Liathach vs Aonach Eagach – Which is More Difficult?
Aonach Eagach is the short answer, in my opinion.
I say this despite the fact that:
- I had much better hiking and ground conditions on Aonach Eagach
- I had almost 3 years’ more scrambling experience under my belt on Liathach
Both are beautiful ridge scrambles in Scotland and both are utterly exceptional grade 2 mountain days out. But in my view, Aonach Eagach was the tougher of the two and I’m going to tell you why I thought this.
Aonach Eagach vs Liathach in Summary
| Liathach | Aonach Eagach | |
| Date of crossing | May 2025 | August 2022 |
| Who with? | Solo | Solo |
| Weather conditions? | Largely clear. It had snowed early morning though and there was some snow up at the highest elevations and a little bit of ice. | Clear, dry and mild temperatures. Pretty perfect for a scrambling day. |
| Overall hike distance | 12.49km | 16.94km |
| Overall elevation gain during the day | 1,336m | 1,234m |
| Overall hike time (from start to finish including any stops) | 8 hours 9 minutes | 7 hours 28 minutes |
Some things make this a really fair comparison:
- I traversed both solo
- I traversed both at a time of year with similar amounts of daylight
But I did have almost 3 years’ more experience when it came to Liathach.
Equally, I had better hiking and scrambling conditions on Aonach Eagach.
What makes Aonach Eagach more difficult than Liathach?
I keep reiterating this because it’s important. Difficulty is subjective.
I found both really manageable and thoroughly enjoyed both. But the things I would say make Aonach Eagach more difficult than Liathach are:
- Liathach has bypass paths. Make no mistake, the bypass paths are very narrow and exposed (I could see them from the pinnacles in parts and I did have a little walk back to check them out after the pinnacles too) but they’re largely walkable without the need for scrambling from what I could see
- I think there’s more down climbing on Liathach actually but I found the down scrambling more straightforward on Liathach than on Aonach Eagach
- Aonach Eagach has a really long descent back into Glencoe after the second Munro along the ridge, bringing it in at a longer hiking day. The Liathach descent was steep and laborious but didn’t feel as long – even with the road walk at the end
- Aonach Eagach, at its most exposed points, is more exposed than Liathach in my view
As I said though, both are immensely enjoyable scrambles with beautiful views. But I do think Liathach just edges it in terms of the views. I’ve never seen views quite as spectacular as those from the Torridon mountains.
Would I do either again?
I plan to do both again. Both are in joint contention for my favourite ever solo hiking day (though Aonach Eagach might just about, by a millimetre, edge it).
