Summary:
This was a great adventure, probably the best mountaineering expedition in the UK, blessed by a perfect confluence of positive factors, some amazing and exposed climbing and brilliant views, backed by a strategy that worked well to give what I felt to be an optimum combination of travelling light, the adventure of a bivi on the ridge and an extra half day of time to take the pressure off.
So what would I change ? Not much to be honest, though that is as a result of a lot of preparation and some prior recce experience on some of the tricky sections - both key factors for a successful Cuillin in my opinion. I would try to be a bit more slick in the morning and gain an extra half hour or so there, I'd try to reduce the number of abseils and I would definitely do Naismith's route up the tooth.
Key tips:
My strategy was a little different to most I have seen. It is effectively a 1.5 day attempt, starting with the boat trip in from Elgol at 1pm, traverse as far as Coire a’ Ghrunnda on day 1, dump sacks at the Bealach, tick off the two ‘Dubhs’, then bivi in the Coire, stash all bivi gear and go early/fast/light for a long day 2, hopefully getting through the TD gap and Inn Pin with no queue.
Intro:
Great weather the previous week had me nervously scanning four different weather forecasts all through the week prior especially as the weather changed in England. A minor scare due to my planned partner letting me down was averted thanks to Jason stepping in at short notice and using up many brownie points - thanks Katherine ! Come Thursday all seemed good and I made the decision to go for a Sunday/Monday run, picking Jason up from Glasgow airport on Saturday and dropping him back on Tuesday, so very little margin for error.
The trip up was made in glorious sunshine and for the first time I saw the Cuillin, cloud free from the approach to the Kyle of Localsh. Safely ensconced at Sligachen campsite (not in the same league as Glenbrittle but more convenient for our needs) I went over the plan of attack with Jason to get his buy in. Strategy agreed and boat booked, we settled down to carbo- load, sort out gear and relax.
Day 1: Gars Bheinn to Coire a’ Ghrunnda, including the Dubhs
The following day dawned as expected and after a good breakfast we made a leisurely trip round to Elgol in good time, boarded the boat and were treated to the sight of harbour seals on the way in to what is a real wilderness paradise. The ridge was crested in a little over two hours and after a brief lunch stop we made our leisurely way along the relatively straightforward section to Sgurr Nan Eag and down to the Bealach above Coire a’ Ghrunnda. Packs were ditched at An Casteal and we took the ‘Hyslop’ traverse line across to Sgurr Dubh Mor, but not before I managed to twist my ankle painfully whilst walking round on a flat slab ! The traverse to S-D-M was a lot more straightforward than it looked from a distance. Some slightly more tricky scrambling saw us on the summit, and then we took the usual line back to Sgurr Dubh an Da Bheinn, followed by a bit of down scrambling back to the bealach … and my only negative experience of the whole trip. Some a***hole had rifled the outer pockets of my rucksack and stolen all my snack food, in doing so they had taken the map out and left it by the sack – on a windier day it would have gone ! Fortunately, I had stowed my day two food deep in my sack, otherwise my traverse would have been jeopardy - the fact that a fellow climber/walker would do such a thing left a really sour taste through to the next day, as I suspiciously eyed up other traverse parties who had also bivied.
Thieves and ankle aside, day 1 had been accomplished according to plan and we set up a comfortable bivi at the end of the lochan, tucked into our dinner and surveyed some incredible views as the sun gradually set in the west.
