Day3, Skye, Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Bastier, Bruach na Frithe
Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:45 pmDay 3 of our Skye trip was promising to be the best yet, Colin my brother, and I, met up with our Guide, Jonah Jones, at the Mountain Rescue Station near the Sligachan Hotel. The plan was to head for the Coire a'Bhastier climb up the scree to the Bealach, climb the West Ridge to Sgurr nan Gillean, turn around, follow the ridge all the way along to Am Basteir, abseil down over the Basteir Tooth and follow the ridge along to Bruach na Frithe. Sounds easy doesn't it but that short sentence hides a long tough day with some long drops to be abseiled and great scrambling enroute.
To cap it all if we achieved all three Munros today the last one, Bruach na Frithe, would be my 100th
The first mistake we made was letting Colin take the lead from the Sligachan Hotel, Colin is one fit b.......d and he had Jonah and I sweating buckets trying to keep up with him on the way up to the Coire a'Bhastier. We stopped for a short breather just below the Coire and Jonah managed to get in front of him and slow him down. We stopped at the Coire for a cuppa and I asked Jonah to make sure Colin didn't take the lead again to which he readily agreed.
The view from the Coire is fantastic looking up to the buttresses of Sgurr nan Gillean and the path up to the ridge.
From the Coire we followed the zig zag path up through the scree to the Bealach, just as we arrived on the ridge it started to rain which made it slippery underfoot. Jonah was considering calling it all off but thankfully it stopped as quickly as it started. We dumped our bags and set off towards the summit of Sgurr nan Gillean; this route was great scrambling and something I would never have attempted without Jonah. The first summit of the day was soon reached.
From Sgurr nan Gillean we followed the route back to the Bealach, collected our bags and headed along the ridge towards Am Basteir. Again there was some good scrambling but thankfully the rocks had dried out a bit and we were soon on the second of our summits for the day.
The route from Am Basteir to Bruach na Frithe is the really interesting part of the day, there are a series of serious abseils and some good class scrambling down and over the Basteir Tooth. They say a picture paints a thousand words so I'm not going to try and describe our route I'll just post a series of photos to give you some idea of what we did.
From the summit of Bruach na Frithe we skirted around the base of Am Basteir and then picked up the inward path back down through the scree to the Coire a'Basteir and back to the Sligachan Hotel. Its fair to say we had a couple of pints of the black stuff to celebrate my 100th Munro and more importantly the end of a great trip to Skye. I'll be back at some time as I still have 5 Munros left to complete on Skye, but they can wait for now.
ent=7]our_route.gpx[/attachment]
To cap it all if we achieved all three Munros today the last one, Bruach na Frithe, would be my 100th
The first mistake we made was letting Colin take the lead from the Sligachan Hotel, Colin is one fit b.......d and he had Jonah and I sweating buckets trying to keep up with him on the way up to the Coire a'Bhastier. We stopped for a short breather just below the Coire and Jonah managed to get in front of him and slow him down. We stopped at the Coire for a cuppa and I asked Jonah to make sure Colin didn't take the lead again to which he readily agreed.
The view from the Coire is fantastic looking up to the buttresses of Sgurr nan Gillean and the path up to the ridge.- On the way up to the Coire a'Bhastier
- Tea break at the Coire
- The three buttresses of Sgurr nan Gillean
From the Coire we followed the zig zag path up through the scree to the Bealach, just as we arrived on the ridge it started to rain which made it slippery underfoot. Jonah was considering calling it all off but thankfully it stopped as quickly as it started. We dumped our bags and set off towards the summit of Sgurr nan Gillean; this route was great scrambling and something I would never have attempted without Jonah. The first summit of the day was soon reached.
- Jonah and Colin heading for the summit of Sgurr nan Gillean
- The summit of Sgurr nan Gillean
From Sgurr nan Gillean we followed the route back to the Bealach, collected our bags and headed along the ridge towards Am Basteir. Again there was some good scrambling but thankfully the rocks had dried out a bit and we were soon on the second of our summits for the day.
- Colin coming up through the window on the ridge
- Colin and I on the summit of Am Basteir
The route from Am Basteir to Bruach na Frithe is the really interesting part of the day, there are a series of serious abseils and some good class scrambling down and over the Basteir Tooth. They say a picture paints a thousand words so I'm not going to try and describe our route I'll just post a series of photos to give you some idea of what we did.
- Colin makes his way down the first abseil
- We finally reach the summit of Bruach na Frithe, my 100th Munro
From the summit of Bruach na Frithe we skirted around the base of Am Basteir and then picked up the inward path back down through the scree to the Coire a'Basteir and back to the Sligachan Hotel. Its fair to say we had a couple of pints of the black stuff to celebrate my 100th Munro and more importantly the end of a great trip to Skye. I'll be back at some time as I still have 5 Munros left to complete on Skye, but they can wait for now.
ent=7]our_route.gpx[/attachment]
