
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…

A Munro of 1,040 metres, number 93 of the 282.
Meall Ghaordaidh stands over Glen Lochay near Killin, where Perth and Kinross meets Stirling.
It is about seven and a half miles west of Ben Lawers but not part of that range, and it keeps to itself: the nearest Munro, Stuc an Lochain, is about six kilometres to the north-west.
The summit has a trig point inside a wind shelter. The Met Office spells the hill Meall Ghaordie, and the national park authority recommends Killin as a base for walks in the surrounding mountains of Breadalbane.
West wind to 12 mph, gusting 25
Dry, or nearly
Light from 7.51am to 6.15pm, ten hours
A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: Southeastern Highlands forecast, West Highlands forecast, South Grampian and Southeast Highlands mountain forecast, Meall Ghaordaidh, No avalanche forecast for this hill.
Choose the day you mean to climb.Near or far: the light you will have, and what the summit is likely to be doing.
Photographs by CRAIG Boyle, Eamonn Matson and Neil Arnott’s Photography, via Google
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.
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
Nobody has written from Meall Ghaordaidh yet. If you were up, yours would be the first.
Were you up? Three words is enough.A free account, a word for the weather and a line if you like.

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For the route itself, take the map and read these.

Stay: About seven and a half miles from the summit in a straight line

Stay: About twelve and a half miles from the summit in a straight line

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Café: Crianlarich, about twelve miles from the summit in a straight line
Next along: Stuc an Lochain, Meall nan Tarmachan, Sgiath Chuil, Beinn Sheasgarnaich. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on this page are the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority's; 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.