UKC

Perhaps one for Mike Lates this, but all contributions welcome. I'll be on Skye all next week with a climbing pal. Forecast suggests that we won't be able to spend every minute up on the ridge: storm force winds, rain, yetis, the usual.

Is the rock in any of the usual coastal rock venues safe to climb in the wet? Elgol? Neist? Suishnish?

Thanks for any help.

In reply to BnB:

Dunno about actually in the wet, but you might find that Neist or possibly Kilt or Rubha Hunish are dry when the Cuillin are wet. Then again maybe not.

Elgol is sandstone, so probably best to give it a miss in the wet. Suishnish has really odd rock from memory, wouldn't know if it was climbable in the wet though, but the place is definitely worth a visit. Raasay also tends to catch less rain and is a great place to visit if you haven't been. Not the easiest to reach the crags though & you'd need to bring the car. The climbing's pretty good though & on gneiss for the most part.

HTH.

In reply to BnB:

Can't think of any crags that would be much fun in the wet, but Neist is quick-drying and often escapes the worst of the rain.

In reply to BnB:
Elgol is doable in the wet - it's not as delicate as county or southern sandstone, and you tend to take care with the more brittle-looking features there anyway. Some of the jugs near the bottom of the crag are almost permanent pools. It also dries quickly with a bit of wind.

Mind you if it's stormy, the bottom of the cliff might not be a nice place.

I would avoid the dolerite crags like Neist and Kilt in the wet.

In reply to BnB:

Thanks for the replies so far. I had thought Elgol would be a good shot. There won't be much chance avoiding the rain so it's recommendations for wet rock that I'm after. Any other thoughts? Braes for dry tooling perhaps?

In reply to BnB:

Note I'm not saying Elgol will actually be FUN if it's wet...

In reply to BnB:


How can you possibly know that a week away?

In reply to BnB:

Suishnish is quick drying and a nice walk. Staffin slip introductory is worth a look-plenty of routes not mentioned in the guide, also the small sea cliff below the road accessed from the same spot. Both will dry instantly and it is a one minute dash back to your vehicle-some good routes at mid grades. At Neist Poverty point, destitution point and conductor cove all dry quickly, depending on swell and below the steps is also a good choice. Rock fall on sea cliffs is not uncommon after big storms and we have had lots of big storms...

In reply to Jamie B:

Have you seen the forecast?

In reply to BnB:


Only in the minds of the truly depressed does rain fall constantly for a week. It is the very nature of stormy Atlantic frontal systems that weather passes through quickly and is dynamic and quick-changing. There will be dry spells, although possibly not full days. During those dry spells you should go to Neist as it drys fast.

http://www.xcweather.co.uk/forecast/glendale

In reply to Jamie B:

Thanks for the help Jamie but I do actually own a house on Skye and have done so for the past ten years. I'm well versed in finding dry interludes between the showers. In fact I would go so far as to say I know all the sheltered spots depending on wind direction etc.

It's the rock climbing I'm relatively new at so just trying to find out which are safe(ish) to climb when wet, not which might dry quickly. Sorry if I didn't phrase the question accurately.

In reply to BnB:

I went looking for this one once on a minging day. Judging by the comments I was lucky not to find it: http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=118303

In reply to davidbeynon:

Nah, it's good fun, as a mini-adventure and something a bit different; if you're looking for high quality technical climbing it'll be a bit of a disappointment.

I see one commenter didn't like it, but they also say they didn't actually do it!

"loose, stinking, minging, freezing cold and soaking wet cave where it feels like you might catch some sort of haemorrhagic fever"

- I don't remember it being worryingly loose; I'm anosmic so can't comment on whether it stinks. The cave's muddy. It may well be cold and wet, but I didn't catch any sort of haemorrhagic fever!

In reply to skog:

Actually I quite like that sort of thing normally, but if I had found it and made my partner climb it I probably wouldn't have ended up getting married

In reply to davidbeynon:

Heh, but what could possibly be more romantic than a mucky subterranean adventure?!

In reply to skog:

I will ask her later.

In reply to skog:



Haha, I was pissed off after a seriously crappy day out. Was pretty funny in hindsight, but - yes and despite having not actually done it - I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as a wet weather option. The place is pretty incredible though, well worth a walk up there.

In reply to Tom Last:

If I hadn't already had the experience, your comment would probably just encourage me to go anyway!

To be fair, it might be more pleasant on a dry day, but I think it suffers less from poor weather than most of Skye's climbing options.

In reply to skog:

That's the spirit! I too like that sort of thing usually, but there's only so much wetness I can take, felt more like cave diving than climbing. The loose blocks were on the approach through the cave iirc. Can well imagine it'd be good fun in the dry.

The other routes like the big E1s up there look ace. Atmospheric place.

Certainly wouldn't want to put anyone off from finding out for themselves anyway - just stock up on the antivirals!

In reply to Tom Last:

Heh! On reflection, a wetsuit might be an idea...