[Booa-chall-ye Etive More] Gaelic, meaning The Big Shepherd of the Etive.
Viewed from Rannoch Moor, the Buachaille is like a child's drawing of the perfect pyramidal mountain. Standing proudly on the fork between Glen Coe and Glen Etive, it appears to guard the entrances to both, keeping watch over the bleak expanse of moorland to the east. On closer inspection that famous profile breaks down into an intricate mosaic of gullies and buttresses large and small, which have challenged successive generations of mountaineers.
This slim profile hides the sheer bulk of the hill. Buachaille Etive Mòr is actually a long ridge running between the Munro summits of Stob Dearg in the north-east and Stob na Bròige in the south-west via the smaller summits of Stob na Doire and Stob Coire Altruim. The former is no less significant than some Munros.
There is climbing on the south-east flank of the ridge overlooking Glen Etive, the east-to- north-facing aspects of Stob Dearg and the northern side of Stob Coire Altruim. These three aspects have very different characters and are approached from different starting points.
The north face of Stob Dearg is a complex area at the best of times, and in winter, in bad weather, it is very challenging to navigate. Many experienced climbers will admit to having started up entirely the wrong buttress on the Buachaille at some point in their career. Add to that the numerous notorious avalanche traps lying in wait if you do end up in the wrong place, and climbing here becomes a serious proposition