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ROUTE 14

Aonach Mor by Gondola and Stob an Cul Choire

Start	Gondola top station (NN 187 756)
Finish	Same, or gondola foot (NN 172 774)
Distance	13.5km/8½ miles (to gondola top finish)
Total ascent	850m/2800ft
Time	5½hr
Terrain	Pathless but comfortable, with a steep grass ascent to the plateau
Max altitude	Aonach Beag 1234m
Parking	Park at the Nevis Range bottom station and take the gondola up

Aonach Mor is odd as being the 4000er that wasn’t. When hills were measured imperially, Aonach Mor was 3999ft. It was only when they remeasured it in metric that it rose to 1221m, which is 4006ft. The names also are confused, in that Aonach Mor, the Big Ridge, is 13m lower than Aonach Beag, the Small Ridge. But in a sense they are both small hills, as the Nevis Range gondola lifts you up and over the unexciting spruce to visit two 4000-footers with a total climb of less than 3000ft. So it creates what is rare here, a real mountain walk in under 6 hours.

Mountain walks don’t have to be severe and strenuous, but they are supposed to be fun; and for me, up and down Aonach Mor under the ski tows isn’t. But there’s a splendid side-ridge where instead of looking up at dangling metalwork you look down from a great height on deer. Cul Choire is the Back Corrie, a name that invites any adventurous hill-goer.

Aonach Mor, from the Great Glen

See map in Route 13. Start underneath the Great Glen Chairlift out left, only very slightly uphill. (On some summer weekends you can ride this first kilometre of the walk as well.) Pass a café hut and carry on contouring into the valley of Allt Choille-rais. Cross the stream and slant left up the slope beyond onto the north ridge of Tom na Sroine. Go up the ridge, which becomes more defined with drops on the right. Across the valley is the black-run area of the Nevis Range ski slopes.

Cross the hummocky top of Tom na Sroine (918m, a Munro Top) and continue south along a pleasant ridge, with big drops now on the left to Allt Coire an Eoin. Schist (grey, flaky) interchanges with Nevis outer granite (rounded lumps, pinkish where unweathered). On the right, now, you are opposite the winter climbing ground of Coire an Lochan.

The ridge curves right – follow the crest or use a grass path down right – to a second Munro Top, Stob an Cul Choire. On the left now is the rocky face of Aonach Beag, with its classic North-East Ridge showing well (Diff, with pinnacles, popular in winter with those undiscouraged by the long walk in).

On Stob an Cul Choire, approaching Aonach Mor

A rocky but not difficult ridge leads down west to a col. The slope ahead looks intimidating but is OK. Fairly steep grass heads straight up towards a tower of reddish granite. Either head up this grass, or find some easy, scrappy scrambling (Grade 1) immediately to the right.

Once at the base of the reddish tower, head round to its right, then slant back up left to reach its top. Now a small zigzag path heads up the spurline, reaching the plateau about 50 metres east of the summit cairn on Aonach Mor.

SAFETY NOTE OF DESCENDING THIS ROUTE

The spur top is only visible from the plateau edge, so in mist take a bearing from Aonach Mor’s cairn or use the GPS reading: NN 1944 7295.

From the summit of Aonach Mor, a path runs south down the grassy plateau. Ignore a much smaller path soon forking off right (descent towards Bealach Giubhsachan, Route 13). The main path descends gently south to the narrow neck joining Aonach Mor to Aonach Beag. It heads on up through rocks, then becomes a scree path with drops on the left. At the slope top the drops are also ahead. Turn right alongside them, over stony ground without path, for 150 metres to the smallish cairn of Aonach Beag. There’s a very fine view across Carn Mor Dearg and its arête to Ben Nevis, which looks like a pointy crag mountain from here.

Return to Aonach Mor. Continue ahead with steep drops on your left, north to a very slight rise and then downhill roughly northwest. Pass the top of a ski tow and then of a chairlift. At a levelling at 650m, you reach a well-built path leading to Meall Beag just ahead. Meall Beag means, simply, Small Hump.

After visiting the viewpoint, you could head back along this path to the gondola top station. However, if the gondola has closed or you just fancy a stroll, from Meall Beag head on northwest down pathless ridge, zigzagging carefully down a steep descent, then heading down left to join a rough path alongside Allt Daim. It runs down to an intake, with a footway across a dam and a track beginning beyond.

The track recrosses the stream at another dam and enters forest. Immediately bear right and follow a track down northeast for 1km to another junction. Here turn left, curving downhill. The third turning left, a mountain-bike path, short-cuts a bend in the track. At its foot continue to a horizontal track below, where you turn right to the car park at the gondola foot. The mountain bike path under the gondola is closed to walkers during biking hours, and unattractive at any time.