The Ring of Steall

Ring of Steall (Mamores)

The Mamores are a collection of ten Munros, linked together by a ridge which rarely falls below the 2500ft contour. Until earlier this year the ridge was classified as having eleven Munros, but Sgor an Iubhair was demoted back to Top status. The traverse of the full ridge is a superb and fairly difficult undertaking involving 9500ft of ascent over the 21 mile circuit from Glen Nevis. Doing the whole ridge requires a good level of stamina, as I found out earlier this year, when fellow club member Gary Robertson and myself spent a wet and windy 13 hours traversing the ridge. The last two Munro's Sgurr Eilde Mor and Binnein Beag have large drops and rises between them. 'Ball breakers' is the best term, and made all the worse when your feet are on fire, because you forgot to put the insoles in your boots. The sense of achievement on reaching the final summit was made all the better when the cloud broke and the sun came out. We were happy at our time in appalling conditions - the record however stands at 7hrs 2mins by Colin Donnelly on the 1st July 1980 (I believe he remembered his insoles).

The Devils Ridge and Sgurr a'Mhaim from Stob Coire a'Chairn

Colin Donnelly's achievement was outdone by Adrian Belton's round of 28 Munro's in 23hrs 57mins on June 1-2 1991. Setting off from Fersit Dam at 9am in glorious sunshine they crossed The Eassian's, The Grey Corries, The Aonachs, Carn Mor Dearg, Ben Nevis and the Mamores in a little over 13hrs (21 Munros). Lots of water, food, sun cream and tons of encouragement from his team of pacers ensured he reached this far. The real challenge lay ahead now in the shape of the night time section. They ran down to Loch Ossian Youth Hostel from Sgurr Elide Mor in worsening conditions and with some injuries picked up on route. Beyond the two Loch Ossian Munros the weather became abysmal and Adrian admitted that were it not for his team he would have given up. The idea of adding Carn Dearg (above Culra Bothy) was abandoned but his team coaxed him over Cnoc Dearg and Stob Coire Sgriodain and back to Fersit Dam in just under 24hrs. This is what you call an epic day out and our admiration goes out to the sheer endurance needed to undertake such a challenge.

The page was going to describe traversing the whole Mamores ridge in one go, but that wet day in May only produced a few pictures at the start and finish of the ridge. My camera was wrapped up inside the rucksack as it rained for the remainder of the route. Luckily I had some pictures of the central part of the ridge known, as The Ring of Steall, from a previous outing in the Mamores - and so this will be the route description. This part of the Mamores is the best part and will allow a more relaxed outing than Adrian Belton's 'Big 28'.

Ring of Steall - Facts and Figures

Distance : 9 miles

Total Ascent : 4900 ft

Time : 7 hrs

Route Grading : One of the most interesting routes in the area, with some fine airy section of ridge. A superb winter outing, but not for novices, when the paths on the narrower sections disappear under snow and ice.

Accommodation : Youth Hostel in Glen Nevis. Campsite in Glen Nevis. Hotels in Fort William and through out Glen Spean. Club Huts - Steall Hut in Glen Nevis (Lochaber JMCS), CIC Hut located in the Allt a Mhuillin Glen below Ben Nevis (SMC).

**Summits Visited In Our Route**
Gaelic Name	Translation	Height (ft)	Height (m)	Status
Sgurr a Mhaim	Peak of the Brest	3601ft	1098m	Munro
Stob Coire a'Mhail	Peak of the Corrie of the Rent	3250ft	991m	Top
Sgor an Iubhair	Peak of the Yew (Tree)	3284ft	1001m	Top
Am Bodach	The Old Man	3382ft	1034m	Munro
Stob Coire a'Chairn	Peak of the Corrie of the Cairns	3219ft	983m	Munro
An Garbhanach	The Rough Ridge	3206ft	975m	Top
An Gearanach	The Short Ridge	3230ft	985m	Munro

**Maps**
Publisher	Scale	Title / No
Ordnance Survey	1:50000	Sheet 41
Ordnance Survey	1:63360	Ben Nevis & Glen Coe
Bartholomew's	1:100000	Sheets 48,50 & 51

The best place to start this route is at the end of the minor road that runs the length of Glen Nevis from Fort William. Arrive early is my advice particularly in summer, as the car park gets busy with walkers and tourists. A path leads from the car park and hugs the splendid Nevis Gorge in what was described by W.H. Murray as Scotland's Finest half mile. The River Nevis is a tremendous tumbling torrent below us and in winter when iced up this path can be a nightmare. After this half mile we come out into a flatter grassy plain in the middle of this mountain sanctuary, behind which lies the 300ft Steall Waterfall. This waterfall tumbles out from Coire A'Mhail which happens to be the coire that we shall walk around on this route. Cross the river further up by means of the three wire bridge near the Steall Hut.

Now the climb begins up through trees and crags (Tarzan style at some points) towards the north east ridge of Sgurr a'Mhaim. Once height is gained we begin to see right down Glen Nevis towards the Aonachs and the Grey Corries. The wide ridge continues upwards towards the lofty summit of Sgurr a'Mhaim. This is superb summit with glimpses of hills in all directions and most notably northwards where Ben Nevis's huge bulk dominates the other side of the glen.

A steep descent leads downward towards The Devil's Ridge or Stob Coire a Mhail, it is about half way down that the ridge shows it's best profile of its classic shape. The crossing of the ridge is actually fairly simple despite the fearsome name, although it does of course become rather more sporting in winter, particularly at the narrowest part where the summer path is likely to be obliterated with snow and ice. A short rise and fall soon leads onwards to Sgor an Iubhair which was previously listed as a Munro.

An Garbhanach, Stob Coire a'Chairn and Am Bodach from An Gearnach

Am Bodach is our next Munro and sits at a cross roads of the ridge and is the best point for a view of the whole ridge. A steep and highly eroded descent (care required) leads us down to the next col. A short climb up to a minor summit is followed by another rise that leads us to Stob Coire a Chairn which is our third Munro of the day. Looking across Coire a'Mhail the Devils Ridge and Sgurr a'Mhaim seem a long way back and the scale of the place is fantastic. On descending from this Munro our attention is now drawn to our next objective An Garbhanach which looks quite spectacular. The climb up is fairly simple if the path is followed, but the more sporting hillgoer will enjoy scrambling up the rocks that form the crest of the ridge. On the top this crest forms a nice arête which has some cheeky drops either side, this can be bypassed on the right by a worn path. In winter however as with the Devils Ridge the crest is probably the best option as the path will be banked out in snow and ice. An Gearanach follows after the ridge widens again and a fine stalkers path can be followed for most of the way back down into Glen Nevis. All that now remains is for the river to be crossed and the fine walk back along the path above the Nevis Gorge back to the car park.