There are a few options for reaching the summit of the Corbett Buidhe Bheinn. Many people choose the shorter route from Kinlochhourn, although this would have entailed a longer drive for my friend David P and I from Inverness. Instead, we chose a shorter drive to Glen Shiel and a longer route of some 17km and 1600m of ascent. Another way to reach the Corbett is after a long outing on the South Glen Shiel Ridge. Our route headed up – and then down again – the corrie at the northern end of the South Glen Shiel ridge.
A very steep up
A sudden dump of snow during mid March and some low-hanging cloud and coastal mist gave this outing more drama than we might have experienced in summer. We started from a layby on the A87, where most people finish the South Glen Shiel Ridge walk.
After a false start, tramping over a short section of very boggy land, we retraced our footsteps and found a more obvious path uphill and heading south. The first part is lower level and fairly runnable as we skirted the bank of a burn, Allt Mhalagain, but after this, the going became steeper and steeper.
There was very little snow at lower elevation although the ground was very soggy. The cloud shrouded the mountain higher up so for the first hour or so we had some (limited) views of the corrie.
David and I aimed to move quickly and soon warmed up despite the damp and chilly weather. We ran where we could and hiked fast where the gradient became less favourable for running.
Be warned, though, as the first three kilometres or so are almost relentlessly steep. Thankfully, David and I are quite well matched on the climbs and we always have plenty to chat about so the time passed quickly.
From Bealach Duibh at around 730m elevation the gradient eased a little and we headed more westerly to reach Sgùrr a’ Bhac Chaolais. In times past, this summit was classed as the Corbett but in 2012, a GPS-based survey proclaimed that Buidhe Bheinn was higher and was therefore the Corbett and not Sgùrr a’ Bhac Chaolais. David and I decided to detour to the “lesser” Corbett anyway. Both summits are marked wiht a height of 885m on OS maps but they are not the same height.
From here, came a very long and undulating run-hike along the ridge heading south and then arcing west. I lost count of the number of ups and downs and because visibility was quite poor it was hard to keep track of our aim.
We finally reached the highest point on Buidhe Bheinn, also marked on the OS map as 885m elevation. Many people would turn around to retrace their steps at this point but David loves a ridge and he was keen
to carry on to the end point before we about turned.
I was happy to oblige, although it was disappointing not to experience the far-reaching views that so many route descriptions detail. I guess you can’t be a weather winner all of the time and David and I enjoyed other aspects of the adventure, including a real sense of being remote, solitude and the rewards of a big adventure.
Return route from Buidhe Bheinn ridge
Once we made it to the ridge end, we turned around and followed almost exactly the the same route in reverse. The only difference was we missed out the lesser Corbett summit.
The descent back down the corrie from the ridge to the roadside felt quite punishing on my leg muscles. Again, we ran what we could and walked the rest. David is much more confident at trotting speedily downhill over rocks and rough terrain, whereas I prefer to take my time and ensure I do not roll my ankles.
We made it back to our vehicle in about 5.5 hours.
Route details: Corbett Buidhe Bheinn from Glen Shiel
Distance: 17km
Elevation total: 1600m