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Heading off to Skye soon, super excited for a couple of weeks of mountain action. We're not ready to tackle the full ridge just yet (not fast enough to do it in an enjoyable timescale), but we're aiming to do the Clach Glas - Blaven traverse as a taster as well as getting up Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir and any other peaks which take our fancy.
I've got the relevant guides, so just looking for tips. Looking at scrambling/mountaineering routes which pitches up to Diff rather than fully fledged climbing route, or just nice walks or even a decent lower level crag for cloudy days.
I've got the relevant guides, so just looking for tips. Looking at scrambling/mountaineering routes which pitches up to Diff rather than fully fledged climbing route, or just nice walks or even a decent lower level crag for cloudy days.
In reply to Oujmik:
The dubhs ridge is an excellent day out at moderate, with plenty of opportunities en route to choose slightly harder lines if desired. Bonus: no scree during ascent or descent.
The Lagan horseshoe is outstanding too, with nothing harder than diff' (unless you go looking). Loads of variety, brilliant scrambling, manageable down climbs, optional pitches and- of course- the finale being the in' pinn'.
Walk-in from glen brittle, up the stone chute, quick scramble to alisdair, back to above the TD gap, scramble up thaerlaich and down climb or abseil off. Collie's ledge for a bit then scary scramble or direct up king's chimney. Down climb down climb down climb. An stac if you want more scrambling (we didn't fancy it... Looks rather loose) or fire up the brown rake for easy access to the base of the pinn' for the finish. Walk off the front of dearg to descend to glen brittle. Lovely!
The dubhs ridge is an excellent day out at moderate, with plenty of opportunities en route to choose slightly harder lines if desired. Bonus: no scree during ascent or descent.
The Lagan horseshoe is outstanding too, with nothing harder than diff' (unless you go looking). Loads of variety, brilliant scrambling, manageable down climbs, optional pitches and- of course- the finale being the in' pinn'.
Walk-in from glen brittle, up the stone chute, quick scramble to alisdair, back to above the TD gap, scramble up thaerlaich and down climb or abseil off. Collie's ledge for a bit then scary scramble or direct up king's chimney. Down climb down climb down climb. An stac if you want more scrambling (we didn't fancy it... Looks rather loose) or fire up the brown rake for easy access to the base of the pinn' for the finish. Walk off the front of dearg to descend to glen brittle. Lovely!
In reply to don macb:
Aye I totally agree with your recommendations although on the round of Coire Lagan I much prefer to approach Alasdair via the western slopes of Sron na Ciche en route to Sgurr Sgumain. Have enjoyed this circuit a couple of times and "touch wood" I have yet to set foot in the Great Stone Chute
An Stac Buttress also well worth doing IMHO.
Aye I totally agree with your recommendations although on the round of Coire Lagan I much prefer to approach Alasdair via the western slopes of Sron na Ciche en route to Sgurr Sgumain. Have enjoyed this circuit a couple of times and "touch wood" I have yet to set foot in the Great Stone Chute
An Stac Buttress also well worth doing IMHO.
In reply to Joak:
Agreed. An Stac is unmissable and the suggestion can be further enhanced (for scramblers) with the ascent of Sgurr Sgumain directly from the lochan in Coire Lagan. It looks unlikely from below (and intimidating) and turns out to be an easy scramble bar 30m of Moderate (unprotected) climbing. Those who solo this and the Inn Pinn at the far side of the day will enjoy the UK's best scrambling day out. Even the wonderful Dubhs ridge, for all its beautiful setting, must play second fiddle to this outing, so varied are the challenges and summits, of which there are six, all distinct peaks.
I also highly recommend the round of Coire Ghreadhaidh best done anticlockwise from Glen Brittle.
Or the traverse of Bidean Druim nan Ramh and Sgurr a Mhaidhadh in either direction (on a clear day!!) for the most intricate section of ridge route finding and mountaineering obstacles (no more than Diff).
On driech days your best bet for some low-level cragging at middle grades and above is Neist Point. Get the Skye coast guide for this and other coastal crags. A good place to head mid-afternoon when the weather often takes a turn for the better, even on poor days.
Have a great time. Will be there for ten days in August myself.
