Ben More-than-you-bargain-for
Its taken 3 visits to Mull to finally bag this one but it was worth the
wait. In a sense I'm a bit of a fair weather bagger in that I really
don't see the point of climbing a hill if the view from the top is
unavailable so finding a suitable window of opportunity in the 3rd
wettest spot in the UK can be problematic and requires patience. Last
Monday, however we got our chance and myself, the missus Jane and
brother in law Alex made the journey to the south shore of Loch Na
Keal, just East of Dhiseig fron where the ascent starts.
We were immediately struck by how wet the approach was. Were this a
maindland Munro then I have no doubt whatsoever that this route would
be nowt more than a morasse of brown porridge but the relatively few
visitors means that for the most part it is intact bog and makes for
interesting walking. It's a fairly wearying couple of miles from the
road before the wetness abates and you ascend a broad grassy slope to
reach a 1000ft col between the main massif of Ben More and its
neighbour, Beinn Fadha and the view south immediately reveals one of
the reasons why Mull is such a great place, with a clutch of beautiful
hills, deeply dissected by quiet and remote valleys.
Turning West from the col there is a comfortable, stoney ascent which
leads to the abrupt and exciting A'Chioch, which sits on the main ridge
like some absurd shark's fin. The leading edge ascends at in excess of
forty degrees and consists of a series of rock steps, some requiring
hands on, with a fair bit of airyness on both sides. Not one to do on a
wet and blustery day. The summit of the A'Chioch is reached in
short-shrift revealing the next lef of the walk which involves the
traverse of a very narrow blade-like ridge, so regularly serrated that
it could be a giant saw. This leads to a higly exposed and steep arete
that leads directly to the summit. The immediate ridge line is for
masochists and highly skilled mountain climbers and there is a
comfortable if airy path that skirts its Southern flank. This path also
avoids the arete and makes its way to the summit by way of a very
curious if well-worn path that works its way up the southern and highly
precipitous flank of the summit pyramid. Only marginally less exposed
than the arete itself the path works its way up a series of rock steps
and chimneys, which in my estimation go at grade 3+ in places, to
emerge in a rather bowel-loosening fashion at a point on the arete some
one hundred feet below the summit. There is an airy moment when you
step from the top of the chimney back into the southern flank before a
few more rock steps bring you abruptly to the summit.
This ascent pushed the edges of my comfort zone at a few points and was
a very satisfying bag. I would not have been happy to do it in either
wet or windy conditions. The dry rock was wonderful to climb and there
was just enough exposure to make it feel like a significant
achievement, perhaps not in climbing terms, where I am comfortable to
perhaps HVS 5B/C but with 3+ scrambles and no protection there is a
good balance between adrenalin and fear.
The view fron the summit is wonderful. To the north west the hills of
South Uist poke out of the sea while Coll and Tiree seemed close enough
to touch. In the north Rum and Skye dominate and beyond these the
Torridon hills dominate the skyline. Further inland Rosven and Resipol
are obvious while beyond Morven the hills of the Great Glen can be
glimpsed. Much of the Mamores was under rain at this time but the Glen
Coe hills were obvious. Turning to the south many of the hills around
Rannoch Moor and Cruachan were there while away in the distance the
hills of Arrochar were obvious while finally, in the south west the
Paps of Jura beckoned. Another day for these I think.
The descent is long. A well-worn, gravelly track descends the northern
flank of the summit pyramid and this gradually gives way to the now
farmiliar bog. A trackless and difficult traverse around the northern
flank of the hill brought us back to the car.
Top hill.
Chris