Beinn a' Chlachair

Beinn a’ Chlachair is a Munro and Marilyn standing 1,087 metres high in the Highland council area. It lies in the Grampian Mountains east of Spean Bridge, between Loch Laggan and Loch Ericht, within the remote Ardverikie Forest. The mountain’s Gaelic name means ‘hill of the stonemason’. Three Munros and other summits rise in the same forest. To the south, separated by the 500-metre-deep An Lairig pass, runs the ridge north of Ben Alder. The mountain stretches from south-west to north-east in a long, bulky ridge. Its south-east face, called the Garbh Bhruthach, drops nearly two kilometres almost vertically into An Lairig. The north-west side also falls steeply, though less ruggedly, and both flanks, along with the wide summit plateau, are covered in stony moorland and heather. Below the main summit on the north-west side lies the deep, sheer Coire Mòr a’ Chlachair corrie. Westwards a broad, rounded spur leads to the minor summit of Ceann Caol Beinn a’ Chlachair. Eastwards a gentler corrie, Coire Beag a’ Chlachair, opens out, and between the two corries the ridge descends north to the Bealach Leamhain col at about 730 metres. Beyond that col stands the neighbouring summit of Geal Chàrn. Walkers often climb Beinn a’ Chlachair together with Geal Chàrn and Creag Pitridh. The usual start is a car park on the A86 near Moy, west of Loch Laggan. From there a forest track and later stalkers’ paths lead past Lochan na h-Earba and along the Allt Coire Pitridh burn to the mountain’s north side and east of Coire Mòr a’ Chlachair, reaching the broad summit plateau. The west flank or the indistinct north ridge from Bealach Leamhain can also be used for ascent and descent.