Beinn Eighe
Encyclopedia
Beinn Eighe is a complex mountain massif in the Torridon
area of the Highlands
of Scotland
. It forms a long ridge
with many spurs and summits, two of which are classified as Munro
s. The name Beinn Eighe comes from the Scottish Gaelic
meaning File Mountain. Unlike the neighbouring hills of Liathach
and Slioch
it has a cap of Cambrian
basal quartzite which gives the peaks of Beinn Eighe a distinctive light colour. Its complex topology has made it popular with both hillwalkers and climbers and the National Nature Reserve on its northern side makes it an accessible mountain for all visitors.
) is on one of the spurs off the main ridge and stands at a height of 1010 m (3,314 ft). The second Munro, Spidean Coire nan Clach ('Peak of the Corrie of Stones' in Scottish Gaelic
), is the highest point on the main ridge itself. It stands at a height of 993 m (3,258 ft) and commands an extensive view over both Glen Torridon and the rest of the Beinn Eighe massif.
of Coire Mhic Fearchair, often simply known as the “Triple Buttress Corrie” after the three large rock
features which dominate the view from the north. There are many rock climbs
on the buttress
es and hillwalkers can access the tops of the buttresses from the head of the corrie.
mountains in that its summit is not composed of Precambrian
Torridonian Sandstone, but Cambrian
basal quartzite
, a very hard but brittle rock. This gives it its familiar light coloured summits, a notable contrast to the other peaks in the area. Underlying the quartzite is a bed of Torridonian Sandstone.
A full traverse of Beinn Eighe includes navigating a series of pinnacles known as the Black Carls, which provide good scrambling
and are located at the eastern end of the main ridge. Approached from the National Nature Reserve the Black Carls are a popular climb in their own right. Also within the National Nature Reserve, a moderate route ascends to the 'Conservation Cairn' at 560 m (1,837 ft) which offers extensive views of the surrounding landscape including Loch Maree
and the nearby mountain Slioch
.
managed by Scottish Natural Heritage. Formed in 1951 it was the first such area in Great Britain. Based around a visitor centre located two miles north-west of Kinlochewe the reserve covers 4,800 hectares. It has extensive marked trails through woodland on the lower slopes of Beinn Eighe, picnic areas and viewpoints.
The reserve covers a mixture of open moorland
, woodland
and bog
s, and is home to a number of protected species, including red deer
, golden eagle
s and pine marten
s. Many rare plants, including two variants of dwarf shrub heath and a western variant of moss heath, are also to be found on the reserve.
In addition to the National Nature Reserve facilities the area is a UNESCO
Biosphere reserve
. This provides a field station with full laboratory facilities for up to fourteen people. The station is used by scientists and researchers to co-ordinate field data recording and also provides a base for undergraduate fieldwork.
Torridon Hills
The Torridon Hills surround Torridon village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is usually applied to the mountains to the north of Glen Torridon...
area of the Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It forms a long ridge
Ridge
A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...
with many spurs and summits, two of which are classified as Munro
Munro
A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...
s. The name Beinn Eighe comes from the Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
meaning File Mountain. Unlike the neighbouring hills of Liathach
Liathach
Liathach is one of the most famous of the Torridon Hills. It lies to the north of the A896 road, in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, and has two peaks of Munro status: Spidean a' Choire Leith at the east of the main ridge, and Mullach an Rathain at the western end of the mountain...
and Slioch
Slioch
Slioch is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands situated in Wester Ross, eight kilometres north of the village of Kinlochewe. Slioch reaches a height of 981 metres and towers above the south east end of Loch Maree to give one of the best known and most photographed sights in the Highlands...
it has a cap of Cambrian
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
basal quartzite which gives the peaks of Beinn Eighe a distinctive light colour. Its complex topology has made it popular with both hillwalkers and climbers and the National Nature Reserve on its northern side makes it an accessible mountain for all visitors.