Day 2: Coire a’ Ghrunnda to Inn Pinn
The alarm went off alpine style at 4.45 am but I was already awake. The bivi had been fine but I’m not a great sleeper at the best of times and this time, the excitement & anticipation meant that deep sleep was not an option ! Despite the early rise it was still 6am by the time we set off, having breakfasted on porridge, stowed our bivi kit, filled our water with two litres and bandaged the ankle I managed to twist the day before. The Dubhs having been ticked the night before, we took a diagonal line onto the ridge and headed straight for the TD gap, reached after a straightforward but very exposed little climb, but would there be a queue ?? To our great satisfaction we were the first there - the strategy was working ! The abseil down into the gap was quickly followed by a squirming, thrutching struggle up a very polished off width well above my gear until I made the horizontal break and struggled up to a rest above it and clipped the in-situ ‘friend’ – phew ! The rest of the climb was less eventful and I was just topping out when the next party – a threesome we had passed dashing out to the ridge start the previous evening – arrived at the gap. Jason thrutched up after me and there it was – one very big tick on the Traverse list ! After a bit of banter with the following party, revolving mainly around the fact that 5 out of the 6 of use were wearing La Sportiva Trango Alp boots, making us look like an advert for La Sportiva (and giving them the nickname of the ‘Trangos’ used hereafter) the short scramble to the top of Alasdair was quickly despatched, meeting a party along the way who had skirted the gap (hereafter called the ‘avoiders’) and the equally short scramble onto the summit of Thearlaich accomplished.
The descent off Thearlaich was one of my less glorious moments – having already decided we would ‘ab’ the tricky bit, I didn’t descend to the right off the summit plateau as the guide sugested, spotted some ab tat, went for it … and we ended up making two abseils instead of one ! Nonetheless, we stood at the bottom of Kings Chimney on our own, the avoiders having opted for Collies ledge instead and the trangos still behind us. Kings chimney was despatched with some enjoyment – it is a really nice climb, through the traverse might be interesting in the wet. The trangos appeared again as I neared the top, but decided to go for the ledge option. Shortly after, Thearlaich summit was ticked off and we headed towards An Stac which we by-passed on the screes on the left as planned, to get to the Inn Pinn.
We approached the Inn Pinn with some trepidation, expecting it to be really busy. I had 3 possible ascent routes lined up to avoid the queues, but as we approached we could see the avoiders on top just abbing off, the trangos just starting the climb ..and no-one else, yeah ! I approached the bottom of the climb just as the trangos headed to the top, I roped up quickly and took Jason up alpine style. This is a lovely climb, really easy steps with only one slightly awkward move off the side onto the ridge, but with loads of exposure. On the top, Jason had a big smile on his face, having tried to do the ‘pinn’ in 2005 and been foiled by the weather. We waved at the other crews having a break as we prepared to ‘ab’ off, then they set off and we didn’t see either party again except in the distance.
Inn Pinn to Bidein:
We had a short break and sandwich ourselves before steeling ourselves for the so called ‘mind numbing’ central section. Banadich was summited competently, avoiding the many false summits, but I made a bit of a mess of getting to Thormaid, following Hyslop’s guide too literally and getting too low, resulting in an unpleasant scramble across scree and a nervy traverse across a narrow ledge to get back on track. This is now the second time I've missed the correct route, though having read a Moran blog recently where even the master struggled, it seems to be tricky to get right. Having messed up the approach, the ascent of Thormaid itself was accomplished smoothly by tackling it head on and the teeth by-passed easily enough to a bealach before starting the ascent of Sgurr a Ghreadaidh, easyish scrambling to the south top followed by the easy but very airy knife edge to the north, true top at which point were directly overtaken for the only time in the day by a pair moving quickly, though even they were complaining of tiredness. The wart soon after was by-passed and An Dorus reached after a short gash in between called Eag Dubh.
The following section was known territory having recc'ed it the previous year; Mheadaidh itself being quite easy but the 3 tops offering considerably more of a climbing/scrambling challenge. But, armed with beta they were dispatched competently and without use of the rope – Jason taking the lead on the first top. The key to the top is to traverse right as the guide states but not too far, maybe 20 metres ? In good conditions it is fairly to spot. The 3 tops of Bidein Druim nan Ramh followed soon after - all sans rope, the first top despatched via the basalt staircases and the second tackled direct up a scoop – which looks very tricky from a distance but is ok close up – after a tricky descent / traverse across slabs into the gap. This is followed by a chimney then a brief scramble. The third top was also climbed direct and the descent to Bealach na Glaich mor accomplished much more proficiently than previously by staying near the crest and avoiding the temptation to drop off to the right to early.
