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9 Skye Gems
9 Skye Gems
by jamesb63 » Sat May 13, 2017 5:01 pm
Munros included on this walk: Am Basteir, Bruach na Frithe, Inaccessible Pinnacle, Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh, Sgurr a'Mhadaidh, Sgurr Alasdair, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Sgurr na Banachdich, Sgurr nan Gillean
Date walked: 11/05/2017
Time taken: 25 hours
Distance: 24 km
Ascent: 3200m
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It all started back in September when i had booked a couple of days to do a full traverse of the Cuillin Ridge ,But as it turned out we had some of the worst weather 70mph winds and torrential rain,but still we managed to do Sgurr Mor ,and Sgurr Nan Eag ,So in with this great spell of weather it was back to try again i decided to miss the first 2 and enter via the Great Stone chute and onto Sgurr Alaister the highest of the Cuillin,Quite easy and straightforward keeping to the edge we avoided most of the heavy scree ,2hrs 30 after setting out we were on the summit and now seeing the ridge gave me a BIG idea of what was in store .dropping back down ther is a small climb up to get onto the path on Sgurr Mhic Choinnich and onto Collies Ledge we took a direct climb up off the Ledge to leave just a short walk to the summit ,looking over to the Next part the Innaccesable Pinnicle ,Looked quite close but what stood in front of it seemed undoable but getting closer i could see what was a great looking scramble/climb in what seemed like no time i was then roping up to go up the Inn Pinn this is fairly easy and straight forward with a nice abseil of the back ,i thought right thats the hard bit out the way only to be told by Ollie that there a LOT more difficult and Technicle parts than the Pinn ,leaving the Pinn we headed then to Banachdich ,then over onto Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh the arete at the top is VERY narrow Ollie said if you fall into Italy i'll jump into Switzerland Lol very calming words,We then dropped down into An Dorus and the started up the descent of Sgurr a' Mhadaidh ,leaving the summit the real hard work now begins no Munros but the tops of Mhadaidh ,Bidein Druim nan Ramh and An Caisteal in among this lot it everything abseils some hard climbs and not 1 but 2 jumps over voids the first is easy but the second on heavy legs was to me like a mile lol, Last part is an abseil off An Caisteal then its an easy though steep climb up to the summit of Bruach na Frithe summit number 7 of the day and here i decided i would have my 1st bivvy on top of a Munro the temperature now was very hot so it was now 6pm 11 1/2 hours after setting out ,we sat and chatted Ollie was just days back from hauling a 110kg slde over 30 days in Greenland so it was interesting to listen to him i was up at 4.50 next morning to light rain but the visabilty was still good and forecast was for it to clear,we packed up decided on breakfast on top of Am Basteir we sat for about 10 mins and then set off for the finale Sgurr nan Gillean ,between us and the summit is a great climb up a large chimmney some scrambling then throught the window and another short scrable and we were out onto the summit ,a great sense of elation ,heading down we met another guide and 2 clients heading to Sgurr nan Gillean the guide asked if i would do it again my reply was ask me in 2 weeks NOW next morning my mind is set i am going again there is so much more can be added in varing routes ect ,But before that it will be the Clach Glas Traverse on Blaven
It all started back in September when i had booked a couple of days to do a full traverse of the Cuillin Ridge ,But as it turned out we had some of the worst weather 70mph winds and torrential rain,but still we managed to do Sgurr Mor ,and Sgurr Nan Eag ,So in with this great spell of weather it was back to try again i decided to miss the first 2 and enter via the Great Stone chute and onto Sgurr Alaister the highest of the Cuillin,Quite easy and straightforward keeping to the edge we avoided most of the heavy scree ,2hrs 30 after setting out we were on the summit and now seeing the ridge gave me a BIG idea of what was in store .dropping back down ther is a small climb up to get onto the path on Sgurr Mhic Choinnich and onto Collies Ledge we took a direct climb up off the Ledge to leave just a short walk to the summit ,looking over to the Next part the Innaccesable Pinnicle ,Looked quite close but what stood in front of it seemed undoable but getting closer i could see what was a great looking scramble/climb in what seemed like no time i was then roping up to go up the Inn Pinn this is fairly easy and straight forward with a nice abseil of the back ,i thought right thats the hard bit out the way only to be told by Ollie that there a LOT more difficult and Technicle parts than the Pinn ,leaving the Pinn we headed then to Banachdich ,then over onto Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh the arete at the top is VERY narrow Ollie said if you fall into Italy i'll jump into Switzerland Lol very calming words,We then dropped down into An Dorus and the started up the descent of Sgurr a' Mhadaidh ,leaving the summit the real hard work now begins no Munros but the tops of Mhadaidh ,Bidein Druim nan Ramh and An Caisteal in among this lot it everything abseils some hard climbs and not 1 but 2 jumps over voids the first is easy but the second on heavy legs was to me like a mile lol, Last part is an abseil off An Caisteal then its an easy though steep climb up to the summit of Bruach na Frithe summit number 7 of the day and here i decided i would have my 1st bivvy on top of a Munro the temperature now was very hot so it was now 6pm 11 1/2 hours after setting out ,we sat and chatted Ollie was just days back from hauling a 110kg slde over 30 days in Greenland so it was interesting to listen to him i was up at 4.50 next morning to light rain but the visabilty was still good and forecast was for it to clear,we packed up decided on breakfast on top of Am Basteir we sat for about 10 mins and then set off for the finale Sgurr nan Gillean ,between us and the summit is a great climb up a large chimmney some scrambling then throught the window and another short scrable and we were out onto the summit ,a great sense of elation ,heading down we met another guide and 2 clients heading to Sgurr nan Gillean the guide asked if i would do it again my reply was ask me in 2 weeks NOW next morning my mind is set i am going again there is so much more can be added in varing routes ect ,But before that it will be the Clach Glas Traverse on Blaven
Re: 9 Skye Gems
by jamesb63 » Sat May 13, 2017 5:09 pm
Day 2 started with some light drizzle but this soon cleared we were on our way at 5am
What an expieriance and the weather gods could not have been better
- Coming through the window after climbing up the Chimney
What an expieriance and the weather gods could not have been better
Re: 9 Skye Gems
by Coop » Sat May 13, 2017 9:49 pm
Wow, just wow.
Can't wait to get over there - next summer, fingers crossed
Great report
Cheers
Can't wait to get over there - next summer, fingers crossed
Great report
Cheers
Re: 9 Skye Gems
by jamesb63 » Sun May 14, 2017 1:20 pm
Coop wrote:Wow, just wow.
Can't wait to get over there - next summer, fingers crossed
Great report
Cheers
If you get the weather you will LOVE it nothing like it


