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| The northern Munros of the Black Cuillin |
It's certainly been a busy few weeks, hence the lack of postings here, but my feet have finally touched the ground, so to speak, for a short while at least! Friday the 17th June saw an early start with a drive to the 'Misty Isle', or Skye as it's better known as, which in my mind, is one of the finest mountaineering playgrounds in the UK (
see my book review on the new Skye Scrambles Guidebook, published by the SMC), and to meet up with
Steve and shadow
Mike along with his clients; Nick, Noel, Bob and Peter, with the intention of completing the three northern most Munros on the Black Cuillin; Sgurr Nan Gillean, Am Basteir and Bruach Na Frithe. The circuit is very achievable in a day, and incorporates plenty of excitement, from the airy scramble along and back down the West Ridge of Sgurr Nan Gillean and a tricky down climb from the summit of Am Basteir, imaginatively called 'The Bad Step', to a spectacular abseil down the Knight's Cave Chimney, in between the summit of Am Basteir and Am Basteir's Tooth. From here, it was a straight forward walk to the summit of the third Munro, Bruach Na Frithe, before descending back down Coire a'Bhasteir. The weather took a turn for the worse as the day progressed, however despite the rain, the group had a great day.
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| Heading up the West Ridge of Sgurr Nan Gillean |
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Heading to the summit of Sgurr Nan Gillean
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Saturday saw me working with Mike for
Abacus Mountaineering and heading out with Anthony, Paul, James and Bryan for a warm up day up Pinnacle Ridge of Sgurr Nan Gillean, before a full Cuillin Ridge Traverse starting on Sunday. In profile, Pinnacle Ridge, which we saw the previous day, looks quite spectacular and imposing, and whilst the journey is nothing short of spectacular, the actual route over the pinnacles is far less intimidating than first appearances may suggest. The highlight must be the airy abseil from the third pinnacle, onto quite a narrow ledge, before down climbing to a much larger ledge below. The ascent of the Knight's Peak involved some fantastic scrambling, before easing off leading up to the summit of Sgurr Nan Gillean. From the summit, we heading back down the West Ridge and back down to Coire a'Bhasteir. The weather held out nicely, and gave the team a taste of what was to follow over the next couple of days.
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| Loch Scavaig and Loch Coruisk |
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| Anthony, Paul, James and Bryan |
The team had opted to start the traverse by taking the boat from Elgol, across Loch Scavaig to the foot of Gars Bheinn, which I now think is possibly the best way to start the traverse due to not having to back track at all, never mind the adventurous feel to it all! We made good progress up onto the ridge, and found ourselves at Sgurr Dubh Mor in good time. Both Mike and I took our teams up the King's Chimney on Sgurr MhicConnich, before moving swiftly up An Stac and up and over the Inaccessible Pinnacle, where the weather took a slight dip, fortunately the difficulties for the day were done with. That evening we made it passed the Three Teeth of Sgurr Thormaid for a short bivi. The following morning was another early start, however following the knife edge ridge of Sgurr a'Greadaidh and technical climbing of Sgurr a'Mhadiadh, I descended from the ridge at Bealach na Glaic Moire, with Bryan who was finding that his knees were giving him trouble. It must have been a hard decision for him to make, and made all the more difficult by watching the rest of the team head off up Bidein Druim Nan Ramh. Mike went on to complete the ridge with Anthony, Paul and James, despite less than ideal conditions, so a huge well done to them!
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| Descending the Inn Pinn |
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| Tacking the knife edge ridge of Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh |
That was my first substantial bit of work on Skye, and I'm not sure that guiding in the mountains gets much better, so fingers crossed it won't be long until I'm back on Skye! (All photos courtesy of Steve Holmes).
