Icy plateau and notched ridge. “Do you like notches?”  I asked, “Well – here’s another one!”   By that stage Simon and I had rather had enough of notches and this was turning out to be a very long mountain – Beinn Fhada, in fact. The name means “Long Mountain”. We had worked our way up by the Bealach route in Gleann Chòinneachain And turned onto the stalker's path into Coire na Sgine. This is a good path but had the habit of losing height instead of gaining it. At one point it actually

What's a QMD?  Have a look at the page on this site with the official description. If you want to know what they are like on the ground, read on...    Mr. Candidate decided to take me up Sgurr Mhic Bharraich in Kintail in mid-January. Why there? He had looked at it many times on the way past and thought that in the conditions a slightly smaller peak would be more suitable for the short day length. He was also concerned I might tear off and leave him behind, as the usual New Year sloth takes a

Wall-to-wall sunshine, blue sky and snow down to the seashore. I could not hope for a better day and resolved, companion or none, to climb a mountain.       I was very taken with Faochag, in Glen Shiel. I still am. It was described by James Boswell as a Cone. His more famous companion, Dr. Samuel Johnson, lexicographer, bon viveur and darling of the London gentry thought otherwise, but did concede “‘tis a considerable protuberance”, which might well have been a nod of approval. (Dr. Samuel

Checking out An Dorus I have lost count of the number of times I have climbed the two big central Cuillin Munros, Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh (973m) and Sgurr a' Mhadaidh (918m). It's a perplexing part of the Main Ridge traverse, completely uncompromising, and quite appropriate that reading, saying, understanding and spelling the names of these two linked peaks is the most challenging on the whole massif. However, I had never approached them from the 'Trade Route' starting at the Youth Hostel in Glen