Missing beach!
I haven’t visited my local bouldering spot on the Moll (NG563 316) since last year so was a bit shocked to see a big rockfall as I approached.
As I got closer I realised that the change was actually that my beautiful flat shingle beach had been washed away revealing jaggedy ankle-twisting boulders.
Here’s a shot of me playing last year; at my feet you can just see a white band of quartzite-
The next shot shows the same quartz band now that the shingle has been washed away-
The bad landing put me off anything at all poky and I’m now faced with a choice-clear what I can & buy a bouldering mat or sandbag the base and spend a few hours reconstructing 10m of beach. There are good anchors at the top so top-roping is the other option.
It may only be wee but I don’t know of many solid outcrops of rock with so many positive holds on Skye. Once my arms hurt enough I took a wander further south along the shore towards the fish farm. There were a few more spots to play around but all with poor landings again.
It’s a fascinating section of shoreline with obvious otter debris but it was the huge array of ancient car debris that provided most amusement. The trees are all far too big to be able to have got cars through for many a year. Antique car buffs would have a field day.
Calendar Preview
I’ve had a few requests to see more of the calendar images before folk commit to buying so here’s a wee gallery.
Watermarks won’t be left in of course.
By popular request we have decided to produce a Skye Guides calendar for 2013. The theme is simply a balance of the best scenery shots that we have taken since the digital era took over.
It will take the format of an A3 appointment calendar. We are only planning a limited print run so please e-mail us to register an interest as soon as possible. Cost is expected to be £11-99 including postage and packing to UK addresses.
Driest place on Skye? Neist 8 November
Mists clung to the Cuillin and heavy showers were sweeping through so Ally and I headed to Neist Point yesterday.
Not wanting to venture too far from the car we set up an abseil at the top of Sonamara so that we could cram in as much climbing as possible.
My favourite warm-up route isn’t in the new guidebook. It’s a Very Difficult standard climb just round to the right of Sonamara that stays dry in the lower half thanks to an overhanging rib of rock above. I’ll christen it Shelterstone, V. Diff, 20m for now and get it recorded somewhere.
Walls of water swept in towards us but seemed to part and miss us, somewhat biblically, every time. We even had bursts of warm sunshine.
We squeezed in ascents of Sonamara and Baywatch before getting Ally set up for his first lead. He placed the gear back into Shelterstone whilst on abseil then I came down to check it. Pleasently surprised to find every placement a bomber it was an easy choice to send Ally straight back up without much further ado. Duck to water I’d say;)
A Blaven Beaut. 5th November
Rick, Jez and Yogi are enjoying a break at the delux Kinloch Lodge Hotel and restaurant, home to Skye’s only Michelin star.
Our climb up and over Blaven yesterday also deserved a Michelin star, justifiably claimed by many as the best viewpoint in Scotland.
The snow was deep above 500m; no need for crampons but very glad that we all took turns at breaking trail.
On top the mists came and went before clearing completely as we headed off to the south summit with snow formations made for a stunning foreground as we all burnt film.
Snow-laden Coire Lagan and rare Avalanche. 4 November
It had snowed very heavily last night leaving Coire Lagan even whiter than yesterday.
On the approach to climb Deliverance Guy & I returned to the Great Stone Shoot. Initially I thought piles of snow debris was from our descent last night but it soon became apparent that a pretty broad & big avalanche had happened in the early hours.
Just at the foot of CD Buttress that we climbed yesterday we came across the “crown”, the shear point. Perhaps our wanderings had had something to do with triggering it. Two very obvious individual 8″ layers are left above the shear line suggesting at least 3 seperate and poorly bound layers.
Above this point we were back to deep wading.
Deliverance, VII,7. 4th November
Todays new route gave us some great quality climbing up a beautiful corner-line. Every time I went down the Great Stone Shoot this summer I studied the line and concluded that it was very, very steep.
Having never tried anything similar it was clearly beyond my leading abilities. Guy provided the perfect solution; strong, skilled, (a little bit loony?) and with masses of enthusiasm. My conclusion about the steepness wasn’t wrong but the corner crack just kept giving him positive holds and good protection. A superb clean, ground-up first ascent.
