined by the distinctive

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 ...

of Càm Bhealach. Both these hills which are often referred to as the Loch Lochy Munros are well seen from the A82 road on the opposite side of the loch, showing steep slopes which are forested below the 300 metre contour. There are also extensive conifer plantings on the lower northern (Glen Garry) side of the mountain, this is gradually being restored to native species.Forestry Commission website.
Gives details on Glen Garry Forest. The hill'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 ''The Nose of the Rough Corrie'',"The Munros" Page 146 (Gives translation). referring to the summit's location on the edge of the craggy Coire Glas, which stands to the east.

Geography

Sròn a’ Choire Ghairbh’s main geographical feature is the Coire Glas which has the small

Loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

a’ Choire Ghlais within its upper recesses. The mountain is horseshoe shaped and throws down two ridges on either side of the corrie, the lengthy east ridge is five kilometres long and goes over the two subsidiary tops of Sean Mheall (888 metres) and Meall nan Dearcag (693 metres) before descending to the Kilfinnan Burn at the north end of Loch Lochy. Another ridge called Meall a’ Choire Ghlais goes north and then north east along the other side of Coire Glas, it loses very little height for two kilometres before descending steeply and rockily to the Bealach Easain (548 metres) which connects it to the Corbett Ben Tee. In all other directions the mountain is steep and grassy, to the south lies Càm Bhealach, a mountain pass between Sròn a’ Choire Ghairbh and the Munro Meall na Teanga. Càm Bhealach is seen as a distinct notch in the skyline between the two Munros whether viewed from the east or the west. To the north is the small Coire an Eich which drains north into Glen Garry to find its way to the sea at the east coast via

Loch Oich Loch Oich (; ) is a freshwater loch in the Highlands of Scotland which forms part of the Caledonian Canal, of which it is the highest point. This narrow loch lies between Loch Ness (to the north-east) and Loch Lochy (to the south-west) in the G ...

and

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

. Sròn a’ Choire Ghairbh is on the main east-west

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

of Scotland with rainfall on all other parts of the hill going to the west coast via

and

Loch Linnhe Loch Linnhe ( ) is a sea loch in the Highland Council area, in the west of Scotland. The part upstream of Corran is known in Gaelic as (the black pool, originally known as Loch Abar), and downstream as (the salty pool). The name ''Linnhe ...

. A 1.5 GW

pumped-storage hydroelectricity Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing (electrical power), load balancing. A PSH system stores energy i ...

project storing 24 hours of power is planned to connect Coire Glas with Loch Lochy.

Ascents

Sròn a’ Choire Ghairbh is nearly always climbed from Càm Bhealach, however there are two possible ways of arriving there. The southern approach starts at the car park at the Eas Cia-aig waterfall on the B8005 at grid reference , Gleann Cia-aig is ascended to its head where Càm Bhealach is clearly in view."The Munros" Page 146 (Gives ascent from Glen Cia-aig). The approach from the north east starts at the car park at Laggan Locks just off the A82 at grid reference and takes the rising track through the forest on Loch Lochy’s northern side to reach Càm Bhealach."The Munros" Page 141 (Gives route from Laggan Locks). The continuation to the summit from Càm Bhealach follows a very good stalkers path which zig zags up the mountainside to the highest point which overlooks Coire Glas. The mountain has a substantial

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

of 622 metres ensuring that the summit is a fine viewpoint for the surrounding mountains of

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

and beyond. Sròn a’ Choire Ghairbh is one of the few hills in Scotland that has a visitors book at its summit ( Mam Sodhail being one of the others). The book is kept in a coffee jar inside a wooden box and is maintained by Richard Wood of Invergarry. Glasgow Digital Library.
Gives details of summit visitors book. The two Loch Lochy Munros are sometimes climbed by travellers on the

Great Glen Way The Great Glen Way () is a long distance path in Scotland. It follows the Great Glen, running from Fort William in the southwest to Inverness in the northeast, covering . It was opened in 2002, and is designated as one of Scotland's Great Tr ...

between Fort William and

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

, the two hills offering variety on what is a low level multi day walk.

References and footnotes

* The Munros, Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 1986, Donald Bennet (Editor) * The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland, Diadem, 1993,

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 ...

, * Hamish’s Mountain Walk, Baton Wicks, 1996, Hamish Brown, * The Munro - Scotland's Highest Mountains, 2006, Cameron McNeish, Footnotes {{DEFAULTSORT:Sron A' Choire Ghairbh Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Northwest Highlands