Re: 9 Skye Gems
by Mal Grey » Sun May 14, 2017 8:30 pm
Congrats on an excellent haul of the hardest peaks in Britain.
Re: 9 Skye Gems
by jamesb63 » Sun May 14, 2017 10:28 pm
Mal Grey wrote:Congrats on an excellent haul of the hardest peaks in Britain.
Thankyou Mal they are fantastic specially between Sgurr a' Mhadaidh and Bruach na Frithe
the climbing and abseiling was great but jumping over 2 voids specially the 2nd one
I was on heavy legs by then plus carrying a chest infection ,I took allok and thought I will
never make that but I must have landed 4ft past the landing point


Re: 9 Skye Gems
by weaselmaster » Sun May 14, 2017 11:26 pm
Enjoyed that. Can't decide whether I want to try a full ridge traverse or not, but do have an interest in the section that includes Beinn na Ramh. We had a day with Ollie in Torridon and enjoyed his company very much.
Re: 9 Skye Gems
by pollyh33 » Sun May 14, 2017 11:56 pm
Well done James
Tremendous stuff- loving the smiley summit pix.



Tremendous stuff- loving the smiley summit pix.



Re: 9 Skye Gems
by satkins » Mon May 15, 2017 9:08 am
Fantastic adventure and lucky with the weather, great achievement, well done. 

Re: 9 Skye Gems
by jamesb63 » Mon May 15, 2017 9:30 am
weaselmaster wrote:Enjoyed that. Can't decide whether I want to try a full ridge traverse or not, but do have an interest in the section that includes Beinn na Ramh. We had a day with Ollie in Torridon and enjoyed his company very much.
Yourself and SK would thrive on this I would say do the complete traverse if only once
but if not the part between Sgurr a' Mhadaidh and Bruach na Frithe is the best
Ollie though young is very good at his job and never in a rush also very assuring
GO FOR IT


Re: 9 Skye Gems
by jamesb63 » Mon May 15, 2017 9:31 am
pollyh33 wrote:Well done James![]()
![]()
Tremendous stuff- loving the smiley summit pix.![]()
![]()
Thanks Polly


Re: 9 Skye Gems
by jamesb63 » Mon May 15, 2017 9:33 am
satkins wrote:Fantastic adventure and lucky with the weather, great achievement, well done.
Thankyou Satkins ,if there one place you need the weather its Skye
not only for the climbing but the views all around are just awesome
Re: 9 Skye Gems
by Cairngorm creeper » Mon May 15, 2017 9:26 pm
What a superb adventure and excellent achievement doing the ridge in one go 

Re: 9 Skye Gems
by jamesb63 » Tue May 16, 2017 8:44 am
Cairngorm creeper wrote:What a superb adventure and excellent achievement doing the ridge in one go
Thanks its certainly something to remember (TILL NEXT TIME)
Most definetly will return and do it all again so many options on the ridge
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