One of the pleasures of scrambling is to climb a hill by linking together a number of routes, and there isn't a hill in Scotland more suited to this than Bidean nam Bian in Glen Coe. The individual routes may not have the 'climbing the whole mountain' feel of those on its neighbour the Buachaille but they are often sustained and on immaculate rock. Bidean is one of the most complex hills in the country and it has scrambles on most of its faces, so you can wind an intricate route through several corries and get a real feel for the mountain, racking up a couple of thousand feet of excellent scrambling in the process.
Coire an Lochain
Coire an Lochain has the highest concentration of scrambles on the hill and it's feasible to have a day that includes up to ten routes without going more than 3km from the car park. The mouth of the corrie is dominated by the climbing crags on the east face of Aonach Dubh, and the first scramble lies on the left side of these. Barn Wall is one of those routes on the boundary of Grade 3 and Moderate. It's technically quite easy for a graded climb but it's committing, exposed and the best line is easy to miss. Noel Williams gave it Grade 3 in the original Scrambles in Lochaber and I felt that was ok when I did it a few years later, but when we did it together for Highland Scrambles South both of us felt that the moves from the second big ledge were worth Moderate, as was the optional harder finish. I considered including the nearby Diff of Bowstring in the book as I had previously used it as a descent, but decided that it was much more of a climb, quite sustained at the grade and not that great a route anyway.
Pete Lamb on Barn Wall
Descending leftwards from the top of Barn Wall gets you to the foot of Far Eastern Buttress, which has good scrambles up both its edges. I prefer the right-hand one for its airy finish up the arete on big holds. Again it's a 'climbers scramble', though you can get it down to Grade 2 by avoiding the tricky start (good holds but angled oddly and not placed where you want them) and keeping left at the top. That means avoiding the best bit of the route though, and is still very exposed. The left-hand edge doesn't have anything as memorable on it but is enjoyable nonetheless.
Pete Lamb on Right Edge, Far Eastern Buttress
Left again a plate of slabs bars the way to the upper corrie. Noel's original route up the left side has lost some holds at the top of its steep start and is now quite hard, around V Diff. You can traverse in from the left just above this at Moderate but it's not that positive and right above a big drop into a gorge, quite scary stuff. There's an easier traverse in a bit higher up but then you lose the feel of climbing the whole feature. I've always found the right-hand side of the slabs a much more pleasant route, steepish to start, then easy padding.
Stob Coire nan Lochan. Summit Buttress on the left, the narrow Dorsal Arete central.
Ahead of you the upper corrie is backed by the towering face of Stob Coire nan Lochan and the obvious scrambling follow up is the broad Summit Buttress on the far left (one short awkward wall but otherwise easy). Those in search of a more comitting time can go for a summer ascent of the classic winter climb of Dorsal Arete. Most of this is fairly easy but the crucial arete pitch is wildly exposed and a memorable few moments. It's only Moderate in grade, but in the same way that the Inaccessible Pinnacle in Skye is! A few steep pulls up on big jugs lead to a grateful grasp of a huge spike and a sidle along the narrow crest past a couple of minor pinnacles, finishing with a much photographed 'walk in the sky'.
Nate Webb on Dorsal Arete
From the top of any of the scrambles in the lower corrie you can easily reach better routes than either of these though. Just head up rightwards to the saddle south of the summit of Aonach Dubh and descend 50m or so into the scree hollow at the top of Dinnertime Buttress. From here the lovely top section of A Minus Buttress is easily included as a brief diversion and is enormous fun on the scrambling/climbing boundary. Steepish slabs of very rough rhyolite are covered in pockets of all sizes and just plead with you to climb them.
Pete Lamb on A Minus Buttress
A short stroll along the terrace between the top two tiers of Aonach Dubh's West Face brings you to D Buttress and another 'climber's scramble'. It's technically easier than the top of A Minus but much more sustained and quite intimidating. From below you don't see the many ledges and it isn't obvious that a bit of jinking around makes it much easier than it looks. It gets quite exposed by the top but by that stage you've realised just how many ledges there are. The scary bit is 15m or so lower where things start to steepen and the top part still looks fairly monolithic. The holds are really positive though, the rock is excellent and it's a route that deserves to be much better known.
The author on D Buttress. Photo Pete Lamb
The more conventional way of getting to Aonach Dubh's west face is to come in from the bottom, of course. Dinnertime Buttress is a well known easy scramble, albeit one with a high accident rate as there are several places where a slip is likely to be fatal. The first time I set off to do it was on my first Yummick meet (Edinburgh University Mountaineering Club = EUMC = Yummick). I hadn't been to Glen Coe before and although I thought that Dinnertime was the buttress below the obvious skyline col I wasn't sure so asked the meet leader, Dave Hodgson. He said he thought that was it too but admitted that he wasn't sure either, so I asked another older climber who confidently pointed me off towards the far right-hand end of the face. A good lesson that the most certain person isn't always right. Dave later introduced me to my favourite camping place on the planet, but sadly was killed by lightning while prospecting for gold in West Africa. RIP Dave, a lovely bloke.
