In reply to HikeandClimb:
Nice guide. Lots of good information for anyone beginning to plan a trip out there.
Fair head is definitely one of these crags that requires a bit of local information to make the most of a trip.
I was out in September and abseiled into a route at An Bealach Runda. I was with my brother and after seeing the poor conditions the route was in we decided to bail and try to join some mates around the Sandpiper area. For some idiotic reason I thought it was just round the corner from our position.
We started walking along the base of the crag, about 15 minutes in I realised it was likely a bit further than I had imagined. As we turned the first major corner the expanse of the crag was evident and it dawned on me that actually, this was quite a bit further than I expected, in fact it was bloody miles further. At least a half hour to get to the distant buttress. Since we'd just walked for 15 minutes we decided we may as well continue. The terrain was awful, lots of vegetation and boulders the size of houses and bigger all stacked on top of each other.
Anyway, an hour and a half later, having almost died falling into bottomless crevasse covered by vegetation, we were still bushwhacking and it was becoming desperate. As there was no sensible alternative we kept on going until eventually we stumbled across the bottom of Grey Man path. I've never been so delighted to see a gully in my life and we immediately hauled ourselves up and out.
The overall feeling arriving at the top was similar to having survived a whiteout blizzard in winter. It was without a doubt the worst terrain I have ever crossed.
Obviously this entire thing could have been avoided had we just read the guide in which it clearly states - don't bloody do that.
