Photographs, route description and maps of ski ascents of Sgor Gaoith and Monadh Mor on Mhoine Mhor in the Cairngorms

Location: Cairngorms
Map: OS Landranger 43
Distance: 16 miles (26km)
Time: 8-10 hours
Terrain: Long, serious mountain walk

Monadh Mor and Beinn Bhrotain rise on the southeast periphery of the atmospheric Moine Mhor, an expanse of stony ridge and hollows of turf and moss. It’s a favourite feeding place of red deer and reindeer and a haunt of Arctic-type birds like ptarmigan, snow bunting and dotterel.
Moine Mhor offers solitude, green rather than grey, a soft pearl in a crown of hard diamonds. Its acres flow south from the Sgurans and the head of Loch Einich and over Mullach Clach a’Bhlair to upper Glen Feshie.
Bounded on the east by the huge swells of Monadh Mor and Cnapan Mor, its peat-hag ridden heartland is gnawed deep by the River Eidart, a tumultuous watercourse fed by some of the highest burns in the country.
Climb up from Glen Feshie, following a footpath up Coire Ruaclh and on to the broad col between Sgor Gaoith and Carn Ban Mor to access the remote Munros of Monadh Mor, 1,113m, and Beinn Bhrotain, 1,108m, returning to Glen Feshie by the old foxhunter’s path to Achlean.
It’s a big day — about 16 miles of hard walking.
Below Sgurr Gaoith, Loch Einich ﬁlls a cliff-girt hollow. Opposite, wind-scoured corries pockmark the dome of Braeriach, the UK’s third highest mountain. Beyond lies the squarecut proﬁle of Cairn Toul, the fifth highest hill in the land. Easing itself south from these landmarks the Moine Mhor forms an addendum to the high tops of the Cairngorms. The result is an area that is neither moorland nor mountain, but a mixture of both, a shallow basin in the cusp of Carn Ban Mor, Mullach Clach a’Bhlair and the diminutive top of Tom Dubh.
Beyond Tom Dubh's dumpy profile lie Monadh Mor and Beinn Bhrotain.
From Tom Dubh climb the slopes of Monach Mor to its whaleback ridge and take a path to the summit cairn. The highest point is about halfway along the ridge. From there the path leads to a subsidiary top then down steep slopes to a bealach.
From there, steep boulder-covered slopes finally led to Beinn Bhrotain.
The local name of this high pass has led the mountaineer and ecologist Dr Adam Watson to question the assumed translation of the great corrie that falls from the pass into Glen Geusachan. Most authorities suggest Coire Cath nam Fionn means the corrie of the battle of the Fingalians, the warriors of the Celtic hero Fionn Macumhail, but if the corrie is named after the bealach above it, as would seem likely, then it’s simply the corrie of the pass of the Fingalians, and nothing to do with a battle. The Fingalian link is probably authentic, as Beinn Bhrotain is the hill of Brodan, the jet-black hound of Celtic mythology.

Route:
Start and ﬁnish at the Red Burn car park in Glen Feshie (GR: NH852012)
Follow the path that climbs through the woods beside the Alit Ruadh and high into Coire Ruadh.
Where the footpath stops a more sketchy path climbs the corrie to the shallow bealach between Sgor Gaoith and Cam Ban Mor.
From here head SE, past the head ol Coire Odhar and views of Loch Einich and continue to Loch nan Cnapan.
Continue just S of E, skirting Allt Luineag to the high ground above Loch nan Stuirteag.
Head S on to the ridge that leads to the summit ot Monadh Mor.
Walk past the summit, descend to Cadha nam Fiann and climb steep rocky slopes to the summit of Beinn Bhrotain.
Return the way you came but head slightly S of Loch nan Cnapan to pick up a bulldozed track.
Follow the track tor just over a kilometre until it takes an obvious bend to the left.
Leave it here and continue due W, over Meall Dubhag and down its NW slopes to the pine woods of Baden Mosach.
Follow the path to Achleen.

Location: Strathspey
Map: OS Landranger 36
Distance: About 11 miles (13km)
Time 6-8 hours
Terrain: Long mountain trek

Head for the Sgorans ridge, the long arm that drops down from the heights of the Moine Mhor, the Great Moss, to the pinewoods of Rothiemurchus.
Not long ago, Munrobaggers could collect up to ﬁve Munros in the close vicinity of Sgoran Dubh Mor but various reappraisals over the years have chopped that total to one, Sgor Gaoith, at 3,668ft (1,118m).
Nevertheless, the climb on to the Great Moss and a traverse of the ridge between Sgor Gaoith and Sgoran Dubh Mor, high above the trench of Loch Einich, is always a good outing The traditional access to the Great Moss and the Sgorans ridge was by the Foxhunters' Path from Achlean in Glen Feshie, an old route named after a family of fox-hunters called Clark who once lived here. But Achlean is a working farm and so walkers are now encouraged to begin their route at the foot of the Alli Ruadh, at a parking area built by Forest Enterprise near the hostel at Balachroick (GR NH1853013). This alternative starting point offers the opportunity of a marvellous circular route that climbs to Sgoran Dubh Mor via its outliers of Creag Mhigeachaidh and Geal Charn. The ridge is then followed south to Sgor Gaoith then on to the broad, empty plateau of Cam Ban Mor before returning to the starting point by the delightful and rarely walked Carn Ban Beag ridge. It's a route that cuts out the long, dreary plod from Achlean
and instead offers a ﬁne blend of natural pine woods, broad high-level ridges and dramatic views into the depths of Gleann Einich.
Climbing up through the old pine-woods above Glen Feshie, far below are the waters of the Allt Ruadh on approaching the narrow bealach below Creag Mhigeachaidh, a hill that boasts the highest natural tree-line in Britain, and climbing the steep, shifting screes on to the old Munro of Geal Charn.
A broad, bumpy ridge carries on to the Sgorans ridge and a ﬁnal steep climb to the huge summit cairn on Sgoran Dubh Mor, a big hill in itself that feels dwarfed by the enormous mass of Braeriach, Britain’s third highest mountain, across Gleann Einich. Steep crags drop into Gleann Einich from the high ridge to Sgor Gaoith. The summit cairn sits on the very edge of this precipice and you can gaze down the shear buttresses and crags into the black waters of Loch Einid, almost 2,000 feet below.
In comparison to the airy spaciousness of Sgor Gaoith, Carn BanMor is wide and sprawling, its cairn a mere dot in a vast expanse of empty tundra. Return to the hill's long north-western ridge before the steep descent through the luxuriant undergrowth of the Allt Ruadh pinewoods.

Route:
Start / ﬁnish at the car parking area in Gen Feshie (GR NN853013).
Follow the track E through the forest.
After a kilometre the track leaves the forest and beqins to climb pine-covered slopes above the Allt Ruadh.
Follow the track to just above the Allt nam Bo to where it begins to turn back on itself.
A faint path now runs through the heather in a NNE diraction to the bealach just E of Craig Mhigeachaidh.
Climb the scree-covered slopes of Geal Gharnn and follow its broad ridge over the subsidiary tops to a point just SW of Sgoran Dubh Mor.
Climb to the summit then follow the ridge S to Sgor Gaoith and Carn Ban Mor.
Descend W now to follow the long ridge to Carn Ban Beag.
Descend by the Allt an Lochain back to the Allt Ruadh.