Agreed. An Stac is unmissable and the suggestion can be further enhanced (for scramblers) with the ascent of Sgurr Sgumain directly from the lochan in Coire Lagan. It looks unlikely from below (and intimidating) and turns out to be an easy scramble bar 30m of Moderate (unprotected) climbing. Those who solo this and the Inn Pinn at the far side of the day will enjoy the UK's best scrambling day out. Even the wonderful Dubhs ridge, for all its beautiful setting, must play second fiddle to this outing, so varied are the challenges and summits, of which there are six, all distinct peaks.
I also highly recommend the round of Coire Ghreadhaidh best done anticlockwise from Glen Brittle.
Or the traverse of Bidean Druim nan Ramh and Sgurr a Mhaidhadh in either direction (on a clear day!!) for the most intricate section of ridge route finding and mountaineering obstacles (no more than Diff).
On driech days your best bet for some low-level cragging at middle grades and above is Neist Point. Get the Skye coast guide for this and other coastal crags. A good place to head mid-afternoon when the weather often takes a turn for the better, even on poor days.
Have a great time. Will be there for ten days in August myself.
In reply to Oujmik:
Damn... reading the above I'm now regretting bypassing an stac a little!
Furthermore: it might be worth following the above advice regarding the stone chute. I'd rather not use it if we're up from brittle again in the future (although I should state that it isn't quite as horrendous an ascent as folk make out, but still a bit of an unpleasant haul). Hmmmm....
Damn... reading the above I'm now regretting bypassing an stac a little!
Furthermore: it might be worth following the above advice regarding the stone chute. I'd rather not use it if we're up from brittle again in the future (although I should state that it isn't quite as horrendous an ascent as folk make out, but still a bit of an unpleasant haul). Hmmmm....
In reply to BnB:
All the sections BnB suggests make A1 research for the Traverse. Nail Eag descent, Thearlaich descent, Banachdaich descent, Mhadaidh & Bidean routes & Tooth to Basteir.
All the sections BnB suggests make A1 research for the Traverse. Nail Eag descent, Thearlaich descent, Banachdaich descent, Mhadaidh & Bidean routes & Tooth to Basteir.
In reply to Oujmik:
Another one for the rounds of Coire Lagan. We did it via the Sgumain stone shoot instead, and didn't do An Stac (which I regret), but still an amazing day out. Ran out of water, it was hot.
We did Sgurr Mhic Choinnich by King's Chimney, which looked quite intimidating from the descent of Thearlaich, but went easily enough (I was a VS leader at the time)
Finishing on the Inn Pinn as the sun set behind the Outer Hebrides was something I'll never forget.
The other highly enjoyable round, other than the superb Clach Glas-Bla Bheinn traverse, is the Coire Ghreadhaidh round. A little easier, but some of the knife edge ridge sections are outstanding.
Another one for the rounds of Coire Lagan. We did it via the Sgumain stone shoot instead, and didn't do An Stac (which I regret), but still an amazing day out. Ran out of water, it was hot.
We did Sgurr Mhic Choinnich by King's Chimney, which looked quite intimidating from the descent of Thearlaich, but went easily enough (I was a VS leader at the time)
Finishing on the Inn Pinn as the sun set behind the Outer Hebrides was something I'll never forget.
The other highly enjoyable round, other than the superb Clach Glas-Bla Bheinn traverse, is the Coire Ghreadhaidh round. A little easier, but some of the knife edge ridge sections are outstanding.
Post edited at 11:38
In reply to Oujmik:
Great, thanks for the suggestions. An Stac buttress looks cool, but how hard is it? I know it gets a mod but is it sustained climbing or is it pitches of Mod intermingled with easier stuff? We'd be roped up, but if we have to pitch and protect the whole route, we'll be there all day. I know some people solo it, but we're not that confident, plus having a rope and gear gives us a shot at the in-pin.
Great, thanks for the suggestions. An Stac buttress looks cool, but how hard is it? I know it gets a mod but is it sustained climbing or is it pitches of Mod intermingled with easier stuff? We'd be roped up, but if we have to pitch and protect the whole route, we'll be there all day. I know some people solo it, but we're not that confident, plus having a rope and gear gives us a shot at the in-pin.