I only started using leashless axes last year but I was glad I had with all the hand swapping needed through the firece laybacking. Reaching the top of the first bulge upward movement still seems to be happening, placements keep appearing and, miraculously, my hands are still gripping the axes. Took a long rest to get the arms back before the 2nd bulge; although it was shorter, Guy wasn’t kidding when he’d warned me about it being fierce. Things didn’t give up right to the belay. While Guy squeezed his way out above my head I studied the anchors & realised it had been constructed to haul me up if neccesary.
Winter climbing in the Cuillin gave everything he expected & more for Guy; Deliverance is a great addition for the future; thanks Guy!
I’m going to write a seperate post on quite how much snow had come down since yesterday with views etc.
We have winter lift-off!
An early blast of winter has hit Scotland already. Guy Steven has been doing a lot of work in the Cuillin this season, getting really psyched for a winter play, and it was a pleasure to accompany him as he enthusiastically got stuck in today.
We held off til 9am to let the thunder & heavy showers clear then made good time back to my favourite playground on Sgurr Thearlaich. Snow conditions were surprisingly good underfoot right up the Great Stone Shoot until the final 100m where slabs of powder had built up but not dangerously.
CD Buttress was the route of choice; given grade V,6 and a 2* recommendation by Dave Ritchie on the first ascent we would agree wholeheartedly. It gave us 3 very good quality pitches and a finish right on the crest of the narrow summit ridge.
The conditions were good, turfs frozen but could do with a wee thaw/freeze to cement a couple more blocks in.
We’re back up there in the morning for another bit of play. Incredibly heavy rain just now so we’re expecting some swimming on the approach.
Sunburn Central 24th October
Privileged to go to work today; Beinn na Caillich with her veil of mist hugging like a shawl, the colours in the trees driving through Torrin, hot sunshine and not a breath of wind, fantastic climbing, great company and a sunset to boot.
Ally works with the John Muir Trust in Kilmarie and fancied trying his hand at climbing. After the standard single day “learn to climb” action I decided to test us both on the impressive line of Hairy Mary. I found it twice as hard & steep as last time. Luckily Ally has huge arms (from dragging deer carcasses around) that hung on so well that he even got one stuck! As the other option was swinging off into space & lowering off for an early bath both of us were mighty relieved 😉
Ally about to set off on his space-walk!
Can ya spot the sharks circling?
Skye Guides 2013 Calendar for sale.
UPDATE JANUARY 2013- Limited copies are still available and retailing at £10 including UK postage. e-mail us to order.
By popular request we have decided to produce a Skye Guides calendar for 2013. The theme is simply a balance of the best scenery shots that we have taken since the digital era took over.
It will take the format of an A3 appointment calendar. We are only planning a limited print run so please e-mail us to register an interest as soon as possible. Cost is expected to be £11-99 including postage and packing to UK addresses.
Alpine training feedback.
Many thanks to John Rushton and the White Hart mountaineers for some great action pictures from their trip to the Valais Alps this summer.
Mischabel Group behind. the Nadelhorn is the 2nd major peak from the right.
Back in January we ran an Alpine training course for John’s team of 6- see pictures of this in the January Blog
It is always great to hear follow-up from clients particularly when the skills learnt have been put to full use-
“Hello Mike
Our group from Essex was at yours for mountain training in January. We went to the Alps in Mid July and the training you gave us was perfect for it. We first went up Weismiess split into two groups of 3. We all made it up, the first up that day, and had no trouble although there were a lot of crevasses.
Among the crevasses & seracs on the NW face of the Weissmies.
We then went up The Nadelhorn. Steve, Tom, Marco and I went for it and the ridge training with the mixed snow and ice was perfect. We used all the training you gave us and were glad of it.
Full Scottish conditions on the Nadelhorn!
I’m now looking forward to some more excellent craic in January with the team that trains most intensely in the White Hart; happy days-
We would like four days training in January to take it a bit further and tackle some grade III routes. John Rushton
The man who met Norman Collie
Skye-born Munro-bagger’s link with Cuillin history.
