UKC

Im going to Arran next week, to taste some Scottish clibming.

My plan is to camp at the camping at Glen Rosa (anybody knows if it is still there, availability and so on ?). Is there any other nice alternatives ?

Is there anybody out there that has any thoughts about routes that I must do (or perhaps dont do?). Being from Sweden I don't really know your grades over there, but google tells me I should be able to do E1.

The guide book said something about large hexes being good/usefull. Is that true ? Does this mean that I finally get a reason to by a whole set of hexes ?

Ah, well, if anyone has any other general tip of what to do on the rainy days, please tell me.

/Björn

In reply to bjybjy:

Hi there Bjorn.

South Ridge Direct on Cir Mhor is reckoned to be the classic - haven't done it myself but plenty people on here have. It's graded VS I believe.
http://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/search.html?text=south+ridge+direct&x=...
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=235834&v=1#3467431

In reply to bjybjy:

South Ridge Direct, see http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=2096

In reply to Norrie Muir:

Is there any reasonable supermarket (or something like that) in Brodick ?
I just realized that food in the bag on the airplane might not be the best of ideas. Esp. not with only 15kgs / person allowed by RyanAir

In reply to bjybjy:

There is a Co-op supermarket in Brodick.

In reply to bjybjy:

Arran is Scotland in microcosm. Great choice of venue. Easy cycling (hire just off pier), great golf courses, proud hills and sublime granite.

Wild camping available in Glen Sannox, supermarket (Co Op as I recall) in Brodick. Good time to go before the midge count rises. If it rains hole out in a pub, swim in the pools of Sannox or just do the A Chir ridge. South Ridge direct a little unsustained but classic. If your feeling buff trend a little further left towards West Flank route or Sickle (bold).

As for hexes, it is absolutely essential you buy the full set before you step foot on Arran. Owning all of them is an entry requirement that takes many people by surprise.

That is what you wanted to hear, right?

In reply to bjybjy:
Good choice of venue
Glen Rosa is a nice place to camp - not too far from the ferry and pub, great swimming in the pools in the glen.
Would recommend the usual suspects. West Flank Route is superb but acclimatisation to arran granite is a good idea. Hexes and friends.

In reply to bjybjy:
Angels pavement on the Rosa slabs is a great wee severe to do on the way out or on a short day. Very quite and beautiful slab climbing with unlike Arran slabs good pro too! Just follow the line of twisting pockets.
Spent 10 years climbing there and nowwhere else as a kid, its always been a favourite to me and to introduce peaple to Arran slabs.

In reply to john irving:

But can be noisy, it's the campsite of choice for those who want to party all night.

I much prefer the one opposite the distillery at Lochranza. The only advantage of the Glen Rosa site is that you can walk straight from the tent towards Cir Mhor - but there's an excellent bus service to get you round the island if you don't fancy the longer walk from Lochranza.

In reply to bjybjy:


Go past the Rosa campsite and walk in until you are below the Rosa Pinnacle. There are umpteen nice camp spots up there. The last time I went up there camping the weather was superb so we just took bivi bags and dossed in a grassy col slightly down from the summit ridge from the pinnacle of Cir Mhor. What a weekend. Maybe do some warm up routes to get acquainted. You won't regret doing Sou'Wester Slabs or Calibans Creep. These are ***/****'s and superb.
Arran is amazing.

Davie

In reply to Wee Davie:
You won't regret doing Sou'Wester Slabs or Calibans Creep.

I've never been either Bjorn, but everyone I know raves about Sou'Wester Slabs. It's probably a fairly easy grade for you by the sounds of it, but well and truly worth the outing. Might try and get over to the People's Republic of Arran myself this summer.

In reply to bjybjy: Anyone done the a'chir ridge traverse, know how easy it is and which way is most interesting?