In reply to Oujmik: An Stac is way easier than the guidebook suggests. First time I did it, we pitched a section then just chucked the rope in the bag and got on with it. You will want to pitch the Inn Pinn however.
In reply to Oujmik:
A classic Cuillin question that is impossible to answer because "how hard" is in the eye of the beholder. Key factors that will affect the answer will be-
1 Visibility- key to getting to the right place & finding the easiest line
2 Being on the right line- learn to recognise where others have been and when you're off route with no signs of wear or crampon marks. Cuillin routes are graded for the easiest line & off track will be harder
3 Wet- slippy rock feels a lot harder than dry; use An Stac bypass if wet.
4 Your confidence
5 Your partners confidence
You're barking up the right tree with pitching taking too long. On An Stac & along the whole Ridge there's rarely a section more than 10m long without a good natural ledge or block break. Mostly it's easy scrambling. The key technique you'll need is some short-rope cleverness. Keep most of the rope in your sack, keeping out 20m which is tied in by a fig 8 on bight to your harness. Coil 10m around you with a hard lock (this is in case you disagree with my 10m rule & want to run it further & rest around you with soft lock. Any worrying steps uncoil this, clip your partner on with fig 8 on bight straight into belay loop. Scramble the exposed move & bring them up on a very tight rope by hand or shoulder belay. Repeat until section is passed.
In doing this I encourage a Victorian mentality- they had no gear but used natural features & their rope cleverly. Most importantly they followed the rules of "leader mustn't fall" and "don't climb up something you can't climb down". If it becomes hard enough to warrant placing runners you're probably in the wrong place. In these cases either go back & find the right way or turn your situation into more of a conventional pitch.
Practise your coils, holding each other on shoulder belays etc before you arrive.
A classic Cuillin question that is impossible to answer because "how hard" is in the eye of the beholder. Key factors that will affect the answer will be-
1 Visibility- key to getting to the right place & finding the easiest line
2 Being on the right line- learn to recognise where others have been and when you're off route with no signs of wear or crampon marks. Cuillin routes are graded for the easiest line & off track will be harder
3 Wet- slippy rock feels a lot harder than dry; use An Stac bypass if wet.
4 Your confidence
5 Your partners confidence
You're barking up the right tree with pitching taking too long. On An Stac & along the whole Ridge there's rarely a section more than 10m long without a good natural ledge or block break. Mostly it's easy scrambling. The key technique you'll need is some short-rope cleverness. Keep most of the rope in your sack, keeping out 20m which is tied in by a fig 8 on bight to your harness. Coil 10m around you with a hard lock (this is in case you disagree with my 10m rule & want to run it further & rest around you with soft lock. Any worrying steps uncoil this, clip your partner on with fig 8 on bight straight into belay loop. Scramble the exposed move & bring them up on a very tight rope by hand or shoulder belay. Repeat until section is passed.
In doing this I encourage a Victorian mentality- they had no gear but used natural features & their rope cleverly. Most importantly they followed the rules of "leader mustn't fall" and "don't climb up something you can't climb down". If it becomes hard enough to warrant placing runners you're probably in the wrong place. In these cases either go back & find the right way or turn your situation into more of a conventional pitch.
Practise your coils, holding each other on shoulder belays etc before you arrive.
In reply to Mike Lates:
Cheers for the tips. I've been doing some more research over the last few days and it's blowing my mind! I knew the Cuillin was an incredibly craggy and complex area but the reality of that has only become fully apparent when trying to plan routes. Every millimetre of map has to be checked against the internet and the guidebook to check if it requires an abseil or a climb or some route-finding trickery.
It's going to be an exciting trip but I think we may have to be conservative with our route choices until we get a feel for it. The Coire Lagan round looks great but with multiple abs and harder pitches I think even that could overload our tiny minds and puny bodies.
Any tips for straightforward routes to help us calibrate? Something like a mid-grade scramble or Mod climb with an unchallenging approach and descent?
Also, in the Skye Scrambles guide is the convention simply that a scramble is easier than a climb (ie 1,2,3,Mod,Diff) or do they use the venerable guidebook writers' convention of using scrambling grades to denote things which are too loose or badly protected to give a climbing grade?
