UKH

Hi, I'm currently in the midst of organising a 3 day trip to Glen Coe and we were thinking of camping in the Lost (Hidden??) Valley. As such I was wondering what are the best trad climbs in that part of the Glen. Any recommendations for routes between D and E1 would be really appreciated. I am also open to the fact that it may not be the best place to be camping if the aim of the trip is to go climbing.

Mome Rath is a nice route, quite steep for the grade.

I'd imagine the other routes on that wall would be worth doing as well.

Rainmaker (S) is good, best after a few dry days.

The Lost Valley would be a great place to camp (so long as it's breezy or outside midge season), the east face of  Gearr Aonach being the best crag there. It's a bit of a faffy approach and descent though, and isn't as good as the east face of  Aonach Dubh one valley across, or the many facets of  Buachaille Etive Mor.

Thanks for the suggestions. I suspected the climbing in the lost valley wouldn't be as good as Aonach Dubh or the Buachaille but thought i'd ask in case i was missing any gems. The east face of Gearr Aonach seems to have some quite nice routes so will probably settle on that as not everyone going on the trip is that interested in the climbing. Again many thanks

From the top of the Mome rath face it's an easy walk down to Aonach dubh Far East and/or on down to east face. You have to tron back round to lost valley after of course...

the Mappie is nice and handy to the lost valley entrance as are the easy routes around the Gearr aonach zig zags.

We did Hairy Kipper (VD) on the east face of Gearr Aonach and for me the rock wasn't great. We'd gone up for the winter climbing but blazing sun and no snow made us switch to a bit of easy multi pitch as we were using gloves. Water seeping through the rock, loose stones and vegetation meant the climb was below average. That said, a great day was had as the place is epic. Perhaps we just didn't do a great route.

Thanks for the idea, I had wondered how feasible it might be to climb over the top of Gearr Aonach and then get down the other side, but wasn't aware it was that easy. Definitely an option to be kept in mind if we are feeling energetic and don't mind the walk back... but hopefully wont be too hard to get at least one partner motivated for it

Thanks for the heads up. Did you by any chance see if the rock is sub par on the whole east face, or was it just Hairy Kipper? 

Another idea after doing a route on the East face would be to walk round to Stob Coire and do Unicorn.

We didn't really do any more routes on there. What I would say is the face where that route is begins low down and ends about half way up the mountain. The down side to this is there is a lot of seepage draining from the top half of the mountain. I would imagine if you've had a good dry spell then that shouldn't be an issue. I get the feeling there isn't a huge amount of traffic on these routes compared to the Peak District crags I'm used to so I would take into account the kind of conditions and quality of route I'm used to. Tough being spoiled.

The Mappie is ok maybe 4c and nice first pitch then meanders in the upper wall. Via Dolorosa is better than it looks,  and Marshalls wall quite technical and has a very bold crux, maybe 5c and no gear. An underrated and not often climbed route. Easy enough to come down the zig zags. Rock is good although Via Dolorosa can seep on the crux under the roof.  Rainmaker is a great route and even getting to it an adventure. Best to go up the left side Rev Teds and cross the terrace as for Mome Wrath etc. These are great mountain routes with a superb outlook. Again you can come down the zig zags or just head along Gearr Aonach and cut in from the ScRL shoulder into the upper Lost Valley and back down.

Im guessing also that most people cant be bothered to do the 2 hour trek when you can just go to the Buachaille.... but living in the peaks sounds like a struggle

Worth adding a few more comments to Davy's summary. Firstly, it's not clear whether or not you have the guidebook, but the Logbook description of the "East Face" combines routes on two major and one minor crag, at least half a mile apart, and with bases separated by around 500 vertical feet. And the routes are arranged pretty randomly between them. Secondly, The Wabe should be on any list of best V Diffs in the country. But don't leave a pack at the start unless you've worked out how you're going to get back to it! And thirdly - a bit esoteric, but there are comments about the rock in the thread - the Mome Rath Face is composed of a very unusual rock for Glencoe. The main vertical height of the cliff comprises a sill of the "Upper Streaky Andesite", which gives unusual pocketed holds. This is sandwiched between layers, both top and bottom, of ignimbrite, formed during pyroclastic volcanic eruptions. (For anyone really interested in Glencoe's geology, the British Geological Survey's bookshop has a superb 120 page book and accompanying map.)

I have acquired a copy of the guidebook, but only did so once I had created the thread. I went through the routes on the logbook but didn't compare their position with that in the book so will take a better look when i get home but thanks for pointing that out, would have been disappointing to plan a day of climbing only to discover the logistics of moving between the climbs being harder than the actual climbing. Having said that, very interesting to hear of the different kind of rock, will keep my eyes open to see if I can make out the difference in the rock types.