UKC

Hi everyone !

I'm planning a trip with the Edinburgh Napier University Climbing Club and we'd like to go to isle of Skye.
I've been looking for climbs there but it seems that there's only trad, unfortunately we're a very young club with mostly inexperienced members so we don't have much gear for trad and most of us don't have the level to go on trad.
If any of you know some sports climbs in Isle of Skye, please let me know !
I'm also very open to any ideas about locations that could be good for the club.
(To be sure I'm clear enough, I'm looking for outdoor climbing with grades from 4 to 7 EQUIPPED with bolts)

Thanks in advance !

Jeremy, on behalf of the Napier Rock Climbing Club

In reply to jerembray:

To avoid disappointment change one of your two requirements: either not Skye or not sport climbing.

In reply to jerembray:

Or enjoy the fabulous scrambling/easy climbing on the ridge for which at most a 40m rope and a few wires and slings are required. You won't find anything else in the UK that comes close. But you definitely won't find any sport climbing.

In reply to jerembray:

If you're looking for sport up north, perhaps you could look at the area around Gairloch? There are quite a few bolted gneiss crags in Wester Ross. I don't think there's any sport on Skye, as most of the rock is protectable with gear.

Also, if you're looking for a selection of good climbs in that grade range, there's a good guidebook called 7a Max which will cater for you.

In reply to jerembray:

I can confirm that there are in fact 2 bolted routes on the island. They were a bit of a mistake and we don't mention them now.

Alternatively, if you want to enjoy the very best of what the island has to offer - ridges, mountain routes, sea-cliffs, etc - why not consider hiring a local instructor?

In reply to Jamie B:

>there are in fact 2 bolted routes on the island. we don't mention them now.

You just have.

In reply to jerembray:









Does nobody in the club realise that Skye isn't a place to go sport climbing - really?


Chris

In reply to jerembray:

Jesus wept this is painful to read. Go scrambling in some of the finest mountains, anywhere, ever. Please.

In reply to Removed User:


The sad thing is that if someone had started a similar thread maybe 10 years ago about Wester Ross, it would have got a similar response. Now it is being recommended as a more suitable alternative for sports climbing.

In reply to Jamie B:



Really?

I thought Mike had removed the hangers and left the studs sticking out!

Unless you are thinking of two routes I don't know about.

In reply to Removed User:


Absolutely.

[To the OP]

If you've got a decent ratio of experienced (and they really are experienced) people to inexperienced people, it would be a great trip for everybody - one that they'll likely remember in 40 or 50 years time. It'll probably pour down cats and dogs - who cares? Skye is a magical place.

Just please be careful - if you don't treat mountains with respect, they'll have your guts for garters.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ward:

This must be a troll.

It doesn't reflect very well on the calibre of the university's students that in this age of google and the internet that this question is even being asked. Presumably the OP is one of the more experienced club members, perhaps in some sort of leadership role. Talk about the blind leading the blind.

PS I'm off to Cuba soon and can anyone advise on winter climbing and local ethics.

In reply to atrendall:

You may well be right - and I can't argue with any of your other points. I suppose I always take the view that where safety is an issue (and it sounds as though it may be an underlying issue here) you have to treat a post as genuine. If you end up with egg on your face (yum, yum!) well I'm not too bothered.

Re Uni groups, I see enough of them at The Cuttings and they're generally very well organised indeed. Southampton Uni seems to have turned out a lot of really sound trad climbers, courtesy of Harry Massey and others. And I remember being at the Sea Walls a few years ago, when Bristol Uni were doing some training sessions for newcomers. Bloody hell, they were superbly organised and the quality of instruction was superlative.

So maybe there are rays of hope for these young 'uns!

Mick

In reply to jerembray:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scottish-Sport-Climbs-Mountaineering-Climbers/dp/19...

In reply to atrendall:


From "Jeremy Bray"? really? (Although I thought it was traditionally Geoffrey that brayed)

In reply to Andy Hardy:




He's on their FB page and it looks like quite a few of them are from elsewhere in europe, so they may well have limited trad experience. He's done the google thing now he's asking if any locals can help with stuff that might not be in the guides.

It's not like he's asking people where he can hire a drill and some bits so he can do his own thing.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Going by the example of mainland Scotland, I'm actually surprised (but heartened) that there is no sport on Skye.

In reply to Michael Gordon:


So am I. And I'm not sure that the reason is that Skye rock is more easily protected than mainland rock.

In reply to Robert Durran:

As a part time resident of Skye I'm continually amazed at how limited the climbing activity is there. If it were 4 hours from Leeds and Manchester the island would be rammed every day. The wonderful range of climbing throughout Scotland goes some way to explaining it, of course.

In reply to atrendall:



It doesn't reflect well on this forum that in the age of google experienced people are coming out with trite and unhelpful response. It seems this club has been set up by inexperienced people who didn't have a climbing club to join, if it's a troll it's ridiculously elaborate (they have a webpage).

In reply to jerembray:

I had a quick look at the club website, and reading the OP I get the impression lack of experience may be a big issue atm (which you've been perfectly honest about). I wonder if the climbing walls you use could help you organise a weekend with some training included?

Plas y Brenin would be a good location for England and Wales, maybe someone could suggest somewhere similar north of the border?

The other way would be to stick to low grade sport venues in Scotland, but then your club wouldn't get the breadth of experience people would expect from a climbing club.

In reply to Mike Stretford:

Perhaps my response was trite and unhelpful but how hard is it to check out the crag data base on this site etc.
As for inexperienced people not having a climbing club to join in Edinburgh... a simple google search reveals almost 200,000 hits for "Edinburgh climbing clubs". Perhaps they could join or liase with one of the multitude of existing clubs.

Training certainly sounds like a good idea and, as you say, I'm sure the local climbing wall could suggest suitable instructors. Glenmore Lodge is the obvious counterpart to PYB. Perhaps the uni could even fund such training.

In reply to atrendall:

I can see the advantage of having a club for their own university, funding and a point of contact for new students ( I assume Nappier is the smaller of the cities universities). I do agree though, get in with the existing clubs too.... climbers are friendlier in real life than on forums!

In reply to jerembray:

My first climb outside was trad (Diff). I led it. I get the gear thing, but I don't think that most of you "don't have the level" to do trad.....

You know, you could hire instructors to do a trad leading course for those members who want it and those who don't can do some seconding? As a group you should be able to negotiate quite effectively. It would start to open up Scotland for the future...