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| Cullin Ridge, The Isle of Skye: look closely and can see the boys on the ridge! |
9-14 May 2018
I have been walking in Scotland for many years, but as I've got older I seem to have developed a fear of heights (acrophobia, not vertigo; thanks Annie!). Not a proper debilitating phobia, but enough to make me nervous even when others stand too close to big drops. So what on earth possessed me to sign three of us up for a guided mountaineering trip on The Isle of Skye....?!
I had walked on Skye back in 2008, climbing Munro Blà Bheinn (928m) and had marvelled at the awesome Black Cuillins with the 12 km ridge crest and 22 peaks. Munros, for the uninitiated, are the 283 Scottish peaks above 3,000ft (914m) compiled by Sir Hugh Munro is 1891. We have done a fair few of these on previous trips, but the Black Cuillins have 12 Munros which are acknowledged as the hardest to attain. So I signed us up for a 3-day guided tour with Moran Mountain (www.moran-mountain.co.uk).
Jamie Ross, Henry Boucher and I met up in the Inverness Tesco for our traditional male shopping fiasco, further complicated by how much boil-in-the-bag spiced couscous did we need for our overnight on the mountain. Then into our Dacia Duster hire car (probably the stupidest car name ever?) and crossed to the west coast via the A82 down Loch Ness, where Dad and I travelled back in October doing the NC500 (see earlier blog!). We reached our self-catering apartment in the old stable block at Armadale Castle, on the southern point of Skye,which Jamie amazingly found after Jess and I had contacted over 50 places; Skye has become hugely popular. Delicious paella rustled up by Henry, then bed, worrying slightly about what lay in store tomorrow...
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| Our stable block, and Duster! |
Fri 10 May
This was billed as the "training day" i.e. for our guide to see if these three 50+ year old southern softies have the first clue about mountains. A small hint was the bizarre gardening gloves we had purchased (as per issued kit list)to protect our hands against the abrasive Gabbro rock; Jamie's lilac Tesco ones were are bargain! After a bucket of porridge, we rendevouzed with our young guide Will Harris in his mobile home (aka Transit van) and headed to the base of Blà Bheinn.
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| Jamie, with Will (green jacket) and Henry yomping off |
The forecast was to stay dry until 3pm, but with big winds - so we dashed up the hill, and then without much preamble we were suddenly wearing harnesses, helmets and roped together on something resembling an Alpine peak.
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| Henry (blue helmet) and Jamie up first scree slope on Bla Bheinn |
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| Bla Bheinn on the left; we walked in from the right |
After several hours and some hair-raising manoeuvres, we made it to the top, and then the nerve wracking climb down, concluded with a huge scree slope. Somehow we passed the test. Henry is seemingly not bothered by heights, Jamie is OK-ish, and I'm wondering WTF I had signed us up for...! The wind gusts hit 50mph which was disconcerting, - but we made it up an impressive peak (not actually Bla Bheinn; that's a walk) and down again, have practised the climbing and ascertained the order when roped up: me behind Will, then Jamie and then rear-gunner Boucher. Going up means I follow Will. Going down (far worse in my opinion) - Henry had to lead!!! Will was thankfully a very calm guide and teacher, and hugely experienced, so I trusted him implicitly from the start - which helps when you're attached to him above 1,000 ft sheer drops..
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| We scrambled up the scree gully far right of the picture, over that nasty looking mountain ridge, and down the huge central scree gulley |
Back to the house for a few beers, then out for surprisingly good "Local Tapas" conveniently in the restaurant below our accommodation. Early night, but not before watching a glorious rainbow sunset looking towards Mallaig.
Sat 11 May
The Cuillin Traverse is very weather dependant, especially for utter novices. Five days earlier Martin (of Moran Mountains) contacted me to say it wasn't looking good and unlikely we would do the traverse or even stay on the mountain overnight. But we woke to the most glorious, calm sunny day - so no more excuses. Even bigger bucket of porridge and construction of designer sandwiches, then RV with Will 7am, dropped his van at the northern end of the Cuillins, then drove to the southern end and dumped the Duster at the Glenbrittle campsite.
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| Car park by the beach |
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| Helmets on time... |
Helmets on as it got steeper, especially with other climbers above us and always the risk of dislodged scree tumbling down. The next section is a bit of a blur, as it got harder and I focused on staying attached to Will whenever we roped up! It's also not ideal to stop and fumble around with a camera up there..
