Stob Ban, Mamores

4th March 2023

Tme to escape. We situated ourselves just outside Spean Bridge, parking the van up for the night on a track requiring great care to avoid damage on the many potholes. We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with utter silence and from here we could begin our hike next day.

We were off to hike Stob Ban a rather solitary rugged Munro hidden away behind the peaks of the Grey Corries.

Its a pretty long walk in along the gradually rising track over the Lairig Leacach. We had been walking for around 1 hour 15 minutes before we eventually caught sight of our mountain for the day and she was worth the wait to see. Stob Ban is some shapely peak. It reminded me slightly of the Matterhorn from where we stood.

Either side of us we were surrounded by beautiful peaks. On our right we had the Grey Corries and on our left we had the stunning Corbetts of Cruach Innse and Sgùrr Innse.

We eventually came across the tiny Lairig Leacach bothy which sits at the foot of Stob Ban and from here we could view our mountain, its peak, covered in snow.

Lairig Leacach Bothy with Stob Ban in background

In full winter conditions a large cornice can form over its cliffs and can become quite dangerous as its summit cairn sits very close…today we were pretty safe.

Conditions today felt good, no wind, blue skies and on the hike up I’d go as far as to say warm, real warm. It felt nice feeling the sun hitting our face and warming the body.

We were soon off our pretty decent path and now on to the rough wet and boggy path which for us right now wasn’t too bad as part of it was still frozen over so the ground was relatively solid. In this sunshine however it may be a different story on our return later in the day. This path led us steadily into a high corrie.

We continued to plod up taking in the many beautiful views all around us including the views back down to the bothy and across to the dramatic looking Corbetts.

We eventually reached some drier ground and from here Stob Ban rises impressively. We continued to ascend onto the first shoulder, then we hit a very steep final ascent on a zig-zagging path close to the edge of the northern cliffs, its absolutely stunning.

Stob Ban translates as ‘White Peak’, due to its pale quartz that tops the mountain, but today with snow on her summit she really lived up to her name.

Stob Ban doesnt seem to get a fraction of the traffic it deserves most people preferring Ben Nevis or some of the other surrounding peaks. Great news if you prefer a hill to yourself like us and we had this hill to ourselves meeting no-one until we were almost back down at the bothy.

From the summit views in all directions from this cairn feel wild. Ben Nevis looms large to the west with clouds around her summit, whilst the Mamores, Ring of Steall and the many peaks of Glencoe look impressive and beautiful as always, not to mention Glen Nevis.