Creise

Creise
Argyllshire
Creise (L) and Meall a' Bhuiridh (R)
Summit:	3,609 feet NN238506 56°36’51"N, 4°52’22"W

Creise is a mountain in Argyllshire, which reaches an impressive height of 3,609 feet at its summit, and so it qualifies as a Munro.

Creise stands at the eastern end of Glen Coe, just to the south of the A82 road, some 16 miles south of Fort William.

Names

The name 'Creise' (ˈkreɪʃ) is from the Gaelic language. The whole mountain was previously known as Clach Leathad ("Stony Slope") in the Munro Tables before 1981, but its name was changed to 'Creise' when the highest point was found to be ¾ mile further north along the summit ridge when using new mapping techniques, at a top known as Creise. Clach Leathad remains the name of the subsidiary top originally identified.

For many years the meaning of 'Creise' was unknown, but Irvine Butterfield now says that "creis" means grease or fat and refers to the rich grazing land around the hill which was used in the past by Glen Coe herdsman to fatten their cattle.

Overview

Creise along with Meall a' Bhuiridh, Stob Ghabhar and Stob a' Choire Odhair is one of the four Black Mount Munros, it reaches a height of 3,609 feet and is a hill that is well known to skiers as well as walkers being situated next to the White Corries ski area from where it is often climbed along with adjoining Meall a' Bhuiridh. The two mountains make a popular traverse with cross-country skiers. The mountain is well seen from the A82 road and the Kings House Hotel, showing its steep and craggy northern buttress of Sròn na Creise.

Geography

Creise is a long whaleback of a mountain, oriented north to south. It has a two-mile-long summit ridge with four distinct high points:

• Clach Leathad (Clachlet), 3,605 feet, NN240493, is the southernmost top. Its height is just three feet lower than the main summit. Up to the 1970s it was regarded as the highest point of the mountain. It was downgraded to a "Munro Top" in the 1981 edition of Munro's Tables.

Mam Coire Easain, 3,510 feet, is 750 yards north of Clach Leathad along the ridge. It was formerly listed as a "Munro Top" but deleted from the tables in 1981. It is strategically important as it stands at the head of the ridge linking the mountain to Meall a' Bhuiridh.

Creise main summit, 3,609 feet, NN238506, stands a further 700 yards north. It was previously an unnamed Munro Top on OS maps before being promoted to Munro in 1981.

Stob a' Ghlais Choire, 3,268 feet, NN239516, a Munro Top which stands at the northern end of the ridge above the crags of Sròn na Creise which fall steeply to the valley of the River Etive.

Sròn na Creise offers a challenging scrambler's route to the summit, but needs care in winter as several serious accidents have occurred on the crags. Rainfall on Creise finds its way to both coasts of Scotland.

Drainage from the south of the mountain (Clach Leathad) flows into Coire Ba, one of the biggest corries in the Highlands, and arrives at the east coast at the Firth of Tay by way of the Rivers Ba, Tummel and Tay. All other drainage from the mountain is by way of Glen Etive and Loch Etive to the west coast near Oban.

The northern cliffs of Creise tower behind the Kings House Hotel

Ascents

The most popular ascent of Creise along with the neighbouring Meall a' Bhuiridh starts at the White Corries ski Centre (grid reference NN266525) and climbs Meall a' Bhuiridh first by following the line of the ski chair lift (no self-respecting mountaineer would use the lift). The lifts and tows go right up to the summit of the mountain. The continuation to Creise goes SW and then west over a col with a height of 3,058 ft which connects the two mountains to reach the summit plateau of Creise. A direct ascent from the same starting point goes west across moorland to reach the foot of Sròn na Creise, it is then a scrambler's route up to the northern end of the summit ridge.

The hill can also be climbed as part of the Clachlet Traverse, a 15-mile classic walk between the Inveroran Inn at Bridge of Orchy and the Kings House Inn in Glen Coe taking all four of the Black Mount Munros with over a mile of ascent. The view from the summit takes in a close up of the cliffs of Buachaille Etive Mòr and the western part of Rannoch Moor

Buachaille Etive Mòr seen from the summit of Creise

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Creise)

Further reading

• The Munros, Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 1986, Donald Bennett (Editor) ISBN 0-907521-13-4
• In the Hills of Breadalbane, V.A. Firsoff, no ISBN
• The Munros, Scotland's Highest Mountains, Cameron McNeish, ISBN 1-84204-082-0
• The Magic Of The Munros, Irvine Butterfield, ISBN 0-7153-2168-4
• Hamish's Mountain Walk, Hamish Brown, ISBN 1-898573-08-5