
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 1,072 metres, number 65 of the 282.
Stob Coire Sgreamhach stands above the head of the Lost Valley in Glen Coe.
In a view up the valley the avalanche observer picks it out as the pointed peak at the back on the left, and Bidean nam Bian is just over a kilometre away to the north-west.
From the summit the crest of Beinn Fhada runs off to the north-east, and Buachaille Etive Beag stands to the east with Buachaille Etive Mor behind it.
The National Trust for Scotland cares for Glencoe National Nature Reserve, and its rangers patrol Coire Gabhail, the Lost Valley, below the hill.
West wind to 12 mph, gusting 25
Rain, about 4 mm
Light from 7.53am to 6.17pm, 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: West Highlands forecast, Stob Coire Sgreamhach, Glencoe avalanche forecast.
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 nico jose leander and David Bingham, via Google

The head of the Lost Valley would be a hazardous place to be in avalanche conditions.The Scottish Avalanche Information Service, its Glencoe observer, on the way to this hill in January 2019
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 Stob Coire Sgreamhach 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.
Next along: Bidean nam Bian, Buachaille Etive Beag - Stob Dubh, Buachaille Etive Mor - Stob na Broige, Buachaille Etive Beag - Stob Coire Raineach. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on this page are the National Trust for Scotland's, Shiel Buses' and the Scottish Avalanche Information Service's, which also gives the avalanche forecast; the weather forecasts are the Mountain Weather Information Service's and the Met Office'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.