Curved Ridge
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 12:42 pmHi all
having read a few of the topics on the curved ridge (Stob Dearg) there seams to be a load of information that says this is the way that we went up ,well to add to the list here is the route from the car park to the summit that myself and 2 others took on Thursday (route attached)
the weather was dry and was thank full for it as i would not like to do some of the sections if the rock was wet. it might be an age thing but i think im getting more in touch with my mortality than when i was younger.
the walk in was easy and you ascend at a nice easy incline to the waters lab and the bear head rock. you can go either side of this but we decided to go round the front of it then follow the path up .the path is visible most of the way up but a word of warning -don't follow the crampon marks as a few times we had to double back and try a different route. the first exposed section - if you look at the map where the letter "e" in ridge is the hand holds are small and are not those pleasant jugs that offer reassurance .later on i found out that i was ment to go up and left instead of straight up so keep an eye open for better holds. the second technical section is at the crux that was relatively easy compared to the first part or it might have been that i was getting used to using my hands on smaller holds and doing hand jams (if you wear a ring on your left hand it might be a good idea to take it off to save it getting caught). other than the two sections mentioned the route is a scree scramble most of the way up with nice short sections of rock with large holds to build confidence.
if i was going with a larger group would i take a rope - yes as this would aid confidence with some.
would i wear a helmet - well after banging my head on a few rocks from not looking where i was going i would say yes .
over all a good day out with the option of doing the full "etive mor" or taking the short option of the descent via coire na tulaich
having read a few of the topics on the curved ridge (Stob Dearg) there seams to be a load of information that says this is the way that we went up ,well to add to the list here is the route from the car park to the summit that myself and 2 others took on Thursday (route attached)
the weather was dry and was thank full for it as i would not like to do some of the sections if the rock was wet. it might be an age thing but i think im getting more in touch with my mortality than when i was younger.
the walk in was easy and you ascend at a nice easy incline to the waters lab and the bear head rock. you can go either side of this but we decided to go round the front of it then follow the path up .the path is visible most of the way up but a word of warning -don't follow the crampon marks as a few times we had to double back and try a different route. the first exposed section - if you look at the map where the letter "e" in ridge is the hand holds are small and are not those pleasant jugs that offer reassurance .later on i found out that i was ment to go up and left instead of straight up so keep an eye open for better holds. the second technical section is at the crux that was relatively easy compared to the first part or it might have been that i was getting used to using my hands on smaller holds and doing hand jams (if you wear a ring on your left hand it might be a good idea to take it off to save it getting caught). other than the two sections mentioned the route is a scree scramble most of the way up with nice short sections of rock with large holds to build confidence.
if i was going with a larger group would i take a rope - yes as this would aid confidence with some.
would i wear a helmet - well after banging my head on a few rocks from not looking where i was going i would say yes .
over all a good day out with the option of doing the full "etive mor" or taking the short option of the descent via coire na tulaich