In reply to martin_whitton:

The A'Chir is traditionally done anti- clockwise i.e. from the Cir Mhor side towards A'Chir. It is quite a serious scramble (a good bit harder than Aonach Eagach in Glencoe and harder route finding). Very good though. The crux is exposed.

Davie

In reply to Wee Davie:
Is it? I've always seen it described clockwise, so you descend the bad step (making the chimney buit at the bottom much easier). I've done it 3 times that way, must go back and do it properly sometime

In reply to martin_whitton:

It is a fairly stiff scramble: remember wishing I had a rope with me, and someone to hold it.

Y.

In reply to Duz Walker:
Yes ! that was exactly what I wanted to hear !

In reply to Wee Davie:
So it's basically ok to do wild camping up there ? I got the impression from some place (might be my guide book) that camping was a bit sensitive.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Just after consulting a guidebook and you're right. The real traditional way is clockwise. I've 'traditionally'(!) done it about 4 times the other way and it is quite hard climbing up onto that ledge...
I'll get my coat.

Davie

PS To the other question- wild camping in Scotland may be frowned upon by some but there's nothing to stop you. If you make sure you stay well out of sight you'll be fine.

In reply to martin_whitton:
I did it a couple of weekends ago with a group who'd mostly class themselves as walkers/scramblers rather than climbers, and we got round (clockwise) OK; including one guy who was carrying a big backpacking rucksack (he went and camped on top of An Casteal!). He's a confident scrambler, though; and he did drop the sack down the wriggle down backwards bit! There's a couple of other tricky bits as well as the part that gets all the attention - I had most problems on a slabby bit, where I struggled to trust my feet.

In reply to fimm:
Would the A'Chir be reasonable thing to do on a rainy day ?

In reply to bjybjy:
Yes, it was pissing down the first time I did it.
But it's so good it's worth doing in decent weather.

In reply to bjybjy:
Wow, lucky you, dont worry too much about what routes to do. Its a fantastic place, just enjoy being there

In reply to bjybjy: Well you can walk up Goat Fell in the rain.
But here is my take on Arran, its a brill and beautiful island. Its also the only place I have played and enjoyed golf (I hate golf). It has more golf courses than any equivalently sized place in the world, most of them very adventurous as they are stuck on mountaimsides.
But the fabest one is by the sea, you have to play one hole across a wide river, of course being crap we both hit our balls into the river, its a municipal course so you dont need any kit but you do have to pay for lost balls. So I waded in and came up with 12 balls and an octopus (no really).
Also you can take the ferry to Islay and thence to Jura, well worth the trip.
Also when I was there there was a cinema, but it was a while ago!

In reply to bjybjy:

>"So it's basically ok to do wild camping up there?"

Basically yes. The guy who owns the official campsite doesn't like you walking past his house/campsie carring camping gear and it's against the National Trust(?) rules but I've not heard of anyone being moved on.

In reply to bjybjy:

If some interfering busy body says anything about you wild camping up Glen Rosa, just tell to mind their own business and go and take a running f*** to themselves. Also remind them, you are a valued guest in Scotland and you should be treated as such.

In reply to bjybjy:

Wild camping in Glen Rosa or Glen Sannox is no problem. Wouldn't bother with the Glen Rosa site as it is too noisey at night.

Coop supermarket in Brodick
Buses good for getting to Sannox although quite infrequent

Climbing is superb, slabs route in Rosa great

Going there tomorrow

Paul

In reply to sir:
Thanks a lot for all the good tips and encouragement (thats a long word) !

I'm sure things will be grate. Even the forecast seems friendly right now.

/Björn

In reply to bjybjy:

Tell us of your Arran exploits, did you have a good time and what did you climb?

In reply to Judd_IV:

Here is a semi-short tripreport from Arran.

