Qualla: Glamaig

Glamaig: Introduction

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Iain99, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1899 a Gurkha named Harkbir Thapa walked into the bar of the Sligachan Inn, set down his drink, ran out the door, climbed Glamaig in thirty-seven minutes, ran back down, and returned to the bar. Total round trip, sea level to summit and back to where he started: fifty-five minutes. He did it barefoot. His record stood for almost a century. Olympic athletes including Chris Brasher attempted it in the 1950s and failed. The mountain that defeated them is 775 metres of red granite scree rising in an almost perfect cone above the Sligachan road, and it remains one of the cruellest short climbs in Scotland.

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Image: Iain99 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Glamaig: Two Cuillins, Different Colours

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit John Bennett, CC BY-SA 2.0. Glamaig is the northernmost of the Red Hills - the eastern Cuillin, sometimes called the Red Cuillin to distinguish them from the gabbro-black ridge to the west. The colour difference is real and visible from anywhere along Glen Sligachan. The Black Cuillin are gabbro, a dark coa...

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Image: John Bennett | CC BY-SA 2.0

Glamaig: The Cockerel and Mary's Peak

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit John Allan, CC BY-SA 2.0. The mountain has two summits along a whaleback ridge. The eastern top is An Coileach, the Cockerel, at 673 metres. The main summit is Sgurr Mhairi, Mary's Peak, at 775 metres. From Sligachan most people head straight up the scree at the base, aiming for the summit with all the di...

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Image: John Allan | CC BY-SA 2.0

Glamaig: The Glamaig Hill Race

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carol Walker, CC BY-SA 2.0. The hill race has run from Sligachan annually since the 1980s, retracing Thapa's original line - up the scree, around the summit, back down. The distance is only seven kilometres, but the 775 metres of ascent put it in Category A, the hardest classification on the Scottish hill r...

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Image: Carol Walker | CC BY-SA 2.0

Glamaig: Sligachan

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carol Walker, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Sligachan Inn at the foot of Glamaig has been a landmark since at least 1830, when it served the new military road. It became a base for Victorian climbers attempting the Cuillin and remains one of the great mountaineering pubs. From the inn's beer garden the view runs straig...

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Image: Carol Walker | CC BY-SA 2.0