In May this year our Skye Guide Malcom Airey guided 79 year old Alasdair MacPherson, along with his daughter Fiona, on an ascent of the Inaccessible Pinnacle. Malcolm was amazed to hear that Alasdair had once met the great Cuillin pioneer Professor J. Norman Collie.
Alasdair was born in Kraiknish by Eynort in 1932, the 2nd of 7 sons born to Duncan & Margaret MacPherson. In 1938, on a return journey from an auntie’s house in the Braes, he was taken to the Sligachan Hotel. It was here that Norman Collie was pointed out to him in the hotel lounge. Although his own encounter was very limited it seems that Collie was well known amongst the local crofters both through the hotel and accompanying him on the hill.
Collie had discovered the joys of climbing on Skye in 1887 and went on to pioneer many climbs throughout the world but made no secret that his heart lay in the Cuillin. He had retired to Skye shortly before Alasdair’s encounter with him and lived at the hotel for nearly a decade looking out on the peaks he knew so well. He died in 1942 and was laid to rest in a grave adjoining that of his Skye Guide and good friend John Mackenzie for whom he had so much admiration.
Alasdair himself left the island at the age of 18, qualified as a veterinary surgeon at Glasgow University and is now retired and living in Stonehaven. Having climbed the hardest of all the Munros he now has only 34 peaks left to compleat his round.
Knight’s Peak & Tooth 16th September
Heavy overnight rain cleared through to leave a beautiful and spectacular walk-in for David & I today.
Bagging the northern Munro Tops of Knight’s Peak and the Basteir Tooth is never easy and, at times, some hefty showers kept us more on our butts than our toes! There are 2 tops on Knight’s Peak that each looks higher than the other when you’re on them so we did both to be sure.
We’d approached by the 1st pinnacle but then skirted below the 3rd & 4th on the east side before regaining Pinnacle Ridge.
The light & effects made for another memorable day of rainbows & golden shimmering seas.
There was one particularly heavy shower coming down the West Ridge but I was excited to see the first snow flakes 🙂
The wind and rain died down as we climbed Am Bastier before the sharp descent and the Basteir Tooth. Mission accomplished, not! The descent involves a very awkward drop down into King’s Cave Chimney and then an equally awkward abseil that starts straight over an overhang.
David coped admirably and maintained a broad grin just as he had all day; congratulations!
Always sunny at Elgol, 12th September
Great to get back to some rock climbing in the sunshine today with Fyona & Alistair at Elgol. We’d been blown off the crags at Staffin last week which added extra pressure to my brief to convince these climbing virgins that rock climbing is for them.
After an hour of training on the wall in Luib we headed down to sunny Elgol and the wonderfully user-friendly practice slab at the east side of the bay. Consisting of sandstone ribbed with horizontal breaks its’ a great place to learn the importance of foot work. The right hand side then has some big jugs leading through an overhanging section giving a great opportunity to realise that leaning back on your arms isn’t as difficult as it looks.
Mission accomplished
The quality of light today was astounding with the earlier showers having cleared any haziness away.
Looking out to the island of Rum
Pinn Joy 7th September
My Bangor Uni mate Julian with wife Bizzie and friends Ian, Gary and Chris hit lucky on the first day of their week with the first dry day on the Pinn all week. Early drizzle lifted in spectacular style giving us broken spectres and cloud-bows.
The brief glory wasn’t forecast to last and damp mist was steaming up the specs before we reached the top but the holds stayed dry just long enough.
We cracked on to Mhiccoinnich too and were descending the An Stac screes before the real rain arrived. Good snatch against the odds again. 🙂
A classic round of Coir’ a’ Bhasteir, 5th September
My friend Geoff lives at the foot of the Rockies in Canada and wanted to see what all the fuss was about with these Cuillin. Time to show the youth some “sick” stuff 🙂
Sgurr nan Gillean was favourite to stay dry on a day when the damp mists were still swirling and duly obliged with the exception of one short shower.
We had a brief snack in the emergency shelter then emerged to reap the effects of sunshine and showers….
We romped up Pinnacle Ridge to lunch on the summit and then some posing on an obelisk just below.