Cheers for the tips. I've been doing some more research over the last few days and it's blowing my mind! I knew the Cuillin was an incredibly craggy and complex area but the reality of that has only become fully apparent when trying to plan routes. Every millimetre of map has to be checked against the internet and the guidebook to check if it requires an abseil or a climb or some route-finding trickery.
It's going to be an exciting trip but I think we may have to be conservative with our route choices until we get a feel for it. The Coire Lagan round looks great but with multiple abs and harder pitches I think even that could overload our tiny minds and puny bodies.
Any tips for straightforward routes to help us calibrate? Something like a mid-grade scramble or Mod climb with an unchallenging approach and descent?
Also, in the Skye Scrambles guide is the convention simply that a scramble is easier than a climb (ie 1,2,3,Mod,Diff) or do they use the venerable guidebook writers' convention of using scrambling grades to denote things which are too loose or badly protected to give a climbing grade?
In reply to Oujmik:
Yes, Skye Scrambles is a great book for your needs. On the ridge this will be of much more use than a map (though just following your nose also comes in handy much of the time). The map is better just for approaching the hills.
All the scrambles should be easier than Diff (Mod is basically scrambling anyway).
Yes, Skye Scrambles is a great book for your needs. On the ridge this will be of much more use than a map (though just following your nose also comes in handy much of the time). The map is better just for approaching the hills.
All the scrambles should be easier than Diff (Mod is basically scrambling anyway).
In reply to Michael Gordon:
I'd go the other way around; all scrambling is just lower grade climbing. How "hard" you find it depend on all the factors above. The hard move on the E ridge of the Pinn is Moderate & a fine example of why moves of that grade shouldn't be underestimated. I'm often worried by it and numerous solo climbers change their minds & rope up there.
Read the small print about scrambling grades and translate "many will enjoy benefit of a rope" as being most people the moment it gets wet or windy!
Up An Dorus and across to Banachdaich is a great way to grasp some Cuillin nuances without enormous danger of getting lost or in trouble. Go home & reread the book to see what the description looks like retrospectively.
You're right, Coire Lagan round is about as major as it gets but very good aspiration to have.
Enjoy!
PS Put a shot of An Stac Direct terrain into my gallery today; childs play
I'd go the other way around; all scrambling is just lower grade climbing. How "hard" you find it depend on all the factors above. The hard move on the E ridge of the Pinn is Moderate & a fine example of why moves of that grade shouldn't be underestimated. I'm often worried by it and numerous solo climbers change their minds & rope up there.
Read the small print about scrambling grades and translate "many will enjoy benefit of a rope" as being most people the moment it gets wet or windy!
Up An Dorus and across to Banachdaich is a great way to grasp some Cuillin nuances without enormous danger of getting lost or in trouble. Go home & reread the book to see what the description looks like retrospectively.
You're right, Coire Lagan round is about as major as it gets but very good aspiration to have.
Enjoy!
PS Put a shot of An Stac Direct terrain into my gallery today; childs play
In reply to Mike Lates:
nice! looks rather more friendly from your en route perspective than it seemed to from below as we approached... now i definitely regret going the brown rake instead.
> PS Put a shot of An Stac Direct terrain into my gallery today; childs play
nice! looks rather more friendly from your en route perspective than it seemed to from below as we approached... now i definitely regret going the brown rake instead.
In reply to Mike Lates:
Thanks for the picture Mike, it does look fairly straightforward if a little loose. Could be a nice warm-up for the in-pin. Handily, your picture also has the approach (An Stac screes or rock ribs) in the background - very useful for my research. This route is now firmly on the to-do list. Any tips for must do routes on the Blaven group other than the traverse?
Thanks for the picture Mike, it does look fairly straightforward if a little loose. Could be a nice warm-up for the in-pin. Handily, your picture also has the approach (An Stac screes or rock ribs) in the background - very useful for my research. This route is now firmly on the to-do list. Any tips for must do routes on the Blaven group other than the traverse?
In reply to Oujmik:
Best line up the screes is up boulders lying between the white run to the left in pic & next grey run.