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| Jamie, Henry & Will (green jacket) |
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| The first Munro we reached is visible at the far end of the ridge hand ridge: Sgurr nan Eag (924m) Yup - we them walked along this ridge! |
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| Loch Coir a Ghrunnda - with Sgurr Alasdair (947m) ahead (above Will) |
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| Going up scree is harder than it looks! |
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| A 5-min breather |
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| One of the only climbing shots; note large packs! |
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| Will, Jamie & Henry |
We then had a few tough hours, where we negotiated Sgurr Alasdair - the highest peak at 992m and followed by Sgurr Mhic Choinnich. 948m.
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| Sgurr Alasdair (google photo from other side): highest Munro on Skye 992m |
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| Not totally sure where I took this from: might be Sgurr Alasdair? |
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| Sgurr Dearg (986m) ahead, and the dreaded In-Pinn clearly visible as the 'bump' on top. We proceed along the ridge... |
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| Pinched from Google, but this clearly shows the route we took to the In-Pinn |
Our route down at one point was decidedly tricky, with Henry amazingly leading over blind drops and down couloirs - directed by Will. We did have to re-trace out steps once as we had selected the wrong route!
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| Red line shows the route Henry lead which we then had to go back up!! |
It had taken us 12 hours walking, scrambling and climbing to reach the In-Pinn, with the longest break sub-15mins. We were shattered, and the group decision was very wisely to head down and find our bivvy stop, and tackle In-Pinn in the morning. We descended approximately 200m and Will located a 5* spot for the night, complete with running water and level spot with a small stone wall: luxury!
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| Luxury bivvy site |
Will cooked up a delicious supper: first course cuppa-soup, then the spicy couscous with tinned tuna and grated cheese.Sounded hideous in Tesco two days ago, but after 12 hours on the go - it was the best meal ever!! Nightcap of Glenfiddich then all tucked up asleep by 10pm.
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| Bedtime view |
Sun 13 May
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| Comfy night? |
We were blessed with a dry and calm night, and only approx 5degC. Some slept better than others!
Breakfast was muesli and a hot brew, pack up then climbed up to Sgurr Dearg. Will was convinced we were capable of the In-Pinn, so we dumped rucksacks, and began the climb up the eastern ridge of this imposing block.
Breakfast was muesli and a hot brew, pack up then climbed up to Sgurr Dearg. Will was convinced we were capable of the In-Pinn, so we dumped rucksacks, and began the climb up the eastern ridge of this imposing block.
It took about 30mins to get to the top of the In-Pinn. Photos don't show how terrifying this was, and no way I was getting my camera out up there! Will was adamant that this was the safest bit we had done, as we were properly attached to all the clever "cams" and "nuts" he inserted in the rock cracks (which Henry had to remove as he came up!). Maybe, but the psychological factor of having a 2000ft++ drop either side certainly didn't help.
Then the fun; we had to abseil 20m off the In-Pinn. Henry went first, no problem - except no photos of him. Jamie had never abseiled before, so in glorious hindsight this wasn't the ideal place to start!! Will lowered him safely down.
Then the fun; we had to abseil 20m off the In-Pinn. Henry went first, no problem - except no photos of him. Jamie had never abseiled before, so in glorious hindsight this wasn't the ideal place to start!! Will lowered him safely down.
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| Jamie preparing to abseil down. We climbed up the right hand ridge. |
Then my turn. I have abseiled before, so I loved this bit!
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| CSB on the way down |
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| Hurray - safely down. |
At this point Jamie's knee was too painful to continue, so we cut short our traverse (Henry & I secretly delighted) and made our way back down to the car - arriving at midday.
An incredible two days, and I have learnt that I can do heights, and I also know I don't want to do any more mountaineering! I also now know there is an endless debate of what defines "scrambling" (the box I had ticked) and "mountaineering" (the box I had said "no" to). I have since (doh) read this on The British Mountaineering Council website: "describing the Cuillin Traverse as a scramble would be like billing K2 as an exciting mountaineering route – true, but fatally understated. It’s not the technical climbing that makes traversing the 22 peaks such a legendary challenge. No, the real reason why so many attempted traverses end in failure is the enormous physical and mental toll posed by this Alpine-style epic."
Quite impressive that we managed as much as we did, as utter novices! Well done boys.
Northern half next year?
Quite impressive that we managed as much as we did, as utter novices! Well done boys.
Northern half next year?
Will Harris was a total star and I would highly recommend him if you're thinking of doing anything like this. will-harris-climbing.com/about/
Note: at some point fumbling on the mountain, I managed to adjust my camera to ISO20,000 setting - hence the not very crisp pics. Damn.
Note: at some point fumbling on the mountain, I managed to adjust my camera to ISO20,000 setting - hence the not very crisp pics. Damn.
Bravo
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