We headed over to the Basteir Tooth to give Geoff a play on Naismith’s Route. Damp mist was clinging so I just dropped him down the greasy face and top-roped him back up.
From here the awkward abseil down King’s Cave Chimney dropped us back on terra firma and Geoff was suitably impressed with so many “sick” challenges. Not one to shirk at another he happily stripped down for a plunge in the pools on the way out.
We headed home on Geoff’s motor bike in time to collect oysters from the beach and a suitable start to an evening of partying at the Old Inn…
Marsco 2nd September
There’s a series of fronts sweeping off the Atlantic just now and cloaking the first mountains they hit. Luckily the Red Cuillin above Loch Ainort are shadowed by the Black Cuillin so are frequently the first, or only, tops to be clear. Armed with this knowledge and my fingers crossed I plummed for an ascent of Marsco despite the pouring rain at Sligachan. The best approach is from the hairpins in Druim na Cleochd and across Bruach nam Bo. Within 10 minutes of starting the rain stopped and our objective showed in beautiful technicolour ahead….
Marsco appears ahead
An hour of rough but near horizontal walking leads to the foot of Coire nan Laogh.
Looking backto Loch Ainort where we came from
Time for a snack
From here the well beaten track follows an old fence-line steadily up to the crest of Marsco in about 3/4 of an hour. As the clouds cleared further the views through to the eastern Black Cuillin were fantastic
Garbh-bheinn, Clach Glas and Blaven just appearing out of the clouds
After lunch we braced ourselves against the stiff breeze and the final 10 minute rise to the tiny summit cairn. Although grassy the exposure on the final 100m is quite something. The eye gets drawn down all 736m back to the floor of Glen Sligachan on one side and the steep north face on the other.
Just concentrate on your feet!
Taking in the summit views
Sgurr nan Gillean showed its head briefly and impressively but clouds soon began to gather again and the race was on to beat the rain on the next weather front. Descending by the same route light rain caught us for the final 10 minutes but nobody was complaining and I can’t deny feeling quite smug at snatching a good 6-hour walk from the misty mouth of the Atlantic.
Good days out despite our wonderful weather bubble bursting.
Dodging between some pretty awful rain showers for the past week but had a great day out with regulars Lisa & Vickie on Wednesday.
Narrowest section of Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh
and relaxing the muscles afterwards
The weekend forecast improved enough to allow a Traverse attempt.
Rehen, Catherine & I took a ride in with Alex on the AquaXplore RIB on an increasingly choppy sea.
By the time we reached Gars-bheinn the tops were cloud covered once more and the winds were strong enough to knock us right over. Progress was slow & hard work as we battled to keep our feet along the “easy” section of the Ridge.
Overnighting in Coir’ a’ Ghrunnda we went to bed early hoping to wake in the perfect weather that was forecast but mist still clung heavily at 6am. The rocks were only slightly greasy on the rise up Alasdair but the exposed crest was soaking and treacherous to the Stone Shoot. We resisited the temptation to run away and made good progress to reach the Pinn at 11am.
Mist swirls around on An Stac Direct
The mists were finally clearing the tops and all those who had been lost finally seemed to home in on the Pinn. We got up just ahead of the mighty crowd and were briefly joined by Dave on his penultimate Munro.
The visibility and views continued to improve as we headed north and my Canadian guests were finally able to see the beauty of the Cuillin. Their previous summit was Mount Everest back in May and it was fascinating listening to their tales but also good to see and hear how much they appreciated the climbing and scenery in our wonderful wee mountains.
Catherine and Rehen with everything they had climbed in the Cuillin layed out behind them.
We descended from An Dorus as black clouds drew in from the south and got down just before the heavens opened.
Rock-fest, 9-16th August
After a couple of weeks holiday it has been an absolute pleasure to come back to work this last week. I’ve been fortunate enough to have 8 consecutive days of rock climbing.
Forgot the camera on the first day out but Dave & I had a great day approaching via Cioch Slab to the foot of the intimidating sounding Crack of Double Doom (VS 4c). I’d forgotten how fine the main pitch is; 50m of continuously testng moves and all well protected.
