Let’s start with some useful information:

• I measured this as 40 miles and 20,000’ ascent.  (65km and 6,100m.) This is more than is commonly quoted, and I don’t think I went the wrong way!  There are a couple of minor deviations that might account for a mile or so.
• Clockwise or anti-clockwise?  I went clockwise which I think is more popular.  Advantages of a clockwise round are the big climb up Ben Nevis is first – it’s a long way but as a way of gaining height is straightforward, and coming down at the end I suspect would feel worse! If expecting to finish in the dark, the Mamores present no navigation problems.  (The same would be true of the descent of the Ben, but the harder to find sections are predominantly on the north side of the glen.) Otherwise there wasn’t much in it – a few peaks have steeper sides which are better for ascent than descent (Am Bodach, the Mamores Stob Ban), these seemed to favour a clockwise circuit. Also, there is more water available on the Mamores, and doing this part later seems better.
• Departure time? I set of at 1am (in June), thinking it would be good to get a lot done before it got warm – it was the hottest day of the year and 25 degrees in the glens by afternoon.  Getting down the Ben was tricky in the dark – if doing it again I’d aim to be on the summit around dawn.  Finishing in the dark would be ok as there are no navigation difficulties on the western end of the Mamores.
• Water?  It was very dry when I went, having hardly rained for a month.  But even so, here’s where water was available:

• On the way up the Ben, around where the path crosses the Red Burn.
• On the way up Aonach Mor – path follows a minor stream.
• At the river between Stob Ban and Sgurr Eilde Mor (obviously!)
• In the valley between Sgurr Eilde Mor and Binnein Beag.
• On the traverse below Stob Coire na Chaime (on the way to An Garbanach).  On the day this was a very small trickle, but in normal conditions I suspect it would be better.
• At the lochan outflow after descending from the Devil’s Ridge towards Stob Ban.
• Nav issues? Some places to take a bit of care:

• Coming off the Ben – start E then turn SE, descending steeply towards the CMD arete.  Way is not obvious – large jumbled blocks.
• Descent of Carn Mor Dearg – obvious to start with but as ridge broadens and steepens, becomes less obvious.  Stay left.
• Descent from Aonach Mor.  Plain sailing until after the subsidiary summit of Stob Coire Bhealaich.  From here the main path starts E then turns SSW on the way to Sgurr a’Bhuich.  It is possible to drop steeply off as the ridge turns – or to head SSW and look for grassy lines down to the left (E).  I did the latter, possibly longer but having not reccied, felt safer! Strava heatmap suggests no strong consensus on the best way.
• Sgurr Choinnich Mor to Stob Coire an Laoigh.  It’s possible to cut under Stob Coire Easain (not a Munro) and save some ascent, but this involves a slow scree ascent.  I suspect there’s not much in it.
• Descent of Stob Ban.  Get to the saddle with Meall a’Bhuirich, contour round to the left (E) initially. I got drawn slightly too low, which led to steeper and in places, awkward ground.
• Ascent of Sgurr Eilde Mor – aim slightly left of the first rise on the ridge.
• Binnein Beag – a steep sketchy path leads to the top, and then there is a scree runn descent option slightly further right (looking down).
• Start of forest track – various accounts and strava lines showed some people had cut a corner out of the zigzag when you emerge onto forestry tracks.  In June 2023, the forest looked very difficult to get through, and the zigzag (heading east first before zagging back to the west) wasn’t that far and fairly quick. 
• End of forest track – the little path which leads from the track to the road wasn’t obvious and some tree-felling obscured part of it.  A little flag marked the start. 

Account

Top of my hit-list for the summer were the Tranters and Rigby Rounds.  I thought the weather could decide, and in the end the west coast was going to be clear and sunny, while cloud push in from the North Sea.  Decision made.

This was a very opportunistic raid after a family holiday in the Lakes – heading up after leaving our cottage on Friday, to be home again on Sunday.  It came right at the end of a 4-week spell of sunshine across most of the country, which had started with the weekend of the Ultra Trail de Snowdonia, and looked set to break down into thundery showers on the Sunday. 

After a couple of stops (the Real Food Café in Crianlarich, with its sign advertising award winning fish and chips), and Fort William Morrisons, I set up camp at the Glen Nevis campsite.  The first midge bit within a few minutes of getting out of the car.  I strolled around a bit to stretch the legs and check out the start and end of the route, and went to bed about 9pm.  I set an alarm for 1am, as it was meant to be very hot tomorrow, but also thought if I couldn’t sleep I would just lie down for a bit and then get going.

In fact I woke shortly after midnight, and feeling excited, decided to get moving.  I had laid out my breakfast and a few bits and pieces to reduce the risk of forgetting them in the dark.  I set off from the youth hostel about 12.50am.

I hadn’t been totally convinced going this weekend was the best idea.  It was quite soon after the UTS (4 weeks, quite a short interval after a 100-miler), and the only real leg test had been supporting Steve Jones’ Joss Naylor Challenge the previous weekend.  It was going to get uncomfortably hot, with a breeze that threatened to strengthen and bring in some showers.  But, previous opportunities to do a big run in Scotland had been vanishingly rare, so I was going to make the best of it.  If something went wrong, I there were many escape options and even part of this would be sensational.

The Ben Nevis tourist path was busy, even at night, with several parties coming down (presumably after seeing sunset) and others heading up for the dawn.  It’s a long way but not steep, meaning progress was fairly swift. I reached the summit around 2.30am, with a glow in the north-eastern sky but still needing a torch. 

Descent of the Ben was the first obstacle – the flank of the mountain is so rough that there isn’t a path, but some slightly more worn boulders.  In the gloom it was hard to spot the right line, but as I got lower the fine outline of the Carn Mor Dearg arete became increasingly obvious.  The arete itself was a joy – grippy square-cut blocks meaning a jog along the ridge was perfectly feasible, and often better than the traverse path below the crest.  Up to the summit of Carn Mor Dearg and down the start of its east ridge were delightful. Lower down the ridge steepened and broadened, and I went slightly off line before working my way leftwards to pick up the faint path.

The path up the other side of the saddle was surprisingly good (and steep), with a little stream.  After a fierce ascent it reaches the broad plateau of Aonach Mor where it is possible to do a little mild uphill running.  The two miles or so from the summit of the Ben to this point had been slower than those ascending the UK’s highest mountain! Worth remembering for any future Ramsay attempt that the first 6 miles will take a while… But after that I reached the dizzying speed of 12 min/mile, for one mile only.