Sàileag

Sàileag is a Scottish mountain on the northern side of Glen Shiel in the Highlands. It stands 27 kilometres south-east of Kyle of Lochalsh, just east of the Five Sisters of Kintail. The mountain is part of the North Glen Shiel Ridge and includes two other Munros. At 956 metres it is the lowest of the six Munros on the northern side of Glen Shiel. Its name means ‘The Little Heel’, which fits its modest height. Older guidebooks list it as 959 metres, three metres higher than today’s maps show. The mountain’s slopes vary from grassy ridges to steep, craggy faces. Its north-west face drops sharply to the Allt an Lapain stream. Three ridges meet at the summit, linking to nearby Munros and Beinn Fhada. The southern slopes fall steeply to the A87 road, covered in trees below 500 metres. In 1803 a traveller described these slopes as ‘an inclined wall, of such inaccessible height that no living creature would venture to scale it’. The usual starting point is a car park on the A87 road near grid reference NH008135. The climb to the Bealach an Lapain is steep and grassy. From there, another 230 metres of ascent reaches the summit. Views include the Five Sisters of Kintail and Gleann Lichd below. Climbers often combine Sàileag with the other Munros in the area.