UKC

I'm starting to realise that although Scottish cragging is great, it is generally rather steep. Obviously steep is fun but slabby is fun too and it seems Scottish slabs are somewhat spread out. Can anyone add any more to the list below of accessible mid-grade / low-extreme slab venues?? No big mountain stuff, no classic VDiffs and no Etive please, I know about these and they aren't of interest.

Galloway - Larbrax, Meikle Ross, Portobello, Kiln O Fuffock, Llaggantalluch
Arrochar - Glen Croe Far Crags, Loch Sloy, Arvorlich
Glen Nevis - Blacks Buttress, High Crag, Whale Rock, Wave Buttress
Ardnamurchan - Ring Crags
Mull - Scoor
Weem - front faces
Birnham Quarry
Rosehearty - Murcurry Inner Wall
Diabeg - Pillar, Main Wall, Condome
Loch Tollaidh - Stripteaser etc
Loch Tollie - The Bug etc
Gruinard - some crags
Rhiconich - some crags

Ta,
Fiend

In reply to Fiend:

+ Secretaries Buttress (NB Super Direct & Twitch), Pandora's Buttress (Phantom Slab) etc.

Polney Crag at Dunkeld.

Indian Slab Crag up Glen Gour if you can take the walk-in.

In reply to Fiend: Ardverikie Wall.

In reply to Fiend:

Some of the slab problems on the Dumbarton boulders are fun - and as long as some gritstone routes!

Trundle and Walk on the Wild Side at Auchinstarry qualify as slab routes.

In reply to Fiend:
Ridgeway view crag, and thereabouts. Not saying it's worth a special trip, mind.
Caithness? Scarlet Pimpernel looks pretty slabby in the pics.

In reply to Fiend:

Some slabby stuff on the Western Sector at the Pass of Ballater - Silent Spring (+ Supercreeps, Medium Cool etc). Worth a look since Andy Nisbet gave it a clean earlier in the month.

Creag Ghlas might be worth another visit outside of tick/midge season.

In reply to John Henry Bull:

Casteail Ruadh just down the road has a nice slab on it but it is a 45 minute walk in.

There's good slab climbing at Achmelvich on the obvious crag above the loch on the track back to Lochinver. A bit undergraded though.

There are slabs up Strathconnon aren't there, just above the river?

Plague O'blazes in Glen Nevis is a good slab climb with an overhanging finish. Gawping Grockles on the other side of the river is also good but technically perhaps not a slab. The E4 beside it is probably is a slab though.

Isn't there a big slab right next to the road on the way over to Scoraig from Dundonnel?

In reply to Fiend: There are some slabby climbs on the NE seacliffs, Grey Mare Slabs would be the most obvious.

Someone else has mentioned the Pass of Ballater, climbs such as Strawberry Ripple are slabs

And isn't Raven Crag near Gairloch slabby ?

In reply to Fiend: Arderikie Wall is a slab so presumably the harder routes around it are also slabby, and before you whine "that's a mountain route", don't be so f€%#*^g lazy.

In reply to Fiend: There's a few slabby routes at Diabeg. They are steep slabs though, Route 1 and 2 (and I think the first pitch of Route 2 is more like a wall and is steep, but the 2nd pitch follows a crack up a steep slab) There's a VS called Boab's Corner which was hideously slabby (don't like slabs so it felt hideous to me.

In reply to Fiend:

Arran - lots of crags.

In reply to Fiend: Seem to remember there being a few at Polldubh...

In reply to TobyA:

To be fair to Fiend the fact he's still recovering from fairly extensive medical problems in the leg department, so the walk in may be an issue. But he is lazy too

In reply to bentley's biceps:

Aren't most climbers fundamentally lazy ?? (people I know will drive miles to get to a crag where you can belay from the car !!) ..(I am of course excluding Alpinists etc whose sanity is gravely in doubt !!) ..

In reply to Fiend:
couple more Kingussie, Tynrich Slabs

In reply to Doug:

Some great slabby routes on Stone Valley Crag (eg Open Secret, Bald Eagle) and probably some of the other Gairloch Crags.

Also some tasty photos of Badrallach Crag on pp302–4 of Northern Highlands Central although I haven't been there yet. Might not give Fiend that much to go at with just a couple of routes above VS, but looks like proper slab climbing to me!

In reply to Fiend:
there's a couple of slabby routes at traprain, not sure if they are worth driving through from the west for though

In reply to GrahamD:

Walk ins on Arran might be a put off though.

