UKC

Hello everyone,

I currently work in California for part of the year and have been climbing with a coworker of mine. He has taken me on some trad climbs in Yosemite and I have climbed Lovers Leap in Tahoe with him. In that time he has taught me to lead, the proper use of gear etc. I am about to buy my first rack soon. 

My main abode is in Scotland where I would like to take some friends out on something as awe inspiring as Yosemite. The Isle of Skye has begun to get me obsessed.

I have read through the logbooks but I was wondering if anyone could give some personal advice for a nice trip out in late March. I will be purchasing an ascended for emergencies but I would say anything below a 6a would be ideal as the people I will be going with will be beginners.

I think you need to be realistic that travel for recreational reasons may not be possible until later in the year, so make your plans with cancellation charges in mind.  

Covid aside, you’ll struggle to reproduce Yosemite, in Scotland, in March. A lot of the big impressive routes will likely still be full of snow and ice. From here it’s difficult to gauge your skill levels. You know there won’t be bolted belays? Are you sure you are up to taking beginners up long routes. That not withstanding, you’d might be wise to stick with a rock type you know I.e. Granite. Sou’wester slabs on Arran? The Etive slabs? Pre-midge late April early May...

It is amazing, but midges and severe weather have blighted many of my trips there. Be prepared to go to one of the sea cliffs if it is foul. May is traditionally considered the best month weather wise -  not sure I would go in March. Good local advice can be had from Mike Lates. 

Another who would say May is the best month for Skye.  The snow should be all but gone and the Midges not yet up to full irritation.  Can't help you with climbing routes. Skye is more about ridges and amazing off piste scrambling for me. 

You also need to see what COVID does though. 

Cheers I'll look into Sou'wester and Etive

I dont need to bring the 4 people but I would be bringing one beginner at least. Here in the states I can handle a 5a british scale or so but I would be looking for something in the 4s. I would feel confident in bringing people up for sure. Covid aside of course I am aware of the 5km restriction but I am hopeful it wont affect outdoor recreation as the weather starts to improve more.

From experience - Skye isn't a great place for beginners if you're looking to do trad. Most of the good routes and crags are in the E1+ variety and lots are sea cliffs. 

The alternative is the excellent mountain routes, but these are obviously more committing and sustained in nature.

The scrambling on the other hand is excellent at that level, and combined with some roped pitches places like the Inn Pinn would deliver an excellent experience.

Like all of the other replies, my advice (as someone who lives in Skye) would be...Don't visit Skye in March. Last year had snow on the hills in late March and the weather didn't get climbing friendly until mid April.

No bolts or pegs on the Etive Slabs, in fact not that much gear at all. Beware.

While April/May/start June may be the the most reliable and midge-free for Skye IMHO weather is still very unpredictable. I had a very good week late summer a few years back by keeping an eye on several  forecasts inc long range, then when they all agreed I went up from London that night (overnight train, and coach from Glasgow next day). Apparently weather is likely to be good when wind is from N to SE, that has been my experience too. PS I'm retired so can go on spur of moment.

My advice would be, get some guidebooks and get out doing as much personal climbing as possible given the restrictions of covid and weather. There is always more to learn.

It might sound harsh, but if you can't track down the appropriate guidebooks, think through the ability of yourself and your party, and decide your own goal, you're not experienced enough to be 'taking people out'. Add to this that you're not referring to the correct grading system, and most people on here would be reluctant to advise you on particular routes because you come across as either a provocateur or as incompetent. I don't mean that as an insult, but as an explanation of the sort of responses you're likely to get here.

I hope you manage to enjoy climbing in California - I'd love to get out there one day - and to continue building your experience and enjoyment of climbing.

Hi. Perhaps he mountain called Buachaile Etive Mor at the end of Glen Coe could supply the 'awe', with the route up being North Buttress West Route. A very easy multipitch climb. An iconic mountain and an iconic route - I think it was the second route climbed up the mountain.