Next day was Direct Route on Eastern Buttress (Severe) with Ant & Paul; again a route that I’d forgotten how good it was with 9 pitches of superb rock & plenty of challenge.
We went to Neist next day with the guys doing their first leads after some intense practice in gear placements and setting up belays.
Next day the guys were tested and passed with flying colours as they led themselves up all 6 pitches of Window Buttress (V Diff)
Back at Neist next day with Tom, Susan & daughter Lisa who showed her folks how it was done with fine ascents of (Severe) and Tatties (Severe).
To be fair Tom & Susan did superbly as well and were particularly happy with the short session of ropework for scrambling that we squeezed in.
Tuesday was a sun-fest at Kilt where Victoria, Elise & I climbed the Rpmper (Severe), Secret Service (VS, 5a)
and then Elise & I climbed Jamboree
(VS 4c in the book but HVS 5a at least)
Next day we had John Doughty for company whose first trip to the Cuillin was over 50 years ago! He gave me the brief of a long open slabby route. 
Central Route starting by Mallory’s Slab & Groove takes on the full thousand foot height of the huge Western Buttress. We indulged in 10 pitches of “just what the doctor ordered” on a very full day out
On Thursday Icky, Elise and I decided to climb the route on the cover of the new Sea-Cliffs & Outcrops guidebook, Man of Straw at Neist. The setting by the swelling seas was superb and the route excellent to match; worthy of 3 stars in my opinion with moves and protection that make you think all route with superb moves in a stunning position.
Long may the summer last!!
Collie’s Route to the Basteir Tooth, 24th July
On a showery day Lucy, Alan, Ben & I had a great time following in the footsteps of Norman Collie and John Mackenzie (1889). Also known as the Lota Corrie route the line took the famous duo 5 hours of searching before they breached the steep walls and the route is still a bit of an unknown quantity for many modern climbers.
You have to descend close to the steep southern wall of Am Basteir for 150m until access can be gained. After an initial 10m slab a gully is followed right back up to the Basteir Nick between the Tooth and Am Basteir.
Caution is needed with some loose debris in the bed of the gully but there is superb scrambling all the way up.
Above the Tooth another heavy shower hit us and made the steep moves through The Mouth very challenging.
We chucked Lucy at it with a promise of some traditional Victorian assistance. She placed a couple of pieces of gear to pull on while Ben & I shoved on feet from below. Once up Lucy dropped a long sling for the rest of us to pull up on.
On top the rain stopped once and for all and we whooped our way back to the pub.
Neist Rock, 21st July
Celia has climbed on bolts to a high level at home in Calgary and today had her first taste of climbing with traditional gear on the delightful dolerite at Neist. After warming up on Sonamara & Baywatch we moved over to Financial Sector where Matt, Beads & Murdo were already playing on Midas Touch.
We took their recommendation and first climbed this superb 25m VS. It deserves all the stars that it is given in the new seacliffs guidebook.
Out to our right Murdo was pointed at Shocks’ n’ Stares as a suitable route for him to lead and he made an impressively small amount of fuss.
Beads in a great position on Shocks’ n’ Stares
As we abseiled to the bottom for our next route
it started to spit with rain but the craic was still good on the ground as Matt was engrossed in the crux moves of Terminal Bonus.
We opted for the right hand twin route to Midas Touch, an HVS called Insider Dealing. The climbing was just as good and both Celia and I finished before the rock got too wet. Pure Dead Brilliant!
Pinnacle Ridge and the Tooth with views and variations
I repeated the same route as I did last friday today but added in some new variations for myself with nearly 200ft of new climbing, not bad after nearly 20 years!
We started up Coopers Gully out of the Bhasteir Gorge. After the initial 50ft we took to the clean rib on the right that Rachel, Robin & I enjoyed last week.
Conditions were perfect as the early cloud burnt away and left us superb views all around. 
On the 4th Pinnacle, after the initial zig zag, we took a direct line up the face instead of the usual ramp or subsidiary groove. Bit steeper & more exposed but good moves.
A ledge skirts the 4th Pinnacle on the east side and half way around a 15m crack leads directly to the summit block. This proved far more exciting than I planned with very loose rock & not one I recommend or will be doing again.