In reply to John Henry Bull:


It's Sarclet Pimpernel!, that being the point of the route name. [Sorry, it's not often I get to show off my utterly meagre knowledge of Scottish climbing ] Anyhow, he's done it.

In reply to Fiend:

Sub station(or similar) crag on the track up to Loch Sloy. Looks like a pretty nice slab with some low E's I think.

In reply to Fiend: Surface Tension at Auchinstarry? Never steeper than 80 degrees at most and brilliant with it.

Public Spirited in Cambu?

In reply to Fiend:

Plague of Blazes in Glen nevis is a must.

There are several other quality slab routes in the area (Parisian Walkway, Phantom Slab)

In reply to all:

Thanks for the suggestions, a few of them even fit the criteria



Yup I forgot all the names, there's many there I know. Maybe it is the mecca??


I considered that but it's mostly easy stuff.


Unlikely!


Not mid-grade/low-extreme.


And no they don't look like in the guide.


It's only really BNI and it's variants. Nasty business!


True there are a few at Auchinstarry, I should have mentioned that.


That's the one I meant in the Rhiconich area, yes.


It is. However most of the other similar / harder stuff in the area is steep.


Yeah that's one.


Too much of a mountain I think?? Looks like a true slab mecca but might be too far to walk for me.


Will look into.


OH yes I remember seeing that in NHN.


Yes there are, that's a good idea. I tried something up there on a hot midgy day and it was horrendous, but there might be more.


Yes plenty there, my buttresses were just an example.


Dunno, is there??


Not mid-grade/low-extreme tho. Most NE stuff at that standard is steep....or very steep....or stupidly steep.


Not mid-grade/low-extreme.


Already mentioned Diabeg.


Too mountainous / not accessible.


Already mentioned.


Kingussie isn't mid-grade/low-extreme. Tynrich sounds like it has potential though.


Yes Stone Valley might have some in the mid-grades as well.



Not mid-grade/low-extreme.


Already mentioned. It is bloody brilliant.


Not mid-grade/low-extreme. Looks ace but have been warned it's hard. One for the future.


Not really slabby enough.



So I can add: Auchinstarry, Ballater, Tynrich Slabs, Strathconnon, Stone Valley Crag, Achmelvich and maybe a couple of others.

I think I'll be spending a lot more time in Glen Nevis then! Or persuading the landowner to open to track to Creag Ghlas...

In reply to Fiend:


Last time I was there it was unlocked, with no discouraging signage and a track that could easily be driven. We didnt chance getting locked in though; how are you on a bike?

To be honest the steep approach to the crag is pretty horrible; might be a bigger issue than the track.

In reply to Fiend:

Just curious how you're defining mid-grade etc. when it looks like you're starting it somewhere above HS or even VS? So... solid VS/HVS with low-extreme from E1, or is Fiend mid-grade more like HVS/E1 with low-extreme taking over at E2/3?

Whatever, I think you'd like the two routes I suggested on Secretaries Buttress because they're true thin slab climbing on true slabs!

In reply to petestack:

Or maybe mid-grade's synonymous with low-extreme and you're just confusing us by using both for clarity?

In reply to Fiend:

So what dont you like about Etive?

In reply to Fiend:

hOw aBOUt tHe EtiVe SlabS yOU nERd?

In reply to Fiend:
"Kingussie isn't mid-grade/low-extreme"
not that I've climbed there but Kingussie has 13 routes at HVS and above

In reply to CurlyStevo:

But no-one seems to climb on the Side Wall anymore and you couldn't call the other stiffer routes (eg LH and RH Cracks) slabby either.

In reply to Fiend:

Suckers Slab and Sorcerers Slab and Antimatter (to name but 3) are not on BNI boulder, and the landings are not potentially terminal

I found a weekend's climbing on Etive good training for those routes on the way back home - but that was 35 years ago, and I can't imagine they've got less polished nowadays but at least there's sticky rubber to compensate for the lack of holds.

In reply to petestack:

E0

In reply to Jamie Bankhead:
It was unlocked both times we were there too, but didn't want to chance getting locked in so cycled. The heather slog up the hill from the track is pretty horrible though, and we accumulated a few ticks in late April. Don't ticks release a coagulant? Might be good for you Fiend!

A few slabby routes at Reiff, but exceptiosn rather than the rule and a couple of slabbier things on Stac Pollaidh, but a bit of a walk.