UKC

Heading to Skye soon, still need to get my ass up Am Basteir, how "bad" is the bad step?

Will be solo, take a rope to abb off, pull it through then use to abb the other side on way down?

Assume the scrambles up are fine?

Or forget the rope and just get on with it? (if weather sketchy will walk away, have walked away from it before due to rain)

What route up and down were you planning to take?

Normal hill walking route, get to the bad step and have a look.

Assuming get to the top then reverse of that way to get back to the main ridge.

Not planning on technical rock climbing, just standard munro bashing.

Is the bad step avoidable, by traverse over slabby rock? I did look at that previously but was too wet and misty so backed off and ran for home, would rather get to the summit this time.

It is possible to traverse across slabby and slightly loose ground to an easier downclimb and then regain the ridge beyond the step. Finding the easiest line is not that obvious, especially in poor vis.  Only one side of the step is difficult, and it is easier in ascent (i.e. on the back way down from the summit). 

It's not too bad in descent but you have to trust a smallish smear for your left foot. Abseiling isn't silly. You should be able to scramble back up easily enough. That's definitely easier than the several abs to get down on the other side. The big one is a full 25m.

The bad step on the way up from Bealach a' Bhasteir is a short Diff downclimb that is a little awkward, but can be abseiled. Climbing it in ascent (ironically on the descent from Am Basteir) is more straightforward. The alternative route is a Grade 2 scramble, but from the descriptions I've seen, it sounds a lot more dangerous than just sticking to the good rock on the main route and getting on with the bad step. 

Only you can make the judgement on whether it's appropriate for your skill level to go with or without a rope, but if you have some doubts then it's probably worth putting it in your bag and dealing with the extra weight. 

It's also worth bearing in mind that there's always the potential for further bits to fall off the bad step, in which case it will most likely become trickier. There have been at least two notable rockfalls here, and both seem to have made it harder. I'm not sure exactly when these were, but the first (or possibly both of them) happened sometime between July 1986 and June 1993. In 1986 I got down the step unroped without much problem - just a bit awkward (although I was lucky in that a friend was met by chance heading up the step as I arrived to go down it, so he was able to point out a couple of relevant holds). Got back up alone no problem and I've never been a very good scrambler.

In 1993 I arrived there in worsening weather and it looked markedly harder - something significant had fallen off in the interim. There were four of us in the party that day (again no rope) and only the boldest one went down the step and so to the summit - I have a vague memory of skirting around to the left looking for feasible ledges but in the end was happy just to wait for the summit chap to come back. I'm not sure, but I've a notion that was after the first rockfall and the second one happened fairly soon afterwards. Anyway, it's certainly now a more serious obstacle than it was in the summer of 1986.

Cheers, will probably stick the rope, couple of slings and maybe a rack of nuts in the sack then, not too much to lug up and down for a day trip.

Will see what the weather holds when there though.

Thanks. 

In case the OP wants more info, the Bad Step direct now seems to be graded Severe.  It's some years since I did Am Basteir but I took the by-pass ledges on the left side of the crest (ascending) which is mentioned in the Skye Scrambles guide (as Grade 2) and probably has enough traffic to be a little more visible.  There was a lot of loose rock and unreliable handholds so it definitely requires care, but it brings you out at the foot of the Bad Step and thereafter it's pretty easy to the summit.  Then you just have to get back!

I can narrow the time window slightly. I first crossed the route in Sept 91 when it was a very simple downclimb, only 2-3m of height. Then did it again in 2019 and it felt 2 or 3 times higher If I could be bothered to scan a print as proof I would. 🦥

So sometime between Sept 1991 and your trip in 1993 it became a Badder step than before. 

To the OP: If in any doubt, take a rope. 

This the Bad Step? I don't remember any great problem. Photo was 2010.

No, I think that is another little step just before the summit.  

Ok, Mark - you should know. It's just that we came up Alisdair by the Pinnacle Ridge, where the rope was very much needed, but I'm sure it wasn't used again.

PS, are you related to S P Bull of the compact SMT guide book, which was my bible when pottering around the Cuillin?

Sadly not! 

That I don't believe.

Was it not the case that S P Bull's scrambling guide was a rare (especially in those days) example of an SMC publication written by a woman? I think she's a she and is Shirley. Excellent book anyway - I was a fan too.

Maybe thinking of the Basteir Tooth -  Am Bastier section?

Sandra Bull (according to https://www.smc.org.uk/downloads/archives/journal/smcj-indexes/SMCJ_Vol_31-..., page 19). 

That I can believe.

Thanks - that's interesting. I could swear I once, years ago, saw her name given as Shirley - but of course that could have been wrong even assuming I'm remembering correctly. A non-bloke, anyway. I've always wondered if her going by initials rather than full name on the cover was at least partly to disguise the fact, given that the book came out in 1980 and the SMC didn't admit women until a decade later.

No, your memory is correct. Further digging suggests "Sandra" is an error - it was indeed Shirley Bull, but she was known as Bunny. Her obituary in the Pinnacle Club Journal is here - https://pinnacleclub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/No.-30-2015-1017.pdf (page 79). 

Good digging, well done. Glad to know that my memory isn't failing completely! Nice obit - her partner Heather Monie who wrote the main section also drew the diagrams and wrote the flora section for the guidebook.

Quite a few of the Pinnacle Club and LSCC members seem to have gone by pet names, eg Mrs Hirst the first listed female Munroist (although possibly not the first actual one - but that's another story) was Annie Wells, known as Paddy, and she had sisters known as Trilby and Biddy.

Went with the rope, stuck it on for the ab down, left it in place then used it for the wee scramble up - glad I took the rope.

Not so glad that I didnt take a helmet, for some reason I didnt make a connection between needing a rope and maybe needing a helmet.

Never mind, no head knocks were taken, a grand day out was had, thanks to all for their advice.