Photographs and map of Ben Nevis, Aenoch Mor and The Grey Corries from Stob Choire Claurigh

I always feel the spring solstice is a tuming point, a demarcation line that signals a steady lengthening of the days and all the natural response that brings With it. It’s small wonder our pagan ancestors celebrated this event With such gusto. The days leading up to this year’s solstice were typically dour and sullen but with the winter behind us for another year, my celebrations naturally included a walk in the hills — to Stob Ban in the Grey Corries.

I’ve always been aware of doing this grand little hill a disservice by tacking it onto the Grey Corries group, like some sort of addendum, for in essence Stob Ban’s a solitary Munro rising in shapely splendour between Coire Rath and the broad deﬁle of the Lairig Leacach. In reality it’s beyond and separate from the main Grey Corries ridge, although few Munro-baggers treat it as an individual — the 800m bealach that connects it to Stob Choire Claurigh and the rest of the ridge is too convenient, the temptation to tack on another Munro to the three Grey Corries summits is too strong. But occasionally, just occasionally, it’s nice to climb a mountain like Stob Ban for its own sake, to savour its individual character in isolation from the higher hills around it.

It was after 10am as I followed the track through the forest beyond Corriechoille above Glen Spean. Although I had only one mountain to climb I was aware of Stob Ban’s relative remoteness. The track over the Lairig Leacach rises gently below the twin Corbetts of Cruach Innse and Sgurr Innse. A herd of deer moved like a cloud shadow over the lower slopes of Stob Coire na Ceannain, driven down low by a late dusting of snow. Older snow patches lay in vertical runnels, making a corduroy pattem of white and grey with the quartzite screes of the summit slopes.

It didn’t take me long to reach the Lairig Leacach bothy, from where I had my ﬁrst glimpse of Stob Ban. Narrow-topped and conical, this “White peak”, like the Grey Corries, has a cap of white quartzite scree, giving the impression of year-round snow cover. Beyond the bothy I followed the rough path that cut through the heather beside the watersof the Allt a’ Chuil Choirean and

climbed steadily into a high corrie. Above lay the steep slopes leading to the bealach between Stob Ban and its northern neighbour, Stob Choire Claurigh.
Stob Ban itself was free of snow but the steep headwall of the corrie was icy so it took me some time to link together a series of moves up gullies and over gentle angled slabs to reach the bealach. From there it was a simple slog to the 977m / 3205ft summit, following the worn path that climbs through the loose screes and white quartzite boulders.

It was bitterly cold on the summit and the surrounding mountains hid behind a dull haze so I wasted little time by the cairn. The northeast ridge carried me gently back to the Lairig Leacach and I made it back to the car just as darkness was beginning to fall, but there was a deep satisfaction in the knowledge that from here on in summer will have returned to the glens.

Map: OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 41 (Ben Nevis); Harveys Super Walker (Ben Nevis)

Start/finish: Parking space at the end of the track that runs past Corriechoille (GR: NN256788).

A rough track runs S past Corriechoille Lodge near Spean Bridge and there doesn't appear to be any objection to walkers parking near theend of the track.

From the parking area follow the Lairig Leacach track through the forest and then for 5km to the bothy beside the Allt a’ Chuil Choirean.

Follow the rough path behind the bothy in a SW direction and follow the burn into the upper reaches of the corrie. Climb steeper ground to gain the broad saddle to the N of Stob Ban from where a relatively short but steep climb takes you to the summit.

Drop down to the bothy by the hill’s NE ridge and then return to the start by the outward track.