Kind regards

Richard

Since no one has actually suggested anything on Skye yet, I'll throw Cioch West (S 4a) and Arrow Route (VD) out there. I've only climbed the former and went up Cioch Nose (VD) to get to the top of The Cioch but Arrow Route is raved about. 

Felt like a big day and was nice to finish on top of The Cioch but you could go up another route to the top of the cliff. Early in the year with beginner partners though, you may have to bail faster than that. It's a long approach and Gabbro is so incredibly complex that it can take a long time to figure out where you're going. 

I've been to Skye many times.

Typically you could expect that in March on a mountain crag it would be about 2dec C and wet, if it isn't actually raining. Of course you could be lucky and get blazing sunshine and 10 Deg C or you could end up climbing in a blizzard. 

In fact March is really a bit early for any mountain crag. In Scotland I'd say most climbers, most years,  put their winter gear away around the end of March and start thinking about rock climbing on mountain crags around Easter. 

If you can't visit Scotland any later than March my advice would be to keep your options open and go where the weather is best.

A really good low level alternative is Poll Dubh in Glen Nevis which has lots of shorter climbs at lower grades in a lovely setting. You could get a couple of full days climbing there.

You would be hard pushed to find a better day out than Cioch Direct (S 4a), Arrow Route (VD), Integrity (VS 4c).

But not in March....

Steve

Oh absolutely - but I'm not sure I'd want to take beginners up them (given the seriousness of the location)!

Is Cioch Direct a reasonable proposition again after the major rockfall c. 10 years ago? 

Cheers Richard. Looks amazing.

Appreciate the advice, they look amazing I must say. We are all into cycling and we could hapilly factor in some adventure  over nighting if it was off the beaten track. Seems like March is less of a goer than I thought.  I was listening to the Curious Climber podcast with Dave MacLeod the other week and he said March was a great time to head out. Apparently only for a man of his might

Title is "Dave MacLeod: Calculated risks and personal experiments" if you are interested aside from the March thing.

March is a great time to head out winter climbing, as there tends to be more stable weather. You might be able to rock climb some low level crags at that time of year, especially further east, but Skye gets a lot of rain being on the west coast and a lot of the good climbing is up high in the hills. There are some great sea cliffs on Skye but you'd be playing Russian Roulette with the weather at that time of year, and the 5 empty chambers would represent rain. 

I've not climbed Cioch Direct but my mate did while I did Cioch West and he said it was more like VS than Severe. I think (certainly post-rockfall) Cioch West is considered the better quality of the two routes. 

descent can be interesting 

Do Cioch West instead, a far more pleasant climb  especially climbing with a sack. See the posts on here ref. the Direct!

If you are taking out a beginner, I'd go somewhere small with them first to teach them how to belay and some rope work. Here is a map showing crag locations.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/map/

It might help if you said which area in Scotland you live in, so you can get some specific recommendations for days out with beginners, before you hit the big routes.

Andy

Cheers Andy, I'm based in Glasgow. I've seen a couple of quarries nearby that I can cycle to.

I was planning on hitting those up first to teach ropework, do you have any recommendations of places around Glasgow?

Adam

Hi Adam,

sorry, no, I have no local knowledge of areas close to Glasgow. I'm a "Southern Softie" !

I wanted to bring your attention to the Logbook tool in case you hadn't seen it.

I'm sure there are plenty of people on this site who can give you good advice for local crags to do some teaching at though. I hope it goes well.

Andy

Agree with Marsbar's post but that aside:

Make sure that you're confident with double/half/twin/whatever the correct terminology is this week ropes.

Having climbed a bit in Yosemite/Tuolumne I've noticed it's very common for US climbers to just use a single rope belaying with a gri-gri or whatever. A lot of UK routes can wander around rather than just being a defined straight-up feature. 

Be flexible, the weather is fickle. 

Make sure you have the most important pieces of Scottish climbing kit. A headnet and a fcktonne of Smidge