An Idiot's Guide to Curved Ridge

[jwramsay]

Thanks for this idiots guide - very useful.

Not sure where I wanted to go yesterday for my 50th munro, and stopped to the Bookle. Decided to use the curved ridge route, so accessed this guide from my mobile phone at the fork in the path. Found the start easily and then you can't get lost.

At the end of the actual curved ridge route, I was unsure where to go, so checked the guide.

I'd seen the group in front of me do round the front of the Crowberry Tower i.e. path to the right

When I read your guide it said that the path to the right was better than the scree to the left, so I took this route.

Some Rock Jocks coming off the Rannoch Wall met me and said "Can I ask where you are going?". When I said the summit they said, not this way matey!

So, I doubled back.

The actual route is to head slightly left up the scree and then the gap at the back of Crowberry Tower comes into sight and you head for that, ending up at the Crowberry Gap, where you vere left for the summit (no freaking way was I going up the Crowberry Tower!). It's a few hundred feet up to the summit from the Crowberry Gap, all easy stuff now and the exposure is no longer there.

Again, thanks for the guide.

[Bobfin3]

Thanks for compiling this report. I'm interested in doing this scramble. It's always good to get a first hand report on one of these walks. So many mixed messages about how difficult or easy it is.

Much appreciated and well written.

Thanks,

Rob.

[Ryohei56]

I wish I'd seen this back in the mid 90s. Back then I was a member of the Braes o' Fife Mountaineering Club and my Dad (who had just joined) had come with me on a club meet at the Lagangarbh hut.

On a bright Saturday morning, the two of us set off along the path, looking for the Waterslab. We did indeed find a slab, which had water on it, and stopped to look up at the Curved Ridge. It didn't look much like the photos, and there was no clear path in sight, but these were mere details.

Off we went, up increasingly steep slopes. Most sections were ok, but there were some which required awkward scramble moves up over rock, grass & moss. Eventually, we reached a point where we could no longer go up ( near-vertical rock), we couldn't go left (ditto), and going back down would be at best dangerous (don't ask).

The only option appeared to be the gully on the right, so we began a difficult traverse in that direction. It was definitely not a pleasurable experience, but we did eventually gain the floor of the gully and - with not too much hard effort - the Buachaille's summit.

Returning to the hut, we were met with a lot of amusement. Our progress had been observed by other BFMC climates, and they had correctly determined that we had NOT been on the Curved Ridge; in fact, we had gone up Great Gully Buttress and then into Great Gully itself. We were never allowed to forget that....

Sadly, my dad passed away recently, but this incident even got a mention (and a few laughs) at his funeral. Rest in peace, dad.

[cats_five]

Good report. A lot of people have problems finding curved ridge and many have found themself on D Gully Buttress which is the next buttress to the left and had an epic as it is a good few grades higher.

Many years ago I did that when there was a lot - a huge amount - of late snow in Crowberry Basin. However since the route was climbed enough that it was marked on the rocks I happily carried on. The real epic was slipping in the descent down the snow-filled corrie. Luckily my ice axe was in my hands, unluckily I hadn't put my gloves on, so once I had arrested my fall I cut a seat in the snow and waited for the two chaps following me. "you did well to stop that fall" was their greeting. Argh! But the training worked and my hands healed.