The Innaccessible Pinnacle with Jonah and Kate Winslett
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 11:24 amNail-biting. Hair-raising. Terrifying. What it is to be an Aberdeen fan. However, I digress. I had recently notched up my 200th Munro and yet did not have a single Skye experience to show for it (getting blootered in Elgol doesn't count, does it?) In the days leading up to the Inn Pinn, I had managed to get a few Munros under my belt including Bruach Na Frithe, the Executioner and a great day out over Sgurr nan Eag and Sgurr Dubh Mor. The Cuillin are seriously impressive and make you re-assess mainland 'scrambles'. Would they prepare me for the Inn Pinn though? Many have written far more eloquently on this, notably the great Sorley MacLean. His description of the Cuillin is so apt: "Reaching the blade of Bruach na Frithe, I came in sight of the savageness of the country....hurricane clangour of every blast about the grim savage pinnacles; shaking and quivering of the yelling blast about the battlements of every grey bare-swept summit". Wonderful. What wasn't wonderful was that our forecast for the day ahead was of snow and wind. Hardly ideal conditions for the obelisk. Fortunately, we hired an impressive guide by the name of Jonah Jones.
Jonah is a real character; no-nonsense with some rather terrifying but truthful tales of his experiences in the Cuillin as both a guide and a member of the Skye Mountain Rescue Team. His reassurances reassured all perhaps except Tracy, a lass from London who was only doing her 20th Munro and had been trying to sum up the courage to do the IP for over a year. I wasn't confident she would get over it but she would prove me wrong and I was so glad she did. Jonah set off at a good pace and we 'cracked' the 1st 1000ft in quick time. By 2000ft, we were all building up a good sweat and conditions were favourable, with fine views across to Sgurr Alasdair and its massive scree field.
In fact, I had almost forgotten what I was here to climb until Jonah suddenly uttered 'helmets on'. A shot of adrenaline raced through my veins and my throat became rather dry. I looked all around and everybody seemed quite cool and collected. Would I be the one to freeze? We had some nice scrambling up to the main ridge of Sgurr Dearg, where Jonah reiterated that we should wherever possible, use small footholds and get used to those as we'd experience exactly these little ledges on the Pinn.
Yippee! Once at the top, we were confronted by the infamous piece of rock, when at once the summer snow started. This wasn't in the script.
"You four are up first - harness up". The 4 being me, Daz, Scott and Derek. This was it. Right Pollock, keep the head. We carefully made our way down to the base of the Inn Pinn, whereupon Jonah showed us the rope system we would be using. "Keep 5m apart, wait until the line is tight, keep the head down and focus on the rock in front of you." We all nodded. His words reverberated around my frenetic brain, which was firing messages to my common sense centre shouting "What are you doing???" The nerves and apprehension were evident in all.
As if by magic, Jonah was at the belay point and shouted down to Scott to climb. Next up was Darren, then me followed by Derek. Before I knew it, I was on the Inn Pinn. At first, I had gloves on as the temperature had plummeted but these were cumbersome and I stopped to take them off. The rope pulled stiff and I had to get a move on.
The crux move is awkward as you move from the relative safety of the left ledge on to the exposed climb itself. You are climbing a 2 ft spine of rock and you sense the exposure rather than see it, especially in the cloud. However, at the halfway point, I took a look down and could make out the crags and snow below - it seemed far enough for me not to take another look and I gripped the rock tighter than an Aberdonian holds his wallet/sheep. Once Derek was up at the belay point, Jonah made for the summit - to me, it looked like he just walked up the bloody thing and then we were off again. By now, I was pumped but still wired to the moon. The last 10m felt like an eternity but at last, the platform arrived and we clipped into salvation.
From here, it was just the abseil remained. I had a great wee chat in Doric to another guide, Annie. Fit a fine quine. Jonah stoically lowered us all down to safety and congratulations were shared.
For the final 4 of the group, their fun was just beginning. And Jonah maintained his 100% success rate about 45 minutes later. The walk back to the car was relaxed and the contrast in conversations and hilarity, post-Inn Pinn was remarkable. In fact, I felt so happy that when I bumped into a female guide who had just come down off the Pinn, I couldn't help but remark to her how much she looked like Kate Winslett. I got pelters for that one but not everyone can say they went over the Inn Pinn with Jonah and Kate Winslett. I did and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life.
- Jonah describes the holds of the Pinn
- The crew ascend Sgurr Dearg
- Looking across to Sgurr Alasdair
- A little bit of scrambling to warm us up
- Out of the gloom, looms the Pinn
- Getting ready for 'it' as the snow falls
- Darren and Scott lead the way
- Helmet fashion faux-pas - swing to the right
- Derek's one-handed abseil - other holding a fag