Geography
Located between Loch Maree and Glen Torridon on the west coast of Scotland, Beinn Eighe is a complex mountain. A main ridge runs on a line extending from close to Kinlochewe in the north-east to the narrow glen of the Coire Dubh Mor separating it from the neighbouring mountain of Liathach in the south-west. The slopes into Glen Torridon on the south side are steep with few features and covered in white quartzite screes. On the north side are four large corries between which are a series of spurs extending out from the main ridge.Munro Summits
Two of Beinn Eighe's summits are classified as Munros. Ruadh-stac Mòr ('Big Red Stack' in Scottish GaelicScottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
) is on one of the spurs off the main ridge and stands at a height of 1010 m (3,314 ft). The second Munro, Spidean Coire nan Clach ('Peak of the Corrie of Stones' in Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
), is the highest point on the main ridge itself. It stands at a height of 993 m (3,258 ft) and commands an extensive view over both Glen Torridon and the rest of the Beinn Eighe massif.
Triple Buttress
One of the most famous features of Beinn Eighe is the corrieCirque
Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...
of Coire Mhic Fearchair, often simply known as the “Triple Buttress Corrie” after the three large rock
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
features which dominate the view from the north. There are many rock climbs
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...
on the buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es and hillwalkers can access the tops of the buttresses from the head of the corrie.
Geology
Beinn Eighe is unusual amongst the TorridonTorridon
Torridon is a small village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. However the name is also applied to the area surrounding the village, particularly the Torridon Hills, mountains to the north of Glen Torridon. It lies on the shore of Loch Torridon.Torridon is on the west coast of Scotland, ...
mountains in that its summit is not composed of Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
Torridonian Sandstone, but Cambrian
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
basal quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
, a very hard but brittle rock. This gives it its familiar light coloured summits, a notable contrast to the other peaks in the area. Underlying the quartzite is a bed of Torridonian Sandstone.
Ascents
Beinn Eighe's complex topology offers both hillwalkers and climbers a wide variety of routes, climbs and traverses. For the hillwalker a popular route is the western traverse which includes both of the Munro summits and Coire Mhic Fearchair.A full traverse of Beinn Eighe includes navigating a series of pinnacles known as the Black Carls, which provide good scrambling
Scrambling
Scrambling is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges. It is an ambiguous term that lies somewhere between hillwalking and rock climbing. It is often distinguished from hillwalking by defining a scramble as a route where hands must be used in the ascent...
and are located at the eastern end of the main ridge. Approached from the National Nature Reserve the Black Carls are a popular climb in their own right. Also within the National Nature Reserve, a moderate route ascends to the 'Conservation Cairn' at 560 m (1,837 ft) which offers extensive views of the surrounding landscape including Loch Maree
Loch Maree
Loch Maree is a loch in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. At long and with a maximum width of , it is the fourth largest freshwater loch in Scotland; it is the largest north of Loch Ness. Its surface area is ....
and the nearby mountain Slioch
Slioch
Slioch is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands situated in Wester Ross, eight kilometres north of the village of Kinlochewe. Slioch reaches a height of 981 metres and towers above the south east end of Loch Maree to give one of the best known and most photographed sights in the Highlands...
.
National Nature Reserve
The northern side of Beinn Eighe is a National Nature ReserveNational Nature Reserves in Scotland
National Nature Reserves in Scotland are established by Scottish Natural Heritage. Until 2004 there were 73 National Nature Reserves in Scotland, as per the list below...
managed by Scottish Natural Heritage. Formed in 1951 it was the first such area in Great Britain. Based around a visitor centre located two miles north-west of Kinlochewe the reserve covers 4,800 hectares. It has extensive marked trails through woodland on the lower slopes of Beinn Eighe, picnic areas and viewpoints.
The reserve covers a mixture of open moorland
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
, woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
and bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
s, and is home to a number of protected species, including red deer
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
, golden eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
s and pine marten
Pine Marten
The European Pine Marten , known most commonly as the pine marten in Anglophone Europe, and less commonly also known as Pineten, baum marten, or sweet marten, is an animal native to Northern Europe belonging to the mustelid family, which also includes mink, otter, badger, wolverine and weasel. It...
s. Many rare plants, including two variants of dwarf shrub heath and a western variant of moss heath, are also to be found on the reserve.
In addition to the National Nature Reserve facilities the area is a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Biosphere reserve
Biosphere reserve
The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...
. This provides a field station with full laboratory facilities for up to fourteen people. The station is used by scientists and researchers to co-ordinate field data recording and also provides a base for undergraduate fieldwork.