Ominous looking clouds covered the upper slopes of the hills as I left the car at Polldubh in upper Glen Nevis and headed towards what has been described as “the ﬁnest half-mile in Scotland”. Recent wet weather had left the ground like a soggy mattress and the air was heavy with dampness and the heady scent of bog myrtle. The walk through the Steall Gorge is always dramatic but all the rain had turned the river into an amazing display of aquatic power and vitality as the waters squeezed through the narrow conﬁnes of the rocky gorge in a series of Whirlpools, waterfalls and cascades. The sound was thunderous. The footpath through to Steall winds its way through natural woodlands of pine, oak, birch and rowan, high above the tumbling maelstrom of the Nevis Water before wriggling its way between a few boulders and thrusting you out, unexpectedly, into a ﬂat and open space among the mountains. The contrast to the previous 20 minutes was remarkable. Up here the air was hushed and the river flowed sedately through a green, ﬂat meadow. At the far end of the meadow, incongruously, sits a small cottage, nowadays a mountaineering club hut,
and beyond it the white ﬂash of the Steall Waterfall tumbled down from the hanging cleft of Coire a’ Mhail.
For many this is a wonderful destination in its own right, but I was heading for Sgurr Choinnich Mor, the westernmost of the long mountain ridge known as the Grey Corries. These hills have often been likened to huge spoil heaps, a slanderous and unfair description, for they are marvellous hills to walk, much of the time over glistening quartzite. It’s the ash-grey colour of this rock that often leads people to think that the hills are capped in unseasonal snow, hence the popular, collective name of the Grey Corries.
The ridge itself is long and switchbacked, meandering its way over three Munros:
Sgurr Choinnich Mor (1,095m/3,589ft), Stob Coire an Laoigh (1,115m/3,661ft)
and Stob Choire Claurigh (1,177m/3,862ft).
An outlier to the east, Stob Ban (977m/3,205ft), is also a Munro, but always appears dwarfed by its higher neighbours.
Altogether there are seven tops on the whole ridge which, with the inclusion of Stob Ban, makes a truly memorable, if rather hefty, day’s walking.
Munro-baggers tend to tackle these hills from the Lairig Leacach, which runs south-east from near Spean Bridge to the head of Loch Treig. A good track runs from Corriechoillie to a bothy at the foot of Stob Ban’s north-east ridge. The ascent of Stob Ban and the two eastern Munros of the Grey Corries makes a good day in itself, although stronger hillwalkers often take in Sgurr Choinnich Mor as well, returning along the ridge to descend from Stob Coire Easain. Unfortunately there’s quite a big drop in height between the two tops so many walkers, still faced with quite
a long walk out back to Chorriecoille, are happy to leave Sgurr Choinnich Mor for another day. That’s no bad thing - occasionally it’s good to enjoy the Munros in bite-sized chunks rather than try and force feed too many into one day.
Along with its subsidiary top, Sgurr Choinnich Beag, the ascent of the solitary Munro makes a good day from Glen Nevis. Easy climbing over short turf took me up to the high bealach just east of the impressive crags of Sgurr a’ Bhuic. The sun was now bursting through the clouds, the air was brisk and the colours were beginning to give those magical changes in emphasis and intensity that can only be found on highland hills.
A ring ouzel, the mountain blackbird, kept me company as I climbed over Sgurr Choinnich Beag and onto the Munro itself.
From the summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor the rest of the ridge stretched invitingly before me in a long muscular arm. The views of the ridge itself, and of its near and far neighbours, the dazzling effects of the sun squinting off the snow-white crests, the exquisite formation of the graceful curves of the corrie rims and the breathtaking impression of height above watery glens and corries almost tempted me into continuing along the ridge to the next top, then the one after... but I had to be content, and I still had the return journey down the Steall Gorge to look forward to.

ROUTE PLANNER

Map: OS 1:50,000 Landranger Sheet 41 (Ben Nevis). l-larveys Supen/valker Map (Ben Nevis).
Access Point: Polldubh car park at the head of Glen Nevis (GR: NN145684)
Distance: 11 miles/18km
Approx Time: 5-7 hours

Route: Take the footpath that runs through the Nevis Gorge to Steall. Pass the wire bridge and continue to the bridge over the Allt Coire Giubhsachan and ruin at Steall; Continue past the ruin for just over a mile then leave the path in a NE direction to climb the slopes to the bealach that lies just SW of Sgurr Choinnich Beag. Climb the SW ridge of Sgurr Choinnich Beag, descend E to another high bealach then continue NE up the rocky ridge to the summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor. Return by the outward route.