Aonach Dubh West Face
The best way of linking scrambles up the west face is to combine the bottom of B Buttress with the top of either D or F Buttresses. After the easy start you can either continue up a groove right of the main part of B or tiptoe along a narrow ledge and clamber up the gully below the soaring verticalities of E Buttress, home to the classic E1s of Trapeze, Big Top and Heehaw. Up right the top part of F Buttress breaks up into a series of ridges, the most prominent being Shrike Ridge (V Diff). The thinner ridge just left of this was the original finish described in Scrambles in Lochaber and was later named Archie's Ridge. It features a small pinnacle where you used to step across a gap but the landing block has now departed for sunnier climes below, leaving a tricky step down using loose flakes (Moderate). Since the rockfall I prefer to cut left slightly lower down and use the next ridge over at that point, and I think the D Buttress finish is better anyway.
The top of F Buttress, the route uses the left-hand of the twin aretes
From either finish a path runs along the cliff top to take you into Coire nam Beith. On the far side of this is Stob Coire nam Beith, a complex set of buttresses with a couple of intimidating scrambles. Number One Buttress is quite amorphous, with lots of route choices, some of them quite hard. I once got caught by a hailstorm on the original finish in an un-snowy February, which was memorably epic. That finish is quite intricate and serious and I prefer the knobbly rib to its left, where most scramblers will find crossing the arch at the bottom irresistible 🙂. I've also had a look at Zero Buttress (nothing to write home about but it salvaged something from a wet day) and Number Four Buttress, graded Easy in old guidebooks but which I had an epic failure on, finishing with a heart in mouth traverse across very steep vegetation to escape. I think the brown stuff on my trousers was mud 🙄.
Stob Coire nam Beith, Number 3 Buttress is right of the green area, Number 1 Buttress starts above the left edge of the lowest rocks on the left.
By far the best scramble on Stob Coire nam Beith is Number Three Buttress, which would be worth three stars if the direct start was a bit easier. Noel gave it Grade 3 in the original guide but it sparked a few epics and he warned me about it when I was putting together Highland Scrambles South. I think it's hardish V Diff, on excellent rock but exposed, sustained and on small holds that are far from obvious. There's no protection and E1 leaders have been known to find it tough, so I worked out a poorer but much easier start further left that comes in above the hard part of the slabs. Above this a steep prow commits you, then there is a short broken section in the gully to the left. This is easy but it's usually wet and needs care, there was a serious accident here not long ago. Once above this you get huge amounts of superb Grade 3 scrambling, with a narrow ledge slanting up around a steep tower the highlight. The moves leaving the ledge are juggy but wildly exposed and will be etched on your brain forever! Several hundred feet and a lot of grinning later you emerge on a scree terrace about two thirds of the way up the peak. If in need of more excitement you can cut left down this to curve back round and include Number One Buttress, or alternatively you can carry on straight up much easier broken rock direct to the summit. The summit of Bidean itself isn't far away.
Gearr Aonach, the Zigzags are on the left
Probably the most frequented scramble on the whole mountain is the Zigzags on Gearr Aonach, which look completely ridiculous from below. From the mouth of the Lost Valley it seems clear that anything going up the steep cliffs above will involve serious climbing, but following the ledges up is barely Grade 1. The route follows weaknesses formed by geological contact zones and these have led to an ongoing rockfall at their foot so make sure not to hang about at the start. From the first branch of the 'zig' a look round the corner gets you to a Grade 3 variation. It's very intimidating, a steep slab topped by a black vegetated overlap, but the slab has excellent holds and the overhang can be avoided by a hidden chimney. It was originally christened Easy Route by the early climbers, but both Noel and I thought it was inappropriate to call it that in a scrambling guide. As a result the two routes have grown a forest of names. The Zigzags are also known as The Snake and the harder line as The Ladder, The Nose or Easy Route. The Zigzags are often used for descent but are hard to find from above unless you've been up them before and know where you're going.
Joanne Schwartz on Gearr Aonach Zigzags
There are also scrambles on Beinn Fhada and Stob Coire Sgreamhach, which are arguably part of the Bidean massif, but these days Sgreamhach counts as a separate Munro and its best scramble Sron na Lairig tends to be done as a stand alone route. By contrast the scrambles further west link up easily to give a maze of options of all grades. This pick and mix approach gets the best out of the mountain and can give you a whole stack of great scrambling days.
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