Sgurr Alasdair difficulty

[logfish111]

Hello lovely people

Me and my Dad are hillwalkers who have been doing some of the munros in Scotland over the last 5 years or so. We have some scrambling experience (done Jack's rake, sharp edge in the lakes, CMD Arete in Scotland) but I wouldn't say I am overly confident with scrambling and much less so with downclimbing.

In Skye we have done the 'easy' munro of Bruach Na Frithe and are inspired to try a couple others. I notice that the walkhighlands description of the Sgurr Alasdair route via the stone chute as having a 'straightforward' scramble to the summit but in other articles I have seen it classified as grade 2 which is higher than anything I have done before. So just how feasible is this route for a hillwalkers like myself?

Also, Sgurr nan Eag looks like it may be feasible for us so how would you rate the difficulty of this scramble?

Thanks in advance

[jmarkb]

The final section of Alasdair is usually given Grade 2, and you do have to downclimb it as well. It is fairly short, so you can afford to take your time over it. The grind up the Stone Shoot does not have a lot to recommend it, though.

Sgurr nan Eag only has Grade 1 scrambling once on the ridge, and isn't too exposed, but there is a short section of awkward Grade 2/3 lower down to gain Coir' a' Ghrunnda. You can avoid reversing these by carrying on to Gars-bheinn, though the descent off there is a long way down on fairly awful scree.

Apart from Bruach na Frithe, the other Skye Munro summits reachable without scrambling are Sgurr nan Banachdich and Blaven.

[logfish111]

The final section of Alasdair is usually given Grade 2, and you do have to downclimb it as well. It is fairly short, so you can afford to take your time over it. The grind up the Stone Shoot does not have a lot to recommend it, though.

Sgurr nan Eag only has Grade 1 scrambling once on the ridge, and isn't too exposed, but there is a short section of awkward Grade 2/3 lower down to gain Coir' a' Ghrunnda. You can avoid reversing these by carrying on to Gars-bheinn, though the descent off there is a long way down on fairly awful scree.

Apart from Bruach na Frithe, the other Skye Munro summits reachable without scrambling are Sgurr nan Banachdich and Blaven.

Thanks so much. This is very useful. Yes we have also done Blaven and will prob do Banachdich next time we are out that way. What about the summits (non munros) between Bruach and Mhadaidh?

[jmarkb]

Thanks so much. This is very useful. Yes we have also done Blaven and will prob do Banachdich next time we are out that way. What about the summits (non munros) between Bruach and Mhadaidh?

You are very welcome!

Bidein Druim nan Ramh requires Moderate grade rock-climbing, but Sgurr Thuilm is a worthwhile objective with no scrambling required - going up the E ridge and down the W is probably the best option.

[Caberfeidh]

If you are not that into scrambling, and don't fancy down-climbing with htree thousand feet of airy exposure under your heels, don't try Sgurr Alasdair! I did it and was astonished that the hguidebooks I had read had not mentioned the rock climb and lack of a way off - except to down-climb back down the rock climb. I had to beg an abseil down on a rope with a party of Yorkshire climbers (many thanks to Bob from Yorkshire!). You could consider a trip across to Raasay, and a hike up the flat-topped hill of Dun Caan. This gives an excellent view across to the Cuillins of Skye, and over the sea to Applecross, and all-round panoramic vistas. Plenty of wildlife too.
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/duncaan.shtml

[jupe1407]

I genuinely can't remember any difficult/graded scrambling from the summit of Alasdair down to the top of the Stone Shoot and I was only there last year

However we went up via Coire a'Ghrunnda, onto Sgurr Dubh Mor then across to Sgumain and up to Alasdair on a fairly tricky wee chimney and steep rock, this may have influenced how i viewed Alasdair's summit ridge tbh. What i DO remember is running down the lower half of the Stone Shoot thanking my lucky stars i hadn't had to ascend it.

[prog99]

Approaching it from Sgurr Sgumain is tricker

[jupe1407]

Approaching it from Sgurr Sgumain is tricker

The chimney was more awkward than massively exposed from what I remember. I took a minute to work out wtf to do with my legs when trying to exit it

[prog99]

Approaching it from Sgurr Sgumain is tricker

The chimney was more awkward than massively exposed from what I remember. I took a minute to work out wtf to do with my legs when trying to exit it

Ah, this was the direct over the ridge from Sgumain after failing to find the chimney in the mist.

[BigTed]

Long timesince I did it but is Sgurr Na Gillean not also a walk up by the tourist route - NE ridge?

[jmarkb]

Long timesince I did it but is Sgurr Na Gillean not also a walk up by the tourist route - NE ridge?

Not really: it's a Grade 2/3 scramble with a few tricky moves.

[jupe1407]

Approaching it from Sgurr Sgumain is tricker

The chimney was more awkward than massively exposed from what I remember. I took a minute to work out wtf to do with my legs when trying to exit it

Ah, this was the direct over the ridge from Sgumain after failing to find the chimney in the mist.

Yeah that makes sense. I do remember looking up at the crest after a food break in the bivi cave thinking "Erm no thanks"

[BigTed]

Long timesince I did it but is Sgurr Na Gillean not also a walk up by the tourist route - NE ridge?

Not really: it's a Grade 2/3 scramble with a few tricky moves.

Ah, fair enough. I was a climber back then soloing up to V diff so looked at scrambles differently.