Glen Ogle

Glen Ogle is Scotland's sport climbing heart land. Here lies the greatest concentration of sport routes in the country and over 200 routes mean that there is something for nearly everyone. Generally the routes are short, but some are very short. The rock is Mica-schist and the quality varies.

The Glen itself stretches for 11 km Northwest from Lochearnhead to Lix Toll, and is a major thoroughfare bisected by the busy A85 road, to Oban and Fort William, as well as an old railway, the River Ogle and a line of pylons. Gary Latter is probably being a bit harsh calling it the highlands least aesthetic glen, and while it does show signs of human impact, it nevertheless has it's charms. When the drone of the road drops, and all you can hear is the waterfall, the view down over Ben Ledi can seem almost tranquil.

On the East of the road lies The Sunny Side and on the West The Dark Side; it will come as no surpise that one of these catches the sun, and the other does not.

Contents 1 Directions 1.1 Parking 2 Access 3 History 4 The Climbing 4.1 Sunnyside Crags 4.2 The Dark Side Crags 4.3 Glen Ogle Bouldering 5 Sport Ticklists 6 Guidebooks

Directions

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The A85 passes through the Glen

Parking

Uphill 1 -(5/6 cars) A large, but rough carpark just after the viaduct.

Uphill 2 - (2/3 cars) Just over the brow of the hill, neat where the old railway path rejoins the road.

Downhill 1 - The tea van stop. Large carpark popular with bikers and tourists, due to the tea drinking potential

Downhill 2 - (1/2 cars) Small tarmaced layby

Downhill 3 - (2/3 cars) Small gravel layby. Take care exiting

Downhill 4 - NOW BLOCKED. Just after a bad bend

Access

The latest advice from MCofS is

There may be an occupied nest on White Wall on 'The Dark Side'. If so, this should be avoided. All other buttresses and climbs are unaffected.

In the past Buzzards have nested on Buzzard Wall, so pay attention here, and if they are present go elsewhere.

General advice on bird nesting can be found here: www.mcofs.org.uk/climbing-and-nesting-birds

If you are unsure, or have new information please contact MCofS ( www.mcofs.org.uk/access-reporting)

History

Glenogle (Gael. gleann-eagal, ' valley of dread ')

Back in 1872 the OS described Glen Ogle as "a close, gloomy defile" and a weren't too optomistic about the rock quality"Hundreds of runnels streak its cliffs, which look to have been shattered by shock of earthquake" [1]. Unsurprising then that it didn't really catch the attention of climbers until the early 1990's.

The Climbing

Because of the volume of routes in Glen Ogle the climbing section has been divided as follows;

(Click the links)

Sunnyside Crags

The North East flanks of Glen Ogle are scattered with several small crags containing sport climbs in the lower to mid grade range.

• The Warm-up: does what it says on the tin, if you warm up at 6a+
• The Asteriod:
• The Gap:
• The Gallery:
• Roadside Wall:
• Bournville:
• Overlord Buttress
• Creag Nan Cuilleann : A reasonably sized crag (26 routes). The main wall contains some trad routes as well as sport routes, the right wall contains sport routes in the sixes.
• Mirror Wall - small number of mid range sport routes which climb excellent pocketed rock.
• High Noon

The Dark Side Crags

The West side of Glen Ogle only catches the sun in the morning, and can be prone to midges. The climbing is generally short, steep and hard.

• Project Crag: 3-4 bolted but unclimbed lines, rumored to be F7c-F8a. Sadly the rock quality isn't great and there aren't many holds.
• Bond Buttress:
• Rainmaker Buttress:
• The Diamond: The main dark side crag
• Buzzard Wall:
• The Rave: Don't forget your glowsticks!
• The Galleon
• The Underworld: Micro-routes
• The Cascade
• Down Under
• Far Beyond: Often wet
• Concave Wall: lies above the north end of the viaduct crags

Glen Ogle Bouldering

Check out http://glenogleboulderingscotland.blogspot.com/

Sport Ticklists

Starred routes to tickle your fancy

5/5+	6a	F6a+	6b
	Loose Living	Short Sharp Shocked Mona Sleeza	The Greenhouse Defect Hot Chocolate
6b+	6c	F6c+	7a
Burnt Offerings Chimera Far Beyond Driven Driven to Distraction Ghost Trail	Metal Guru Arc of a Diver The Pack Horse The Guilt Trip	Cony the Calvanist Having a Little Flutter	Bold Finger Rush Blithe Spirit Face the Heat Restless Souls
7a+	7b	7b+	7c
Scaramanga Slave to the Rhythm Overkill	Children of the Revolution	The End Justifies the Means Chain Lightning	Fight Fire with Fire Tosser Velocity
7c+	8a	8a+	8b
	Spiral Tribe Off The Beaten Track	Solitare Ceasefire	Digital Quartz Snipe Shadow

Guidebooks

Guidebooks covering Glen Ogle include:

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