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History /
Cuillin Pioneers Sgurr nan Gillean Imagine Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” frozen in stone and hung up like a colossal screen against the sky. It seems as if Nature, when she hurled The Cuillin up into the light of the sun, said, “Their scarred ravines shall lead up to towering spires of rock – unlike any other rock so they will never look the same for very long, now blue, now grey, now silver ... but… always drenched in mystery and terrors The Cuillin are indisputably the finest mountains in the British Isles, as well as being the most challenging to climb. HV Morton is just one writer among scores to sing their praises; famous walking writer Hamish Brown said they were ‘Mecca – the ultimate’, whilst Ben Humble OBE claimed ‘they have no equal in all the world’. The great gaelic poet Sorley Maclean also celebrated the Cuillin in many of his poems. For many centuries these forbidding peaks were regarded as unclimbable. The Reverend Lesingham Smith, together with local forester Duncan MacIntyre, were the first to scramble here, crossing the Druim Hain ridge whilst returning from Loch Coruisk to Sligachan. MacIntyre subsequently made repeated unsuccessful attempts to climb Sgurr nan Gillean. In 1836, Professor James Forbes, an eminent scientist whose exploits in the Alps made him the father of British Mountaineering, hired MacIntyre as guide and together they successfully climbed Sgurr nan Gillean by its south-east ridge. Forbes noted the great steepness of the mountains, but also the roughness of the gabbro rock, writing I have never seen a rock so adapted for clambering. In 1845 Forbes returned to Skye and, with MacIntyre, made the ascent of Bruach Na Frithe, followed by a second ascent of Sgurr nan Gillean, this time by its harder West Ridge. Forbes also circumnavigated the range and made the first maps of the Cuillin. Nothing harder was climbed for many years. In 1857, the poet Algeron Swinburne and Professor John Nicol made the first ascent of Bla Bheinn, probably using the same route commonly in use today from Loch Slapin. In 1865 the Skye man Alexander Nicolson began his years of exploring the range, at the age of 38. He ascended Sgurr nan Gillean, made the first descent of the west ridge by the route now known as Nicolson’s chimney, and continued to Bruach na Frithe. In 1866 the other great Skye-born climber, John MacKenzie of Sconser, began his Cuillin climbing days by ascending Sgurr nan Gillean at the age of just ten. He was to be a key climber on the Skye scene for the next fifty years. In 1870 he made the first ascent of Sgurr a Ghreadaidh with William Newton Tribe. In 1873, Alexander Nicolson made the first ascents of Sgurr na Banachdich and Sgurr Dearg. They noted the Inaccessible Pinnacle, writing that it might be possible with ropes and grappling irons to overcome it, but it hardly seems worth the trouble. They then descended and made the first ascent of the highest of the Cuillin peaks via the Great Stone Chute. It is named Sgurr Alasdair in his honour. In 1874 Nicolson made an epic first ascent of Sgurr Dubh Mor by the Dubhs Ridge (now regarded as Britain’s longest rock-climb); he didn’t manage to get back to Sligachan until 3am. In 1880 Willie Naismith, later to be the founder of the Scottish Mountaineering Club, made his first visit to Skye. He climbed the north peak of Bidein Druim nam Ramh. Later in the year, Charles and Lawrence Pilkington (of Pilkington Glass), two of the greatest climbers of their day, came to the island. They made the first ascent of the Inaccessible Pinnacle, watched by John MacKenzie, who returned to make the second ascent the following year after taking off his shoes. By 1886 Stocker and Parker had ascended the west side of the pinnacle. In 1887 Charles Pilkington – with MacKenzie - climbed Sgurr Thearlaich, and later Sgurr Mhic Choinnich. The peaks were named in their honour; Sgurr Thearlaich is Gaelic for Charles’ peak; whilst Sgurr Mhic Choinnich is Mackenzie’s. By 1888 there was a new name on the crags – Prof John Norman Collie had been inspired to take up mountaineering after watching climbers on Skye a few years earlier. He made many climbs with John MacKenzie, the pair becoming firm friends (they are buried next to each other in Sconser), including a traverse of the ridge from Sgurr a Mhadaidh to Sgurr Thearlaich (using Collie’s Ledge on Sgurr Mhic Choinnich). They were finally stopped by the Thearlaich-Dubh gap; afterwards traversing Sgurr Alasdair and over Bealach Coir’an Lochain before descending to Coruisk, crossing the Druim Hain to Harta Corrie and arriving back at Sligachan at midnight. By now the main Cuillin summits had been reached, though rock-climbers continue to find new and harder routes right up to the present day. In 1911 Shadbolt and MacLaren made the first complete traverse of the Cuillin Ridge, now regarded as the classic day in British Mountaineering. It wasn’t until 1965 that Hamish MacInnes, Tom Patey, Dave Crabb and Graham Robertson completed the first winter traverse, taking two days. Countless challenges remain. In 1999 top fell-runner Rob Woodall completed an incredible circuit, taking in the Sligachan Red Hills, Garbh-bheinn, the Clach Glas-Bla Bheinn traverse, and the Cuillin Ridge, in just under 24 hours. This route does not feature on Walk Highlands! Why not relive some of this Skye climbing history by hiring a mountain guide and repeating a classic route? See the Isle of Skye guides page. |
