Caenlochan Glen is located east of Glas Maol behind the Glenshee ski area and offers some easily accessible ski touring and steep skiing. It features a South facing “sunny side”, and a North facing “dark side”, givng numerous aspects and terrain options.
Approach
There are three ways to get to Glas Maol from the A93 which then allow you drop into Caenlochan.
- The easiest option is to get a lift pass and use the Glenshee lifts - a short skin off the top of the Glas Maol lift will get you to the top of Glas Maol. There is currently (2017) a "tourers pass" available that allows single use of 3 lifts to get to the plateau.
- Alternatively, you can park just before the Glenshee car park (close to the telephone mast) and use the summer path to Glas Maol - this means touring very close to the Glenshee lifts and approach Glas Maol via Meall Odhar and the obvious ridge climbers right of the Maol bowl (~1 hour).
- The best option, provided there is good snow cover is to park close to the Devil’s Elbow (parking marked on map). Cross the little stream and follow it past the Leecann Dubh ridge. Swing left into the valley and approach Glas Maol via one of the faint ridges to arrive at the Glas Maol plateau close to the Cairn (marked on OS map) (~1 hour 15min). In good snow conditions this offers a absolutely fantastic descent all the way back to the car park.
An alternative approach is to park at the end of the road in Glen Isla, and follow the track, and then path round into Caenlochan, or follow the south ridge of Monega Hill to gain the plateau. A mountain bike would be useful for the landrover track.
Aspects
The North facing “Dark Side” offers numerous nice descents between 30-40 degrees and a great introduction to steep skiing in an easily accessible glen that still has a real “remote” feel to it. Banana Gully offers a great introduction to skiing in the area. The face beneath Little Glas Maol offers numerous nice ridges and faint gullies and descending off Monega Hill at the end of the plateau offers a really nice line in a great setting. You might see tracks of a snowmobile as a herd of deer are kept in this and neighbouring glens. The quickest way out of Caenlochan Glen is via Banana Gully.
In good snow conditions and good weather, the skiing on the South facing “Sunny Side” is fantastic. Either approach through Banana Gully having had a good view of the conditions from the plateau or ski from Glas Maol towards Cairn of Claise and then swing right and skin towards Druim Mòr. The bowl below Druim Mòr offers a great descent (keeping skiers left at the bottom for an exit which can be tricky). Sunny side offers many different shorter descents especially towards the bowl of the summer path to Caderg.
An excellent little film by Philip Ebert shows many of the descents, and is referred to in some of the related descriptions below.
Relevant Weather Forecasts