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…
Ben Nevis, the Mamores and the Grey Corries
Stob Coire an Laoigh
A Munro of 1,116 metres, number 36 of the 282.
The hill
Stob Coire an Laoigh is one of the four Grey Corries Munros, south of Glen Spean in Lochaber.
Sgurr Choinnich Mor is about a kilometre and a half to the south-west, and Stob Choire Claurigh is a little further to the north-east.
Its crags are quartzite, a rock one of Lochaber's avalanche forecasters links more with the likes of Beinn Eighe in Torridon. In winter, climbers come for them.
Over to the east is the Lairig Leacach, the pass where the Mountain Bothies Association has looked after a small bothy since 1977.
- The land
- Most of the Ben Nevis Site of Special Scientific Interest lies within Jahama Highland Estates' Killiechonate estate, which runs from Glen Nevis in the west to Coire Rath and the Lairig Leacach in the east. The estate office is at Killiechonate, Spean Bridge.
- Deer stalking
- The Mountain Bothies Association gives the stag season here as 15 August to 20 October and the hind cull as 21 October to 15 February, while Jahama Highland Estates offers stalking on Killiechonate from August to mid December. The first three weeks of October are the busiest. In the season, contact the estate or use Hillphones to find out where deer control is taking place, pay close attention to signs and follow reasonable advice from land managers.
- Summit
- Grid reference NN 239 725
- Parking
- Wild About Lochaber, the area's tourism site, gives small parking areas by a metal bridge over the River Spean, on the road signposted Corriechoille off the A86 east of Spean Bridge. It gives them for a track walk to a statue, not for the hill.
- Bus and train
- Shiel Buses' route 41 between Roy Bridge and Fort William stops at Spean Bridge, which has a railway station. Check the times with the operators.
On the hill today
−1° to 2°Drizzle on the summit, 1,116 m. Feels like −4° in the wind.
North-west wind to 13 mph, gusting 26
Rain, about 4 mm
Light from 7.53am to 6.16pm, ten hours
Sat 17Cloudy−2° to 3° on top · 7 mph, gusts 16
Sun 18Mostly clear−4° to 3° on top · 9 mph, gusts 18
Mon 19Cloudy−6° to 5° on top · 4 mph, gusts 9
A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: West Highlands forecast, Stob Coire an Laoigh, Lochaber 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.
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 NN 239 725
- 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 Stob Coire an Laoigh 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.
- Stob Coire an Laoigh on WalkhighlandsRoute descriptions with maps, for the way to the summitwalkhighlands.co.ukThe route↗
- The Wee Minister, by Wild About LochaberA track walk from Corriechoille to the statue, with where to park: a walk in the woods below, not a route up the hillwildlochaber.comThe approach↗
- A day of many photos, in the Lochaber forecasters' blogAn avalanche forecaster's day on the Grey Corries in February 2025, with this hill and its crags pictured: photographs, not a routelochaberblog.sais.gov.ukAvalanche↗
- Lairig Leacach, by the Mountain Bothies AssociationThe Lairig Leacach bothy's page, with stalking dates for this ground and who to ask in the seasonmountainbothies.org.ukDeer stalking↗
- Deer stalking, by Mountaineering ScotlandThe stalking seasons, and what Mountaineering Scotland asks of walkers during themmountaineering.scotDeer stalking↗
- Sporting, by Jahama Highland EstatesJahama Highland Estates on the stalking it offers on Killiechonatejahamahighlandestates.comThe estate↗
- West Highlands forecastThe Mountain Weather Information Service's West Highlands forecast, three days ahead from its forecasters, for the hills south of Glen Spean, Ben Nevis among themmwis.org.ukMountain weather↗
- Stob Coire an LaoighThe Met Office's forecast for the summit itself: a model for one point, not a report from the hillweather.metoffice.gov.ukSummit forecast↗
- Lochaber avalanche forecastThe Lochaber avalanche forecast, from 17 December 2026 or sooner if winter comes early. Its forecasters work mostly on the Aonach Mor range and Ben Nevis, and reach outlying hills such as the Grey Corries in turn as the winter goes on. Snow brings the risk here all the samesais.gov.ukAvalanche↗
Next along: Sgurr Choinnich Mor, Stob Choire Claurigh, Stob Ban, Aonach Beag. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on this page are Jahama Highland Estates', the Mountain Bothies Association's, Mountaineering Scotland's, Wild About Lochaber's and Shiel Buses'; 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.