Bidein to Bruache na Frithe:
The following section was new territory and in my head was a fairly easy section up to Bruache na Frithe – a major underestimation ! The scrambling was never hard, just more hard work & longer than expected, with a couple of major gaps to be crossed - one in particular being an exposed jump -and a couple of route choice errors which saw us at one point on a ledge looking across a gap to where we should have been. A short reverse later and we got to what looked like a horrendous down climb with some ab tat round a rock. The ab choice was quickly taken, though after we got down we could see that the down climb was not nearly so bad and the guide specifically recommends against the abseil on time grounds – tired decision making ! The summit of Bruache na Frithe was finally made and with time no longer on our side, was quickly followed by the easy walk to the base of the Tooth.
Bhasteir tooth and Am Bhasteir:
Naismith’s looked intimidating from a distance but I was happy to give it a go, especially once I saw it close up. Jason however, decided that enough was enough and he didn’t fancy a Severe climb in big boots at this late stage. This was a team effort, so I agreed we could take the easier Collie's route. However, finding it was not easy - the Hyslop guide is not really helpful here as it is much further down than one might expect, though Mike Lates very useful 'Tips for Success' is on the money as I discovered when reading it again afterwards. After wandering around for 20 mins, we nearly started up a wall which looked far less inviting to me than Naismiths! However, before committing, we checked (a lot) further down and found it – a fairly easy ‘mod’ onto and up a ramp, until we arrived at a dead end and an overhanging boulder problem. I assume we had missed the ‘basalt chimney’ somewhere along the way, but after a pitiful attempt to 'send' the problem, a short reverse down the ramp got us to a bit of wall which looked climbable so up we went, onto the crest once more then a final short wall and onto the summit of Am Bhasteir.
Final push to Gilean:
It was after 9pm now, so with the briefest of exchanges with a couple of South Wales lads who were coming back as they had missed the tooth by traversing round, we headed swiftly down to the Bealach. I finished the last of my fluid at this point so I dumped my bag, Jason keeping his in case we need the rope and we headed off up Gilean, following the guide and climbing up a basalt chimney which had a lovey ab point to avoid a potentially tricky downclimb, headed back to the crest, threaded the needle and were shortly after on the summit of our last top – and success !! With time now really pressing, there was just time to briefly absorb the moment, drink in the incredible views, grab a quick photo, send the obligatory txt and then head off down bearing in mind the old adage that 80% of accidents happen in descent. Knowing how tired we were, we descended with care, passing the South Waliens again, heading up to the summit of Gilean now.
Impromptu Rescue & Descent:
We arrived at the down climb and tired as we were, opted for the abseil option, but as I went to set up I heard a small voice say ‘Hi, are you doing the traverse ?’ I answered ‘Yes’ , despite not seeing anyone and the voice quickly replied ‘I’m stuck, can you help me please ?’ I struggled to see the source at first but then spotted a young female head popping up between two pillars to my left. It seems she had climbed up, gone a bit off route and then lost her nerve and was unable to go up or down ! After a bit of a conflab, I discovered she had no harness or rope although her mate 50m below helpfully volunteered that she had a harness – after 17 hours on the go, she got a fairly straight answer - ‘It’s not a lot of good down there, is it ?!’ The young lady said she was happy to downclimb with the security of the rope and could tie a figure-8, so I secured myself, threw her the rope, oversaw her tying in and then kept tension on the rope as she descended. Once down she untied, shouted a quick thank-you and then dashed off with her mate, probably embarrassed that she might have to face us again ! So, just us to abseil down now retrieve the rope and make a dash for home then ? No ! During the rescue, the waliens had re-appeared and asked very nicely if they could use our rope to abseil down – Argh ! Despite supreme weariness and a desperation to start going down in daylight, I did the ‘nice’ thing and agreed, resulting in it being after 10pm when we finally made it back to the bealach and my sack to begin the 3 hour descent. Apart from hydrating at the first stream and falling over and twisting my ankle on flat ground again (!), this passed in a blur of tiredness bordering on mild hallucination, until we finally reached the van at 1.15am, exhausted but with a deep down sense of satisfaction !
Key tips:
- Prepare well - get as much info as you can and prepare a strategy which will work for you, don't be overambitious.
