At One with the Mountains - An interview with Nick Gardner
Issue 6: Nick Gardner and his wife Janet were living an idyllic life on a croft…
Torridon
Beinn Eighe - Spidean Coire nan Clach
A Munro of 993 metres, number 151 of the 282.
The hill
Beinn Eighe stands in Torridon, in the country between Loch Torridon and Loch Maree, and it has two Munros.
Spidean Coire nan Clach is the lower of the pair, about two kilometres south-east of Ruadh-stac Mor, with Liathach about four kilometres away to the south-west.
The Torridon Mountain Rescue Team notes that Beinn Eighe was Scotland's first National Nature Reserve, and the community's own local plan records remnants of ancient Caledonian pine forest on its lower slopes.
The rescue team counts the walking routes on these mountains among the most spectacular in Scotland.
- The ground
- The Torridon Mountain Rescue Team says these mountains offer some of Scotland's most spectacular walking routes and some of its longest and most testing rock and ice climbing routes. Read the route in full before deciding whether the walk asks for scrambling.
- Under snow
- The Scottish Avalanche Information Service forecasts for Torridon, and counts the mountains and corries around Beinn Eighe as core ground. Full forecasting begins on 17 December 2026.
- Stalking
- Stalking can take place even where no notice is posted, so follow any signs.
- Summit
- Grid reference NG 966 597
- Bus and train
- The community's local place plan of 2024 calls public transport here extremely limited: a bus twice a week from Kinlochewe to Dingwall and Inverness, and the nearest station at Achnasheen, 10 miles beyond Kinlochewe.
- Visitor centre
- The reserve's visitor centre is near Kinlochewe, postcode IV22 2PD. In September 2026 its hours were listed as every day, 10am to 5pm.
On the hill today
A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: The Northwest Highlands forecast, Spidean Coire nan Clach, Northwest Highlands mountain forecast, Torridon avalanche forecast.
October2026
MTWTFSS
Going another day?
Choose the day you mean to climb.Near or far: the light you will have, and what the summit is likely to be doing.
Given the terrain it is not surprising that the rescue situations we are faced with can be amongst the most technically demanding to be encountered in Scotland.Torridon Mountain Rescue Team, whose ground takes in Beinn Alligin, Liathach and Beinn Eighe
Before you go
Carry
- A paper map and a compass, and the skill to use them
- Waterproofs, warm layers, hat and gloves
- Food and drink
- A head torch, a whistle and a first aid kit
- A survival bag
- Boots with a good grip
Under snow and ice this is a different day, with short light and the risk of avalanche. It needs an ice axe, crampons, winter boots and the skill to use them.
If something goes wrong
- Dial 999, ask for the police, then mountain rescue
- Give a six-figure grid reference: the summit is NG 966 597
- Say how many are hurt, how many are with you, and your number
- Register to text 999 before the day: text the word register to 999
The summit is optional. Turning back is the right decision whenever the cloud, the wind or the light say so.
How to call for help in the hills · Safety and skills for the hills · ThinkWINTER
From our readers
Nobody has written from Beinn Eighe - Spidean Coire nan Clach yet. If you were up, yours would be the first.
Tell the next person
Were you up? Three words is enough.A free account, a word for the weather and a line if you like.
Read more elsewhere
For the route itself, take the map and read these.
- Beinn Eighe on WalkhighlandsA full route description with a map: where it starts, which way it goes and what it asks of youwalkhighlands.co.ukThe route↗
- Torridon Mountain Rescue Team: about usThe rescue team for these hills, on the ground it coverstorridonmrt.org.ukRescue team↗
- ScramblingWhat scrambling is and how it is graded, should the route you read ask for itmountaineering.scotScrambling↗
- Torridon Blog and Mountain InfoThe Torridon avalanche forecasters' notes from the hill, day by day through the winter. The last post was in April 2026torridonblog.sais.gov.ukUnder snow↗
- The Northwest Highlands forecastThe Mountain Weather Information Service's forecast for the Northwest Highlands, north from Knoydart and the Great Glen: three days ahead, written by forecastersmwis.org.ukMountain weather↗
- Spidean Coire nan ClachThe Met Office's forecast for the summit itself: a model for one point, not a report from the hillweather.metoffice.gov.ukSummit forecast↗
- Northwest Highlands mountain forecastThe Met Office's mountain forecast for the area, which takes in Torridonweather.metoffice.gov.ukMountain weather↗
- Torridon avalanche forecastThe Scottish Avalanche Information Service's Torridon forecast, whose core is the mountains and corries around Beinn Eighe and Liathach. Full forecasting begins on 17 December 2026sais.gov.ukAvalanche↗
Next along: Beinn Eighe - Ruadh-stac Mor, Liathach - Spidean a' Choire Leith, Liathach - Mullach an Rathain, Beinn Liath Mhor. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on this page are the Torridon Mountain Rescue Team's, Mountaineering Scotland's and, for the bus, the community's local place plan of 2024; the forecasts are the Mountain Weather Information Service's, the Met Office's and the Scottish Avalanche Information Service's. Height and position from The Database of British and Irish Hills, v18.3, adapted, CC BY 4.0. This page is not a route description and does not replace a map.