Like the rest of the range it is composed of gabbro, a rock with excellent grip for mountaineering.

[3] As with other hills of the Cuillin, a head for heights and scrambling ability are needed to attain the summit.

The least technical route follows a feature known as the "Great Stone Chute", a scree gully that leads up from the corrie of Coire Lagan to a bealach just below the main ridge.

From this col, a pleasant scramble (Grade 2 standard) up the well scratched east ridge leads to the narrow summit.

[4] Other routes require scrambling ability or rock climbing; while there are rock climbs directly up the flanks, the only other way of reaching the summit via a ridge is the south-west ridge, a Grade 3 scramble that begins up a scratched chimney which can be accessed from the summit of Sgùrr Sgumain or from Coir' a' Ghrunnda; there is also a slightly easier route from the top of this chimney directly up a shallow gully on the south face.