Ben Alder

What is the most impressive mountain at Rannoch? Schiehallion is perhaps the most graceful, at least, when viewed from the west but the accolade of most impressive goes, in my mind, to Ben Alder. It sits as a brooding lump to the west of Loch Ericht. The top is a huge plateau which affects the weather. It holds the cloud and lets the winds sweep over it. It has the second largest Corrie in Scotland with massive cliffs plunging to the northeast.

There is something forbidding about Ben Alder. No matter from which direction you approach, it is a long way. If you come from Loch Rannoch it is nine miles of remote and stupendous country. If you approach from the north it is a similar distance down Loch Ericht with jagged ridges as your ascent route.

From the Loch Rannoch side you will first be heading to Ben Alder Cottage, famous for its supposed ghost - McCook the stalker who was said to have hanged himself in the porch entrance.

In reality no such thing occurred Donald J Wilson, Joseph McCook’s grandson has told the true story which I paraphrase below, although the legend does lend mystique to an already mysterious area.

McCook died peacefully in bed in Newtonmore in 1933. He became ill with pneumonia in 1910 and his daughter made a heroic return journey of eighteen miles to Rannoch Station where she was able to send a telegram to Lagan to summon help. Help came in the form of Dr Donald MacDonald who walked 12 miles in very difficult conditions, because the burns were in spate, forcing him high up on the slopes of Ben Alder where he encountered difficult ice slopes. After treating his patient at the cottage he collapsed. He was later awarded the Carnegie Gold Medal for heroism for his efforts.

If you are approaching from Rannoch - After crossing the famous Tim Winter bridge and reaching Ben Alder Cottage the would-be conqueror of Ben Alder must climb steeply past Prince Charlie’s cave and up the Bealach Breabag before veering northwards up the side of a steep ridge to gain the Ben Alder plateau. Before Tim Winter and Alec Cunningham (Rannoch historian) built the bridge there had been another but it was swept away by a spate. Spates are frequent in the Alder Burn and on one occasion when a party from Rannoch School (Dall) we’re trying to reach the Cottage the conditions were such that one of the leaders decided to head up stream to cross and slipped while trying to cross a swollen tributary. For a time he was pinned in the water by the force of the flow on his rucksack but thankfully struggled free. Another member of the party tried to cross further down and bobbed along in the current for some distance before gaining the far side, wet but unharmed.

With the advent of Tim’s bridge such risky crossings were no longer necessary. His bridge is on high platforms and supported by guy wires.

My first ascent was with my cousin many years ago. We cycled as far as was possible and then proceeded on foot. The mist descended when we were on the ridge but we found the summit without difficulty following the cliff edge. Our return however was less smooth. The summit lies on a rise that is not much above the general plateau and so in mist it is easy to set off in slightly the wrong direction when leaving. This was what we did. We wandered a little on the broad plateau which lacked discernible features before realising that our only recourse was to return to the summit and set off again more carefully and in the right direction. The second time we were successful and we were able to skirt round the precipitous cliffs of the Corrie to arrive at the correct descent position to return to a Ben Alder Cottage.

On another occasion I went on my own in windy conditions and on the plateau I was proceeding purposefully towards the summit when I was thumped in the back by a gust of such force that it blew my rucksack over my head. Ben Alder needs to be treated with caution as it has its own microclimate which is more formidable than the surrounding weather. Even the most experienced should think twice before climbing it in winter.

The northern approach from Dalwhinnie can be assisted by the use of mountain bikes to get you to Culra Bothy and then you have a choice of two main ridges - by Coire Lethchois or by Garbh Choire Beag. On one occasion I went with Tim Winter and we cycled in. I was ahead and became aware that Tim was not immediately behind me. I stopped and look back to be greeted by the sight of Tim upside down in a ditch, his limbs waving inelegantly in the air and his bike lying recumbent beside him. He had misjudged the path, but was unhurt as the ditch was lined by soft vegetation.

As we continued he related a tale of a previous attempt by way of Coire Lethchois in which, he and those he was guiding, had to descend hurriedly from the ridge because of lightning.

We had no such problems and reached the summit via the Garbh Choire Beag ridge, which is a scramble but without the need for ropes.

Ben Alder is home to ptarmigan and golden plovers and to tragic modern deaths as well as an exciting fictional journey.

In June 1996 Emmanuel Caillet, a Frenchman was found seated near the summit at the edge of the cliffs and facing the Loch a’ Bhealaich Bheithe with a hole in his heart caused by an old fashioned lead ball bullet fired from a replica Remington .44 gun.

He wore slip-on shoes that were not the footwear that would normally be chosen to ascend Ben Alder. All the labels had be cut from his clothing and he had no cards that could identify him. To add to the mystery he had one and a half litres of water - if you know Ben Alder you will know that water cascades off it and there is no need to carry large quantities of water.

It was not until November 1997 that the body was identified because his cloths were identified as French and by the use of a photo-fit picture. His parents were found and informed. The police thought that he might have been murdered as he was seen with another man at Corrour station, but the forensic evidence pointed towards suicide.

Robert Louis Stevenson makes more than passing reference to Ben Alder in his adventure story ‘Kidnapped’ in which David Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart flee from Loch Linnhe to Edinburgh and en route they hide out on Ben Alder. They are hosted by Scottish Clan Chief Cluny Macpherson who in reality did hide on Ben Alder for 9 years in a hidden cave known as the ‘Cage’. He was joined briefly by Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1746 after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden. They both escaped to France.

The reputation of Ben Alder has also been under a black cloud. The ‘Black Cloud’ is the title of a book that relates a tragedy that occurred in 1951.

Climbers of the Glencoe mountaineering club got the train to Corrour station and then got a lift in a lorry to Corrour Lodge at the other end of Loch Ossian. There they had a meal before heading off at 8.30 p.m. in snow for Ben Alder Cottage, a distance of some eight miles. They took provisions for three or four days for their intended stay at Ben Alder Cottage. They became tired and three of them bivouacked in the lee of a river. Two of them continued to try to reach the bealach, which led to Ben Alder Cottage. Those two also bivouacked but woke at 6.00 a.m. when the wind was blowing a gale. The snow was too deep and they were forced to retreat to their companions.

The wind was 80 to 100 miles an hour and was blowing a blizzard in their faces as all five of them tried to get back to Corrour Lodge. Only one of the party made it back and survived. She was the wife of one of the casualties. The local keeper and the Scottish Mountaineering Club mounted a rescue attempt but nothing could be done for the four who died. They died of exposure. The tragedy sent shock waves through the mountaineering community.

The Glen in which they died is at less than 2000 feet. The conditions on the Ben Alder plateau, which is above 3000 feet, must have been beyond imagining. The people who died were not tourists they were experienced mountaineers.

If any mountain in the Rannoch area is worthy of respect and caution it is Ben Alder sitting to the north west next to Loch Ericht, a massive brooding presence with more than a hint of menace.