Description

This is a great 'bang for your buck' ski tour in the remote Scottish Highlands. With wide open grassy slopes it's ideal for early season shark-avoidance adventures, wilderness lovers and/or newbie ski tourers looking to bag a Munro in the magnificent Northwest of Scotland. Park in the Achnasheen station car park then walk back up to the main road, cross over and follow the signs for Walkers Path. We suggest climbing over the gate and ascending on the left hand side of the burn as the land rover track is easier for skinning/walking than the deep heather on the other side.

Bear in mind that this may not go down well with the farmer depending on the time of year you are there! After about 400m of skinning you will reach the dam on the plateau at which point the main summit should become visible - in good weather. Head in a northeasterly direction into the bowl, keeping the stream line on your left before beginning to traverse round to the northwest at around 700m in the direction of the summit itself. The summit ridge begins at around 850m so you will need to make sure you begin your NW traverse before this point.

In poor visibility navigation will be key to avoiding the cornices and steep cliffs that lie on the other side of the ridge. Once at the top make sure you stop and take in the surroundings.

On a good day you'll be treated to spectacular panoramic views of iconic Scottish summits including the majestic Slioch and An Teallach.

From here you can choose to simply descend from whence you came or do laps off the summit in a variety of directions.

If you're lucky then you will find excellent snow on the easy angle north facing slopes which definitely merit a few bonus laps.

The lower slopes can a bit lacking in coverage and/or crusty so be prepared for a bit of 'whacky races' on your way back to the car. You've definitely earned a cup of tea and a scone so consider popping along to the rather grand looking Ledgowan Hotel where you're likely to see stags just wandering around in the garden!