Alex on our new wee variation on the 4th pinnacle
We finally had company on the top of Gillean for a relaxed lunch before continuing over Am Basteir and the Tooth and a shorter abseil out of King’s Cave Chimney.
Tattie Bogul returns for 2012
The highly successful Tattie Bogul festival held in the west side of Skye last year has begun once more. For more details of this years festival see their website-www.tattiebogal.org
A vast array of imaginative scarecrows popped up last year; see our blog- http://skyeguides.co.uk/tattie-bogal-festival-2/
Pinnacle Ridge & Abseil Adventures on Friday the 13th.
Rachel. Robin & I enjoyed a misty day but on bone dry rock with a classic round of Coir’ a’ Bhasteir. We started with Pinnacle Ridge and climaxed with the huge abseil down the nose of the Basteir Tooth.
R&R on the exposed ledge at the start of Knight’s peak
Last time I did the big abseil from the Tooth we ended up with quite a bit of rope damage so I’ve been putting off repeatiing it for a while now. To add to the adventure we decided to test what I had been told, that a 60m rope doubled up is long enough to reach the ground!
Even in good visibility it’s impossible to see the landing from the top but the swirling mist added to the tension as I set off down.
It’s a long way down!
The knotted ends hung out on the windward side of the landing slab but I trusted my luck and dropped off the last huge overhang and reached the ground, just.
All of the spare half metre of rope that was left.
Rachel near the top
and Robin touching down
Luckily I only remembered the date once all of us had touched down and the rope had been retrieved safely!
Summer Continues. 6th July
There’s a weather pattern just now of overnight mists with the odd heavy shower chucked in. Through the day these are burning off in some very hot sunshine only for the clouds to build up again late evenings. With a good strong breeze chucked in to keep the midgies at bay we really couldn’t ask for a better summer set-up; long may it last! Here’s today’s selection-
Guy & Nick on South top of Ghreadaidh; Pinn behind.
Francis looking back at his first Cuillin peaks
For the second day on the trot we couldn’t resist the beautiful looking pools.
The water is a positively pleasant temperature
Guy also found some shallow-water-soloing to entertain us-
Quality new route- Techno Snob E2 5c 3rd July
Malcom & I made the most of our day off by visiting one of my virgin crags to try a the obvious central line. 
We were treated to the full range of emotions; ecstacy with conditions being perfect with a warm breeze keeping midgies off, dry rock then a real stiff starting move that put us off so long it started raining. We were on the verge of running away but decided to take a look from above to see if the route was worth coming back for. What we saw didn’t encourage us hugely looking very steep & finishing in greasy loose stuff!
The rain stopped and the rock dried in front of our eyes. The move off the ground was now seeming a lot more positive so Malc tied on & went for it. A wee bit of gardening was needed to find gear but the holds were all just superb. Near the top Malc made a couple of warning noises about the steepness & blankness so I ducked out of photography mode & into attentive belayer 😉
As the next shot shows I also found a need to really focus on the superb crux sequence at the top of the route. Fantastic effort Malcom on a beautiful route. 40m of very high quality climbing at about E2 5c. Techno Snob was the name we chose after much wracking of brains.
Blog bubble bursts 27th June 2012
Many apologies to regular blog followers for nearly a month of “radio silence”. The weather has been to blame but for all of the right reasons. June continued the Spring of 2012 trend of nearly wall to wall sunshine and hardly a raindrop worth remembering. I’ve just checked on the records for Carbost weather that shows just 1.1 inch of rain in the past month of which 15% fell in the last 24 hours! The misty Isle is finally serving up some proper rain which is very hard for us to deal with emotionally; some of us may neeed counselling about just how unfair and wrong it is to have to actually wear a waterproof jacket!
As a consequence of the fine weather we have been working our socks off, clients have been achieving far more than they ever imagined and the phone hasn’t stopped ringing from those who want to join the party! There have been so many highlights I’ve very little idea of where to start in choosing suitable images; I’ll put as big a variety as possible & I apologise to anyone that I’ve missed out.