Garbh bheinn makes a good simple scramble for a quiet day; complete the circuit to Glas Bheinn Mor for some solitude.
Best line up the screes is up boulders lying between the white run to the left in pic & next grey run.
Garbh bheinn makes a good simple scramble for a quiet day; complete the circuit to Glas Bheinn Mor for some solitude.
In reply to Oujmik:
I found the Coire Lagan round pretty straightforward, me and my old man carried a rope but never used it until the abseil off the Pinn and he isn’t a climber at all (a hill walker though).
An Stac direct is a quality line worthy of three or more stars for the position, and no where near as loose as the old books describe it. I found the scrambling straightforward but for the length and the exposure it is certainly not to be underestimated. Can’t say I noticed much gear to be used as the rock is quite compact around that area if I remember correctly.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=561324947267613&set=a.561322...
Inn Pinn is a great way to finish the day off and the one tricky move is over quite quickly, we managed it in the rain one day with snow on the ledges and wearing winter gloves and big boots. All about the conditions on the day and how comfortable you feel soloing.
It’s a great place though so don’t forget to have fun!
I found the Coire Lagan round pretty straightforward, me and my old man carried a rope but never used it until the abseil off the Pinn and he isn’t a climber at all (a hill walker though).
An Stac direct is a quality line worthy of three or more stars for the position, and no where near as loose as the old books describe it. I found the scrambling straightforward but for the length and the exposure it is certainly not to be underestimated. Can’t say I noticed much gear to be used as the rock is quite compact around that area if I remember correctly.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=561324947267613&set=a.561322...
Inn Pinn is a great way to finish the day off and the one tricky move is over quite quickly, we managed it in the rain one day with snow on the ledges and wearing winter gloves and big boots. All about the conditions on the day and how comfortable you feel soloing.
It’s a great place though so don’t forget to have fun!
In reply to Oujmik:
One additional point. Don't underestimate the Clach Glas-Bla Bheinn traverse, in my opinion its quite serious, or would be in anything but perfect conditions. Parts are very exposed. The climbing/scrambling standard isn't too hard, and most won't rope up at all on the day, but route finding can be a little tricky, especially on the descent from CG towards BB, so you want good conditions.
Its one of the best mountain days you'll ever have in the UK, and Clach Glas is in my opinion the finest summit I've been on in Scotland. I'm rather jealous, hope you get as good weather as my own first trip to the Cuillin, 23 years ago.
One additional point. Don't underestimate the Clach Glas-Bla Bheinn traverse, in my opinion its quite serious, or would be in anything but perfect conditions. Parts are very exposed. The climbing/scrambling standard isn't too hard, and most won't rope up at all on the day, but route finding can be a little tricky, especially on the descent from CG towards BB, so you want good conditions.
Its one of the best mountain days you'll ever have in the UK, and Clach Glas is in my opinion the finest summit I've been on in Scotland. I'm rather jealous, hope you get as good weather as my own first trip to the Cuillin, 23 years ago.
In reply to Oujmik: We're halfway through our time on Skye and the weather is not being especially kind, although could be alot worse. We got up Sgur nan Gillean yesterday but only by the tourist trail as we didn't want to go draught in with Pinnacle Ridge. The weather for next week looks appalling but if the forecast is revised favourably we're planning to do the blaven traverse, bruac na frithe and a possible inn pinn sgurr na banadich combo.
Is the approach to clach glas via coire a'caise disgustingly unpleasant?
Any tips on fun things to do when there's an ex hurricane nearby??
Is the approach to clach glas via coire a'caise disgustingly unpleasant?
Any tips on fun things to do when there's an ex hurricane nearby??
In reply to Oujmik:
Not one for the wind, but I'd prefer the In Pinn to Clach Glas - Blaven in wet weather.
Not one for the wind, but I'd prefer the In Pinn to Clach Glas - Blaven in wet weather.
In reply to Oujmik:
hopefully you had a good one today. try sgurr an fheadain by the spur tomorrow morning; looks like rain about 11/12ish. allow 4-5 hr for the circuit.
hopefully you had a good one today. try sgurr an fheadain by the spur tomorrow morning; looks like rain about 11/12ish. allow 4-5 hr for the circuit.
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