- Recce trips to key (ie. tricky) areas beforehand will pay dividends. In good conditions these are not essential, but you will need to allow longer for your traverse.
- Allow for the fact that you will make route choice mistakes especially when tired.
- Be prepared for some quite exposed scrambling without rope if you want to make good progress.
- Being able to go light on the majority of the ridge is a major benefit - its worth considering stash options if you are doing an overnighter.
- If you are going for a 1 day run get up there early i.e. before 5am.
- As everyone says, water is an issue. We filled our packs with 2 litres at Ghrunnda and just about lasted.
- The boat is a lovely way to start the traverse.
- Remember to enjoy it !
My strategy was a little different to most I have seen. It is effectively a 1.5 day attempt, starting with the boat trip in from Elgol at 1pm, traverse as far as Coire a’ Ghrunnda on day 1, dump sacks at the Bealach, tick off the two ‘Dubhs’, then bivi in the Coire, stash all bivi gear and go early/fast/light for a long day 2, hopefully getting through the TD gap and Inn Pin with no queue.
Intro:
Great weather the previous week had me nervously scanning four different weather forecasts all through the week prior especially as the weather changed in England. A minor scare due to my planned partner letting me down was averted thanks to Jason stepping in at short notice and using up many brownie points - thanks Katherine ! Come Thursday all seemed good and I made the decision to go for a Sunday/Monday run, picking Jason up from Glasgow airport on Saturday and dropping him back on Tuesday, so very little margin for error.
The trip up was made in glorious sunshine and for the first time I saw the Cuillin, cloud free from the approach to the Kyle of Localsh. Safely ensconced at Sligachen campsite (not in the same league as Glenbrittle but more convenient for our needs) I went over the plan of attack with Jason to get his buy in. Strategy agreed and boat booked, we settled down to carbo- load, sort out gear and relax.
Day 1: Gars Bheinn to Coire a’ Ghrunnda, including the Dubhs
The following day dawned as expected and after a good breakfast we made a leisurely trip round to Elgol in good time, boarded the boat and were treated to the sight of harbour seals on the way in to what is a real wilderness paradise. The ridge was crested in a little over two hours and after a brief lunch stop we made our leisurely way along the relatively straightforward section to Sgurr Nan Eag and down to the Bealach above Coire a’ Ghrunnda. Packs were ditched at An Casteal and we took the ‘Hyslop’ traverse line across to Sgurr Dubh Mor, but not before I managed to twist my ankle painfully whilst walking round on a flat slab ! The traverse to S-D-M was a lot more straightforward than it looked from a distance. Some slightly more tricky scrambling saw us on the summit, and then we took the usual line back to Sgurr Dubh an Da Bheinn, followed by a bit of down scrambling back to the bealach … and my only negative experience of the whole trip. Some a***hole had rifled the outer pockets of my rucksack and stolen all my snack food, in doing so they had taken the map out and left it by the sack – on a windier day it would have gone ! Fortunately, I had stowed my day two food deep in my sack, otherwise my traverse would have been jeopardy - the fact that a fellow climber/walker would do such a thing left a really sour taste through to the next day, as I suspiciously eyed up other traverse parties who had also bivied.
Thieves and ankle aside, day 1 had been accomplished according to plan and we set up a comfortable bivi at the end of the lochan, tucked into our dinner and surveyed some incredible views as the sun gradually set in the west.
Day 2: Coire a’ Ghrunnda to Inn Pinn
The alarm went off alpine style at 4.45 am but I was already awake. The bivi had been fine but I’m not a great sleeper at the best of times and this time, the excitement & anticipation meant that deep sleep was not an option ! Despite the early rise it was still 6am by the time we set off, having breakfasted on porridge, stowed our bivi kit, filled our water with two litres and bandaged the ankle I managed to twist the day before. The Dubhs having been ticked the night before, we took a diagonal line onto the ridge and headed straight for the TD gap, reached after a straightforward but very exposed little climb, but would there be a queue ?? To our great satisfaction we were the first there - the strategy was working ! The abseil down into the gap was quickly followed by a squirming, thrutching struggle up a very polished off width well above my gear until I made the horizontal break and struggled up to a rest above it and clipped the in-situ ‘friend’ – phew ! The rest of the climb was less eventful and I was just topping out when the next party – a threesome we had passed dashing out to the ridge start the previous evening – arrived at the gap. Jason thrutched up after me and there it was – one very big tick on the Traverse list ! After a bit of banter with the following party, revolving mainly around the fact that 5 out of the 6 of use were wearing La Sportiva Trango Alp boots, making us look like an advert for La Sportiva (and giving them the nickname of the ‘Trangos’ used hereafter) the short scramble to the top of Alasdair was quickly despatched, meeting a party along the way who had skirted the gap (hereafter called the ‘avoiders’) and the equally short scramble onto the summit of Thearlaich accomplished.
