Sgùrr a' Mhàim

Sgùrr a' Mhaim, at 1,099 metres, is the fourth and final Munro of the classic Ring of Steall circuit and the highest point on the whole walk, its quartzite summit giving it the appearance from a distance of being permanently snow-capped.

Reached from Am Bodach via Sgùrr an Iubhair — a substantial top, briefly a Munro itself between 1981 and 1997 before demotion — the route turns north onto the celebrated Devil's Ridge. This begins easily, descending to a wide bealach before traversing the exposed but mainly grassy top of Stob Coire a' Mhàil; a trickier section of shattered rock follows on the descent, scramble-able directly but usually avoided via a bypass path slightly left, before a final rock step is down-climbed diagonally from right to left. Beyond, the ridge continues easily on quartzite stones to Sgùrr a' Mhaim's large, untidy summit cairn, with Stob Bàn looking especially fine to the south-west and views said to stretch from the Paps of Jura to Schiehallion on a clear day.

The descent is critical to get right: walkers must not attempt the north-east ridge towards Steall, which has steep, dangerous ground much lower down and has been the site of fatal accidents. Instead, the correct route follows the easier north-west ridge down shattered quartzite, becoming grassier but remaining unrelentingly steep, eventually reaching a path above the Allt Coire a' Mhusgain that leads back down to the road near the Lower Falls car park.

The full Ring of Steall circuit is around 18 kilometres with roughly 1,680 metres of ascent, typically eight to ten hours; most parties tackle the round clockwise, saving the steep but well-understood descent from Sgùrr a' Mhaim for last rather than climbing it early.

The Devil's Ridge itself is technically straightforward outwith winter and easier than its dramatic name suggests, but the critical navigational point is avoiding the dangerous north-east ridge on the way down — this has proven fatal to walkers who mistakenly followed it, so the correct north-west descent route must be confirmed before leaving the summit.

The Lower Falls car park at Polldubh is chargeable; a seasonal bus runs up Glen Nevis from Fort William between May and September.