The Boys' Brigade Mountaineering Club

Cairn Gorm / An Càrn Gorm is the 6th highest peak in the British Isles and the lowest 4,000 ft peak in the Cairngorms range. On its north western slopes, is a large bowl called Coire Cas (Steep Corrie), which contains the Cairngorm Mountain ski resort, complete with a funicular railway that can carry skiers up to 1,097 m (3,599 ft), where they can enjoy food and drink at the Ptarmigan Restaurant. On the summit of the mountain is a radio relay station and mast. It is strange that the mountain has given its name to the whole range in English, but this is possibly because it is at the north end of the range and is most dominant when viewed from Speyside. However, in Gaelic, the range is called Am Monadh Ruadh (The Red Hills), due to the pink colour of the granite bedrock of which it consists.

See its entries on Walkhighlands or Wikipedia or view it from above on Google Earth.

Cairn is an anglicisation of Càrn, which is normally a stoney mountain, in most parts of Scotland, but not in North East Scotland, where it is best translated as just Peak, Mountain or Hill. The change from Càrn to Cairn is quite common in North East Scotland and took place a long time ago.

Gorm is the colour Blue, but it can also mean Blue-Green and, when applied to grass or other vegetation, it can even be translated as Green. However, Cairn Gorm doesn't look very green and Gorm is almost certainly best translated as Blue. Thus Cairn Gorm is usually translated as Blue Mountain. Perhaps it was so named, because, when viewed from a distance, it appears to be tinged blue. This is a common effect, because the atmosphere, over distance, will filter out the red wavelengths from the spectrum.