Scrambling The N. Buttress of The Buachaille
Getting a couple of days off from work allowed me to go play in the hills and what better excuse than having a new tent? So I packed up the Mini and thundered north in search of hills, rocks and adventure. Not being the most imaginative soul this lead me to Glen Coe; at around four hours drive and with good access to the hills it seemed perfect for a pre-nights chill.
Arriving in the evening my continued lack of imagination sent me down Glen Etive in search of a wild camping spot along with every other outdoors-type in Scotland. However after very easily popping up the tent (See AlpKit Kangri initial review here: goo.gl/B8Kk5v) a swim rewarded my efforts and helped along a pleasant nights sleep.
Time to actually think: which route?! I really fancied a scramble so the old Cicerone, Scrambles in Lochaber book came out and I whittled my routes down to a couple on Buachaille Etive Mòr. The final choice was North Butress because I knew the walk-in well, didn't want a long day, but wanted a longish route and finally wanted to go as light as possible (Warning: a choice I made coming up made a few people I know very grumpy).
The route is easiest approached from the A82 at Altnafeadh where The West Highland Way sets off north. The walk-in takes you past the excellent Lagangarbh Hut (SMC) and spears off towards the climbing on the easterly side of the mountain along a decent path. The line is easily spotted and the buttress is gained after a romp through not too much heather.
Any difficulty appears from about half way up. There are a few spots of exposed scrambling where a confidence rope would definitely help a more nervous walker / scrambler. Generally the line is easy to find and can be tailored to the individual's taste in exposure / difficulty. The line I took probably attracted a Diff grade in the worst spots, but there were solid holds and ground throughout. The exposure is quite high for a grade II route owing to the sheer height and nature of the buttress overlooking Annoch Moor. To me this is one of the good points of the route though and gives it a peasant Alpine feel. In fact this would be a nice practice route for people wanting to sharpen their
skills for a trip to the pointy place.
All in all the North Buttress proved to be a good choice: I got to the top in a similar time to how I'd fare on the tourist route and had a pleasant clamber getting there. As a result the whole day was <3 hours and just right before the drive back! Incidentally this is where my Salewa Repace boots died.
So why were my mates upset you ask? Well, as the last picture shows, I chose the no-helmet option. This was an active choice: I was going mid-week on a quiet route where my intel' told me there was little loose rock. To me the reason to wear a helmet is to protect your head (no shit Sherlock) and in a mountain situation, while solo, the biggest threat is stuff hitting you rather than you falling off. In the case of the first point I would have been wearing one on a bank holiday with a friend or two (especially if taking a rope). For the latter issue the answer is again pragmatic: a fall on this route while alone was likely to lead to far worse an injury than a helmet would help with. It may have been helpful to reduce the amount of crap I got for it though. Ah well each to their own: I would say if you want one then take it, if you don't just make sure you've thought about it and have a good reason that you are happy with.