The descent off Thearlaich was one of my less glorious moments – having already decided we would ‘ab’ the tricky bit, I didn’t descend to the right off the summit plateau as the guide sugested, spotted some ab tat, went for it … and we ended up making two abseils instead of one ! Nonetheless, we stood at the bottom of Kings Chimney on our own, the avoiders having opted for Collies ledge instead and the trangos still behind us. Kings chimney was despatched with some enjoyment – it is a really nice climb, through the traverse might be interesting in the wet. The trangos appeared again as I neared the top, but decided to go for the ledge option. Shortly after, Thearlaich summit was ticked off and we headed towards An Stac which we by-passed on the screes on the left as planned, to get to the Inn Pinn.
We approached the Inn Pinn with some trepidation, expecting it to be really busy. I had 3 possible ascent routes lined up to avoid the queues, but as we approached we could see the avoiders on top just abbing off, the trangos just starting the climb ..and no-one else, yeah ! I approached the bottom of the climb just as the trangos headed to the top, I roped up quickly and took Jason up alpine style. This is a lovely climb, really easy steps with only one slightly awkward move off the side onto the ridge, but with loads of exposure. On the top, Jason had a big smile on his face, having tried to do the ‘pinn’ in 2005 and been foiled by the weather. We waved at the other crews having a break as we prepared to ‘ab’ off, then they set off and we didn’t see either party again except in the distance.
Inn Pinn to Bidein:
We had a short break and sandwich ourselves before steeling ourselves for the so called ‘mind numbing’ central section. Banadich was summited competently, avoiding the many false summits, but I made a bit of a mess of getting to Thormaid, following Hyslop’s guide too literally and getting too low, resulting in an unpleasant scramble across scree and a nervy traverse across a narrow ledge to get back on track. This is now the second time I've missed the correct route, though having read a Moran blog recently where even the master struggled, it seems to be tricky to get right. Having messed up the approach, the ascent of Thormaid itself was accomplished smoothly by tackling it head on and the teeth by-passed easily enough to a bealach before starting the ascent of Sgurr a Ghreadaidh, easyish scrambling to the south top followed by the easy but very airy knife edge to the north, true top at which point were directly overtaken for the only time in the day by a pair moving quickly, though even they were complaining of tiredness. The wart soon after was by-passed and An Dorus reached after a short gash in between called Eag Dubh.
The following section was known territory having recc'ed it the previous year; Mheadaidh itself being quite easy but the 3 tops offering considerably more of a climbing/scrambling challenge. But, armed with beta they were dispatched competently and without use of the rope – Jason taking the lead on the first top. The key to the top is to traverse right as the guide states but not too far, maybe 20 metres ? In good conditions it is fairly to spot. The 3 tops of Bidein Druim nan Ramh followed soon after - all sans rope, the first top despatched via the basalt staircases and the second tackled direct up a scoop – which looks very tricky from a distance but is ok close up – after a tricky descent / traverse across slabs into the gap. This is followed by a chimney then a brief scramble. The third top was also climbed direct and the descent to Bealach na Glaich mor accomplished much more proficiently than previously by staying near the crest and avoiding the temptation to drop off to the right to early.
