Skye and the Cuillin Ridge

24 September 2024

I just got back from a much needed break on the stunning Isle of Skye, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, with my friends Will, Jacki, and Dave, Dave’s daughter Mabli, and Bracken (Will and Jacki’s dog). Will’s grandmother was born on the island, and the house has remained in his family, so we had a comfortable base from which to explore.

After a couple of days of terrible forecasts and mixed weather, we were treated to a full week of blue skies and light winds. Jacki and I wasted no time, by getting out and completing the Clach Glas ridge traverse, a scrambling loop over Sgurr nan Each and Bla-bheinn, in the Eastern Cuillin.

A couple of days later we all caught the Misty Isle boat over to Loch Coruisk. While the others went hiking, Will and I raced up the Dubh Slabs, the longest continuous rock climb in the UK1. We followed this up with a dip in Loch Coruisk - I managed about 45 seconds in the frigid water before retreating to lie in the sun.

The following day saw Will, Dave, and myself heading up to Sron na Ciche, an imposing cliff-face on the flanks of Sgurr Alasdair (the highest point in the Cuillin)2. We linked up three classic climbs - Cioch Grooves (HVS), Arrow Direct (VD), and Integrity (VS)3, and managed to get back down just in time for a great meal at the Old Inn in Carbost.

The next day, while Will and Dave had a rest day and did some snorkelling, I joined Jacki for a run up Marsco, a peak in the Red Cuillin. We both had a great time in the sun, enjoying a variety of different fell running terrain, and ending up very muddy in the bog on the way out.

On the final day of the trip, after the others had began the journey home, I couldn’t help staying on for one more day to attempt the Cuillin Ridge traverse. This is an iconic British climbing/mountaineering challenge, which links up all of the peaks in the Western Cuillin range, and involves about 2000 metres of ascent over 12km4. While the purest form of the traverse generally requires a few abseils and pitched climbs up to Severe (easy climbing, but usually requiring a rope), I opted to take a running/scrambling approach, bypassing the more difficult sections and down-climbing some of the more commonly abseiled sections5. A recently published guide by Adrian Trendall made planning the route and navigating the ridge an absolute breeze.

I left Glenbrittle campsite at 7am, and reached Gars-bheinn at 9am. Apart from a couple of minor hiccups, described below, I found most of the traverse fairly straightforward, although I had ideal conditions (clear skies, dry rock), and kept the guide book in my pocket for frequent consultation.

I had started the day with two litres of water, but was nearly out by the time I reached Bealach na Glaic Moire6, about three quarters into the traverse. I had anticipated this, and had been rationing my water supplies, but had spent most of the day a little too thirsty for comfort. When I reached the Bealach, I thought I could hear a trickle of water, but wasn’t quite sure if this was simply the inevitable fatigue-induced hallucinations kicking in. I took a gamble and scrambled down the Glenbrittle side of the Bealach, and discovered a beautiful little stream coming down off the bog above, so was able to quench my thirst and refill my supply.

The most complicated part of the traverse for me ended up being the descent from An Caisteal into a deep gully barring the subsequent climb up Sgurr na Bhairnich. Even with the guide book, it wasn’t at all obvious where to descend, and I nearly committed to climbing down into a very steep and loose looking corner groove. I managed to talk some sense into myself and back-tracked, and eventually found the abseil point; many people choose to abseil at this point, but the down-climb is quite reasonable, once you’ve found it!

At about 6:30pm, feeling very fatigued, I staggered up Sgurr nan Gillean, the final peak of the traverse. I then retraced my steps to Bealach nan Lice, ran down Fionn Choire7, and made it out to the road at about 8pm, just as dark was setting in. From here I had banked on being able to hitch a lift back to Glenbrittle, but nobody was driving down at that time, so I ran all the way back to my car - the longest 5km road run I’ve done in a very long time!

Skye is an an incredible place, and I feel very lucky to have had such a great week with good friends and good weather.

  1. The Dubh Slabs were made famous a few years back when Danny Macaskill rode his mountain bike down them!. The slabs are very easy to climb (little more than low grade scrambling), but riding down them on a bike is pure insanity. ↩

  2. Sgurr - Gaelic for a sharp or jagged peak. Sron na Ciche is home to The Cioch, an impressive prow of rock jutting out from the cliff, which was the location for a scene in Highlander. Apparently somebody had stashed a couple of plastic swords up there at some point in the past in order to re-create the scene, but Dave wasn’t able to find them. ↩

  3. HVS (Hard Very Severe) is about Ewbank grade 18, VD (Very Difficult) about grade 10, and VS (Very Severe) about grade 16. ↩

  4. This doesn’t include the initial ~1000m/7km hike to reach Gars-bheinn, the southern-most peak on the ridge, and the traditional starting point of the traverse. ↩

  5. I opted to skip the TD gap (instead I walked underneath Sgurr Alasdair, and climbed up its West ridge), King’s Chimney (I traversed across Collie’s ledge instead), the Inaccessible Pinnacle (I had hoped to do this, but there were two parties queueing for it when I arrived, and I couldn’t be bothered waiting), and Naismith’s route on Basteir Tooth (instead, I walked underneath Am Bastier, and scrambled up and down its East ridge). ↩

  6. Bealach - Gaelic for a narrow mountain pass (akin to the more commonly used French term col). ↩

  7. Choire (also coire, corrie) - Gaelic for a cirque or glaciated bowl. ↩