I and my girlfriend Vicky arrived to Brodick around 11 am, we went to Co-op for food and then went on to find a gas cartridge for our stove, which proved to be a bit trickier than we hoped for being sunday an all. After getting superb help from the outdoor(ish) shop at the mainstreet we finally knew where to find the cartridge. A nice lady (who was going to Tazamania the next day) offered us lift to the Arran Active shop, where we got the gas. Pheeww, cold porridge isn't that nice. As luck would have it the Arran Brewery was next door, so we had a pint of Arran Dark Ale too. Not bad att all !

We were planning to go up as far as we could manage into Glen Rosa and camp there, but when we stumbled up the road the Glen Rosa Camp Site looked kind of nice so we ended up camping there for the whole week. This was our largest mistake.

Well, after chatting with two lads who'd been climbing the last few days we decided that it was too late to go climbing ourselfs, so we just headed up the glen to see what it looked like.

I can tell you, it looks so nice. Especially when you are sitting down after walking for two hours with a rucksack. (It is awfully nice even after not walking I guess).

On Monday morning we headed up to the South Slabs, being a bit of a slab junkie and all that. After some rather unpleasant heather-whacking we finally got there, and was immediately impressed with the slabs. They are really nice.
A few hours later we had climbed Blank (VS) and Blankist (HVS). The guide book said that the South Slabs were sparesly protected, and I can not say they aren't.

So nice indeed.

The next two days we spent as rest days, partly because we are weak and partly because my girlfriend has had troubles with her right leg. Well, we got around the island in a car and improved our tans. It almost felt like a normal family vacation, strange feeling

Thursday was spent by doing South Ridge Direct on the Rosa Pincale. That is also a mighty fine climb, could have been a bit more sustained perhaps, but both the s-crack and the y-cracks were beautiful pitches. In hindsight we should have done the one of the variations that goes straight up from the y-crack instead of going around towards the west side.

Our last day on the island was spent by going up over Bein Tarsuin and Beinn Nuis and then on to A'Chir and was finished by doing the A'Chir ridge traverse.
We had a hard time deciding weather we should do this or head up to the Rosa Pinacle and do some of the climbs on the west side.
The thing that tilted the scales was that we had never done a ridge traverse before. I have a felling that A'Chir won't be the last we do either. Brilliant exposure !
We did the traverse clockwise (or rather south to north), and I think that climbing down the crux is much more fun than going up. The feeling of not knowning or seeing exactly where you end up is so fantastic. From below the easiest way is obvious and unmissable. Whereas from above we had a moment of doubt before we decided that we should go down at the small heap of stones rather than a few meters further towards Chir Mohr. Ah well. Brilliant.

All days started with a chilly gray weather, but the clouds disappered as soon as the sun rose. We should have packed shorts.

I don't think I will get back to Arran in a few years, not that it isn't worth the trip, it's just a bit too much walking for the amount of climbing. What is certain is that next time I won't stay at the camp site. Had I listened to the forum and went further up we would have doubled the number of routes we climbed (or at least climbed a lot more). Not that walking is that bad...

Ah well.

Anybody got any other place I have to visit ?

In reply to bjybjy:

Fantastic report...

I loved the A'Chir traverse just as much as you by the sounds of it. I've done it 3 times now and can't wait to go back.


Maybe I'll try it from Cir Mhor to Benn Tarsuinn next time round :0)

In reply to bjybjy:

Glad to hear your trip was successful. You definitely got the ideal weather!
Did you do Caliban's Creep and Sou'wester Slabs?
Diabaig would be a good recommendation for your next trip. Make sure you go early season (no midges)and try and book the good weather again. The walk- in is only 1/2 hour too.

Davie

In reply to bjybjy: You can 'wild-camp' up the valley near to the crag. There's even a stream for water.

The climbs are quite big. Big hexes are quite useful - lots of large granite, straght-sided cracks, but they're not essential.

Have fun!

In reply to Wee Davie:

No, unfortunately we never got around to do sou westers slab and calibans creep. Too many rest days...

In reply to john irving:

Yes, I thought West Flank Route is superb. South Ridge direct very good too.