Using a syphon to collect where normally there is a huge flow of water
Dawn panorama from Sgurr Alasdair, 4-30am (Andy Hillen)
Fundraising for the Rock Trust by climbing all the Scottish Munros in a weekend; 16/17th June
Finally getting a chance to take Skye-based film Director up the Pinn 7 years after we first shot the award winning Gaelic language film Seachd which was titled The Inaccessible Pinnacle in English. More recently Chris has had huge success with both the TV series and film of The Inbetweeners. 
Also with us was Rhianna from Youngfilms and Johnny Barrington who has sent a link to his new film’s trailer- https://vimeo.com/18812335
Martin on Pure Splendor, E2 5b at Elgol
Simon showing good confidence crossing Clach Glas
Diedre out there at Kilt on Secret Service, HVS
Heaven is a pool in the sun!!
Raindrop reported at last; 31st May
For the Traverse recently we’ve been favouring the technique of a short first day followed by a long but very lightweight second. The result was, eventually, a very fast Traverse with newly-weds Geraint & Kate Davies (nee Bailey). Thanks to Robert and Bill on the Bella Jane for getting us off on the usual rocks despite the high tide levels
A drop in temperature and layer of cloud helped us keep a good speed up on the rise up Gars-bheinn. A real highlight was finding a beautiful large adder in thee grass hopefully looking for some rays.
The TD Gap gave the first real adrenalin buzz of the day
Rain meant we stayed in our very cosy pits until 11-30 the next morning; a record 18 hours of patience, eating, drinking & snoring! As predicted the rain stopped and the rocks started drying out in front of our eyes as we headed off shortly after midday. The rope kept us confident and upright until the mists finally burnt off as we descended from Sgurr Mhiccoinnich.
The fantastic effects continued as we climbed the Pinn
With the first technical section done it was time to put the foot to the floor and make up some time. Kate (nee Baily) holds a fair number of running records and brand new husband Geraint is no slob either. Cool breezes and thin cloud cover helped us eat up the miles.
We reached Bruach na Frithe not long after 6-30pm and the guys still felt good for an ascent of Naismith’s route on the Tooth.
A cold wind picked up and the mist drew in as we topped out on Gillean just after half past eight.
Having been through everything the Cuillin & I could throw at them, this pair of runners got their own back by beasting me down hill in the setting sun for a very fine tasting cold pint in the Slig.
Many congratulations to Kate & Geraint Davies on getting married last Saturday and for spending their honeymoon completing a very fine Traverse in less than 12 hours end to end (if you ignore the rain-break!).
Mongoose Direct 27 May
Hannah Burrows-Smith is taking a break from Alpine guiding and has been working here for the past few weeks. We opted for a “busmans holiday” with a hot approach to the huge cliff on the back of Sgurr Mhiccoinich. We opted for Mongoose Direct, a line of cracks that splits the centre of the cliff. The lowest 2 pitches were very high quality but the crux 3rd pitch spanked my ass. We reverted to the original Mongoose line that joins Dawn Grooves. Above the quality of rock deteriated, motivation dwindled and so we took an escape line out right below the top pitches. Not the most satisfactory result but we did some amazing climbing and had a highly exciting time!
The crag in profile this morning.
Hannah sorting out the 50m abseil down Rotten Gully
Looking up the line
Pitch 1- straight into the laybacking
Hannah on the hard high quality second pitch 
The crux pitch that defeated me tackles the white walled corner above.
On the traverse pitch of Dawn Grooves
Scorching end to May 2012
Very hot & very busy just now. Wee selection of memories-
Sweltering Traverse 24th May
Overhang Cure E2 5b; New route at Elgol. 25th May
Dawn Glory 24th May
Skye Guides annual BBQ- ie the only one we get between winter & midgies! 25th May
Early Traversers on Sgurr Thearlaich today, 26th May
Cold King’s Chimney and Charity Pinn day. 19 May
Good day with regulars Hazel, Dunc, Connor & Holly yesterday.
It was a busy day so we avoided queuing for the Pinn by starting on Mhicchoinnich with an ascent of King’s Chimney.
All rounded off with a great scree-run descent and wonderful evening light out to Rum
