Beinn Udlamain is a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 mountain which stands just to the west of the summit of the Pass of Drumochter

Pass of Drumochter

The Pass of Drumochter is the main mountain pass between the northern and southern central Scottish Highlands. The A9 road passes through here, as does the Highland Main Line, the railway between Inverness and the south of Scotland...

 and east of Loch Ericht

Loch Ericht

Loch Ericht is a freshwater loch on the border between Perth and Kinross and the Highlands Council areas of Scotland. It is situated at a height of 351 metres above sea level and has a north-east to south-west orientation. The village of Dalwhinnie lies at the north east end of the loch...

, some 30 km west-northwest of the village of Blair Atholl

Blair Atholl

Blair Atholl is a small town in Perthshire, Scotland, built about the confluence of the Rivers Tilt and Garry in one of the few areas of flat land in the midst of the Grampian Mountains. The Gaelic place-name Blair, from blàr, 'field, plain', refers to this location...

. The mountain’s summit stands on the border between the Highland

Highland (council area)

Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...

 and Perth and Kinross

Perth and Kinross

Perth and Kinross is one of 32 council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre...

 council areas.

Overview

At 1011 metres (3317 feet) Beinn Udlamain qualifies as a Munro

Munro

A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...

 and a Marilyn

Marilyn (hill)

A Marilyn is a mountain or hill in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland or Isle of Man with a relative height of at least 150 metres , regardless of absolute height or other merit...

. It is the highest of the Drumochter hills, however it is not the most eye catching of the group, being flat topped and shielded from a clear view from the A9 road by the surrounding Munros of Sgairneach Mhòr

Sgairneach Mhòr

Sgairneach Mhòr is a Scottish mountain which lies in a group of seven Munros near the summit of the Pass of Drumochter and are known as the Drumochter mountains or informerly as the “A9 Munros”...

 and A' Mharconaich

A' Mharconaich

A' Mharconaich is a Scottish mountain that is located 29 km WNW of Blair Atholl in the Highland council area. It is in a group of mountains that lie west of the A9 road near the summit of the Pass of Drumochter and are known accordingly as the Drumochter Hills...

. The best view of the mountain can be obtained from the other hills around Coire Dhomhain. The most common interpretation of the mountain’s name from the Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....

 language is “Gloomy Mountain” which comes from the word Ùdlaidh which means gloomy but can also mean secluded. Other explanations of the name put forward by mountain writers are “hill of the unsteady place” and “hill of the shaking”.

Geography

Beinn Udlamain has a long north-south orientated summit ridge which stays above the 970 metre contour for over 1.5 kilometres. This ridge continues to the south to a col

Mountain pass

A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

 with a height of 809 metres which links to the adjacent Munro of Sgairneach Mhòr. In the opposite direction this ridge swings NE to link to A' Mharconaich which lies three km distant. Beinn Udlamain’s slopes consist mostly of grass and heather with very little rock but they do drop steeply to the west towards Loch Ericht and to the east to the valley of the Allt Coire Dhomhain. On the northern side of the mountain are two grassy corries

Cirque

Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...

, the Glas-choire and the Fraoch-choire, which both drain NW into Loch Ericht. The mountain is crossed by an ancient line of iron fence posts which mark the old boundary between Perthshire

Perthshire

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

 and Invernesshire, this can be an aid to navigation in poor visibility.

The rolling topography of Beinn Udlamain and its adjoining peaks make it ideal ski touring country. The ski circuit of A' Mharconaich, Beinn Udlamain and Sgairneach Mhor is a classic route made popular by the close accessibility of the A9 road and the fact that the hills hold snow very well. Drainage from Beinn Udlamain goes to the east coast of Scotland either via Loch Ericht or the Allt Coire Dhomhain, both routes eventually join the River Tay

River Tay

The River Tay is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in the United Kingdom. The Tay originates in western Scotland on the slopes of Ben Lui , then flows easterly across the Highlands, through Loch Dochhart, Loch Lubhair and Loch Tay, then continues east through Strathtay , in...

.

Ascents and view

Beinn Udlamain is invariably ascended from the A9 road from near the summit of the Drumochter Pass at grid reference , which gives a starting altitude of 462 metres. From here the direct ascent goes up Coire Dhomhain to its head where the south ridge of the mountain can be followed to the summit. A complete round of all the peaks around Coire Dhomhain can be done from this starting point, including the two already mentioned Munros and the Corbett The Sow of Atholl

The Sow of Atholl

The Sow of Atholl is a Scottish hill which is situated 27 kilometres WNW of the town of Blair Atholl in Perth and Kinross council area...

. The summit of the mountain is marked by a large cairn

Cairn

Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...

 and wind shelter. The highlight of the view from the summit is to the SW where there is a fine view of a long stretch of Loch Ericht with the Ben Alder

Ben Alder

Ben Alder is the highest mountain in the remote area of the Scottish Highlands between Loch Ericht and Glen Spean. The vast summit plateau is home of one of Britain's highest bodies of standing water, Lochan a' Garbh Coire. It is the 25th highest Munro, and due to its remote location, one of the...

massif behind.