Aonach Eagach

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aonach Eagach
View of the Aonach Eagach from the Glen Coe

View of the Aonach Eagach from the Glen Coe

height 967  m ASL
location Highlands , Scotland
Notch height 622 m
Coordinates 56 ° 40 '46 "  N , 5 ° 2' 14"  W Coordinates: 56 ° 40 '46 "  N , 5 ° 2' 14"  W.
Aonach Eagach (Scotland)
Aonach Eagach
fd2

The Aonach Eagach is a mountain range up to 967 meters high in Scotland . The Gaelic name means something like a sharp ridge . The two highest peaks of the massif, the 967 meter high Sgorr nam Fiannaidh (Gaelic for tip of Fingal's warriors ) and the 953 meter high Meall Dearg (Gaelic for Red Mountain ), are classified as Munro . The Aonach Eagach forms an elongated massif that is located in the Council Area Highland between the south bank of Loch Leven and the north side of Glen Coe .

View from Meall Dearg over the ridge of the Aonach Eagach to the Sgorr nam Fiannaidh, in the foreground on the ridge the Crazy Pinnacles
The Clachaig Gully, on the left one of the ascent routes to the Aonach Eagach

The massif of the Aonach Eagach extends between Loch Leven and Glen Coe for a length of about ten kilometers. West in front is striking about Glencoe the striking, 742-meter high pre-peak Sgorr na Ciche , who usually as Pap of Glencoe is called. To the east follows with the Sgorr nam Fiannaidh the highest peak of the massif. To the east, from the Sgorr nam Fiannaidh, the massif forms an approximately two-kilometer-long, narrow mountain ridge that runs over further rock peaks , which is one of the most mentally demanding Scottish mountain tours due to its exposure on both sides , although the technical difficulties are relatively minor. The highest point between the two Munros is the 938 meter high peak of the Stob Coire Leith , which, due to its lack of independence, is not classified as Munro, but only as Top . Between the Stob Coire Leith and the Meall Dearg, which forms the eastern end of the ridge, are the most exposed places with several steep rock peaks known as Crazy Pinnacles .

The ridge of the Aonach Eagach is therefore the most difficult ridge tour on the British mainland, only the ridges in the Black Cuillins on the Isle of Skye are rated even more difficult. For Scottish mountaineers, the ridge, which is only rated II on the UIAA scale , has been nicknamed the ridge of brown trousers due to the mental challenges .

East of Meall Dearg runs the massif flatter and wider high over the 943 meters at the Bodach and the 873-meter high Sron Garbh to the Devil's Staircase known pass crossing over the ridge in the wake of the West Highland Way at the stage of Kings House Hotel to Kinlochleven from . East of Devil's Staircase, the massif ends in the 616 meter high pre-summit of Beinn Bheag .

The ridge tour over the Aonach Eagach is mostly done in an east-west direction. The starting point is a car park on the A82 , a little west of the small settlement of Allt-na-reigh . From there there are various ascent options to the Am Bodach or the Sròn Garbh, where the ridge is reached in each case. Between the Meall Dearg and the Sgorr nam Fiannaidh, the exposed position of the ridge does not allow any descent, to the north as to the south the ridge drops with steep walls. From the Sgorr nam Fiannaidh there is a possibility of descent into Glen Coe west of the steep gorge of the Clachaig Gully , which is however very steep and scree. The Clachaig Gully itself is one of the longest British climbing routes , which is extremely damp and slippery due to its location at the bottom of the gorge and has already been described as "the craziest climb in the world". Less problematic, if longer, is the descent to the Pap of Glencoe and on to the village of Glencoe .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Alan Rowan: No wonder they call Aonach Eagach the ridge of brown trousers . Daily Record, September 12, 2013 , accessed March 26, 2015.
  2. ^ A b The Scottish Mountaineering Club: Munros Table , accessed April 10, 2018.
  3. ↑ Hikr.org: Aonach Eagach , accessed on March 26, 2015.
  4. ↑ Super Scrambling: Aonach Eagach ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 26, 2015.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.superscrambling.co.uk
  5. ↑ Jürgen Fodor: Clachaig Gully, rope free: The craziest climbing in the world in: Alpenvereinsjahrbuch 1996, p. 93.

Web links

Commons : Aonach Eagach  - collection of images, videos and audio files