UKC

European mid-grade multi-pitch routes that are so good you can base your holiday around them.

There's something for everyone from sun-soaked limestone to Alpine granite and even some good old UK trad!

Have you done them all?

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=7400

In reply to UKC Articles:

Jack the Ripper is a very odd choice. It's a good route and of course the NW is amazing, but it's only 3 pitches of which only the final one is anything special. There are a good number of much better E1s in Scotland, let alone 'one of the best routes in Europe'!

And 'remote'? Got to be one of the shortest walk-ins for a hill crag in Scotland!

In reply to UKC Articles:

well i absolutely love jack the ripper maybe my favourite scottish route i've done, but i agree it seems an odd choice seeing as how short it is and i was also expecting by travel you meant more like getting on a plane to climb, so under that criterion it's not that far away. My perception maybe skewed a little seeing as i live in the north of scotland anyway

In reply to Michael Gordon:
Yes, including Jack The Ripper is a joke - good route, but wouldn't even make the top 100 in Scotland. It means I can't take the rest of the article seriously. I've never heard of any of the others, so certainly wouldn't risk travelling for them on the basis of this article.

In reply to UKC Articles:

After a few years away from climbing it's funny seeing pictures of a pitch and suddenly a whole route/day/trip comes rushing back into memory. Kundalini/Luna Nascente linkup - fantastic day! Thanks for reminding me!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Would be good to see something from Norway, it's probably the country in Europe with the most rock* but the worst weather.

*impossible to verify

In reply to UKC Articles:

Looking forward to the next five. Of course I'm now feeling inadequate cos I only did Kunadlina and not Luna Nascente - our plan was to do both, but inevitably when I was on a route - it rained. No problem I thought - gaz is from Lancashire, he must be used to climbing in the rain, off you go. But no, he insisted on sitting it out like a normal person. I wasn't secretly relieved at all!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great routes and pictures... Nice as Stac Pollaidh is though, Jack the Ripper doesn't deserve to be in there... Steeple, Needle, The Pause, Centurion?

In reply to UKC Articles:

Best route we did on our Val di Mello holiday was Another Day in Paradise but that was on the Piz Badile
This is a typical troll article, written for the sole purpose of causing controversy; not that there's anything wrong in that.

The next 5 should include
Regular Route NW face of Half Dome
Ula Verdon
El Navigante on the Penon
Centrion on Ben Nevis

But I'll be surprised to see any of them

In reply to UKC Articles:

The article is 10 multi pitches worth travelling for and JTR is worth travelling for. If you've done it that means you thought so at the time.

In reply to brianrunner:

I thought Jack the Ripper superior to Centurion.

In reply to Steve Perry:


But if, say, someone in Australia, travels to Scotland specifically to do JTR having read this article, I suspect they'll be pretty pissed off! And yes, they would presumably have (mistakenly) have thought it was worth travelling half way round the world for.

In reply to Robert Durran:

I don't know, I can't see the justification in anyone arriving in Inverpollaidh from anywhere being disappointed really - JtR would be a bonus

In reply to UKC Articles:

there's an assumption in here that people travel just for one route. You wouldn't travel all the way to northern highlands for one route.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Evn tho I much enjoyd our day out on it, Steeple and Needle on the Shelter Stone just in a different league to Jack the Ripper wouldn't you say Rob?

John C

In reply to Robert Durran:

If anyone is prepared to travel half way around the world to climb just one route, I'm sure they'd be the breed of enthusiast that would appreciate JTR. Please feel free to swap the word enthusiast with any of your own choosing.

In reply to Tom Last:


Maybe (though it might be raining heavily and very midgy), but that is not the point.

In reply to John Cuthbert:


Yes, any number of routes in Scotland in a different league to JTR.

In reply to Tom Last:


Each to their own!

In reply to kevin stephens:





Me too, Kevin!

In reply to UKC Articles:


Great though Jack the Ripper is it falls a country mile short of that standard. Such a strange choice that I assume it was flung in deliberately to generate a bit of chat.

In reply to UKC Articles:
Nice article - not least because I did three of them...!

I personally put high marks on Klin in Paklenica, a route I've done three times. 1983, 1984 and 2011. It has some of the best grade 5 pitches I have ever done, and has a wildly overhanging wall at c. 6a on the biggest of jugs. I clearly remember my first time on that pitch: Too scared to fall off 200 meter up or even hang on the (then) silly old pegs, and pumped out of my senses reaching the belay. The next two times I was laughing my head off in amazement & joy! Only silly thing on Klin is a 3 m slab traverse at 6c. I couldn't figure out how to do it, never been 6c. Grab the bolt and pull over!

Looking forward to see if I score on the next 5...!

In reply to UKC Articles:

I thought the Martinez Direct route on Naranjo de Bulnes was a bit harder than Hard severe but I'm not used to climbing on limestone "canalzos". It was an incredible day out though and definitely worth travelling for.

In reply to paulipauli:

You went off route on Pitch 4 as a result of advice from the local Crag Goat because the belay on Pitch 4 was shot. So in the end you did a direct route from the Pitch 3 belay which upped the grade to V+, potentially VI. I remember one dodgy cam and a shoelace thread as pro over 40ms on almost vertical ground and thinning canalzos. Defo above HS!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Unusual that some of these European routes get British trad grades.

In reply to UKC Articles:

I'll add to the tidal wave of "Jack the Ripper - eh????" comments. Off the top of my head, I'd suggest something like Minus One Direct if you wanted a climb with longer approach, big feel and spectacular situation or Prozac Link if you wanted a more isolated shorter climb in an incredible situation.

Thanks for putting a photo of me on it in there though