Bidein to Bruache na Frithe:
The following section was new territory and in my head was a fairly easy section up to Bruache na Frithe – a major underestimation ! The scrambling was never hard, just more hard work & longer than expected, with a couple of major gaps to be crossed - one in particular being an exposed jump -and a couple of route choice errors which saw us at one point on a ledge looking across a gap to where we should have been. A short reverse later and we got to what looked like a horrendous down climb with some ab tat round a rock. The ab choice was quickly taken, though after we got down we could see that the down climb was not nearly so bad and the guide specifically recommends against the abseil on time grounds – tired decision making ! The summit of Bruache na Frithe was finally made and with time no longer on our side, was quickly followed by the easy walk to the base of the Tooth.
Bhasteir tooth and Am Bhasteir:
Naismith’s looked intimidating from a distance but I was happy to give it a go, especially once I saw it close up. Jason however, decided that enough was enough and he didn’t fancy a Severe climb in big boots at this late stage. This was a team effort, so I agreed we could take the easier Collie's route. However, finding it was not easy - the Hyslop guide is not really helpful here as it is much further down than one might expect, though Mike Lates very useful 'Tips for Success' is on the money as I discovered when reading it again afterwards. After wandering around for 20 mins, we nearly started up a wall which looked far less inviting to me than Naismiths! However, before committing, we checked (a lot) further down and found it – a fairly easy ‘mod’ onto and up a ramp, until we arrived at a dead end and an overhanging boulder problem. I assume we had missed the ‘basalt chimney’ somewhere along the way, but after a pitiful attempt to 'send' the problem, a short reverse down the ramp got us to a bit of wall which looked climbable so up we went, onto the crest once more then a final short wall and onto the summit of Am Bhasteir.
Final push to Gilean:
It was after 9pm now, so with the briefest of exchanges with a couple of South Wales lads who were coming back as they had missed the tooth by traversing round, we headed swiftly down to the Bealach. I finished the last of my fluid at this point so I dumped my bag, Jason keeping his in case we need the rope and we headed off up Gilean, following the guide and climbing up a basalt chimney which had a lovey ab point to avoid a potentially tricky downclimb, headed back to the crest, threaded the needle and were shortly after on the summit of our last top – and success !! With time now really pressing, there was just time to briefly absorb the moment, drink in the incredible views, grab a quick photo, send the obligatory txt and then head off down bearing in mind the old adage that 80% of accidents happen in descent. Knowing how tired we were, we descended with care, passing the South Waliens again, heading up to the summit of Gilean now.
Impromptu Rescue & Descent:
We arrived at the down climb and tired as we were, opted for the abseil option, but as I went to set up I heard a small voice say ‘Hi, are you doing the traverse ?’ I answered ‘Yes’ , despite not seeing anyone and the voice quickly replied ‘I’m stuck, can you help me please ?’ I struggled to see the source at first but then spotted a young female head popping up between two pillars to my left. It seems she had climbed up, gone a bit off route and then lost her nerve and was unable to go up or down ! After a bit of a conflab, I discovered she had no harness or rope although her mate 50m below helpfully volunteered that she had a harness – after 17 hours on the go, she got a fairly straight answer - ‘It’s not a lot of good down there, is it ?!’ The young lady said she was happy to downclimb with the security of the rope and could tie a figure-8, so I secured myself, threw her the rope, oversaw her tying in and then kept tension on the rope as she descended. Once down she untied, shouted a quick thank-you and then dashed off with her mate, probably embarrassed that she might have to face us again ! So, just us to abseil down now retrieve the rope and make a dash for home then ? No ! During the rescue, the waliens had re-appeared and asked very nicely if they could use our rope to abseil down – Argh ! Despite supreme weariness and a desperation to start going down in daylight, I did the ‘nice’ thing and agreed, resulting in it being after 10pm when we finally made it back to the bealach and my sack to begin the 3 hour descent. Apart from hydrating at the first stream and falling over and twisting my ankle on flat ground again (!), this passed in a blur of tiredness bordering on mild hallucination, until we finally reached the van at 1.15am, exhausted but with a deep down sense of satisfaction !
Really useful sources of help & info:
These were my key sources.
Rockfax Mini Guide to the traverse by Andy Hyslop. www.rockfax.com
The Cuillin Ridge: tips for success by Mike Lates. www.skyeguides.co.uk
Harvey Map of the Cuillin.
