Qualla: An Teallach

An Teallach: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nigel Brown, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Gaelic name translates to "the forge" or "the anvil," and the mountain earns it. An Teallach is a mass of billion-year-old Torridonian sandstone rising to twin Munro summits above Wester Ross, its terraced flanks riven with steep gullies and its upper crest sharpened to a knife-edge that even experienced mountaineers treat with respect. At 1,062 metres, Bidean a' Ghlas Thuill is the higher of the two peaks; Sgurr Fiona, one metre lower at 1,058 metres, commands the more dramatic position above the cliffs of Corrag Bhuidhe. Between them lies one of Scotland's great mountain traverses -- and a test that winter conditions can make more demanding than Liathach or the Aonach Eagach.

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Image: Nigel Brown | CC BY-SA 2.0

An Teallach: Stone Older Than Memory

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. Like its cousins around Torridon to the south, An Teallach is built from Torridonian sandstone -- rock laid down as sediment roughly a billion years ago, long before complex life existed. The stone gives the mountain its characteristic stepped profile: horizontal bands of reddish...

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

An Teallach: The Pinnacled Ridge

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Stuart Meek, CC BY-SA 2.0. An Teallach's reputation rests on the Corrag Bhuidhe pinnacles, a series of sandstone towers that rise above the dark waters of Loch Toll an Lochain. The most dramatic feature is Lord Berkeley's Seat, an overhanging pinnacle at 1,030 metres where the ridge narrows to a few feet o...

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Image: Stuart Meek | CC BY-SA 2.0

An Teallach: Routes to the Summit

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Graham Lewis, CC BY 2.0. Three main approaches lead to the tops. The most straightforward starts from Dundonnell, following a good path over rising ground for about six kilometres to reach Bidean a' Ghlas Thuill directly. A second route climbs steeply from Corrie Hallie, four kilometres south of Dundonne...

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Image: Graham Lewis | CC BY 2.0

An Teallach: A Mountain That Demands Attention

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Graham Lewis, CC BY 2.0. An Teallach stands in Dundonnell Forest, west of the A832 road, in a landscape of lochs, moorland, and near-total solitude. To the south, Loch na Sealga fills a glacial valley; to the north, Little Loch Broom opens toward the sea. The mountain's relative isolation -- there are no...

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Image: Graham Lewis | CC BY 2.0