Before the trip.
At the end of the lockdowns like a number of people I was looking to get back outside, spend time doing my hobbies and meet new people. So I joined the Sheffield Mountaineering Meetup group to get out on some local days out scrambling. Which in turn led to some trips to Snowdonia and the Lake District, then I found myself heading up to Skye on the train to meet the others at the Glenbrittle Campsite on the Isle Of Skye for their ‘Skye and the Cuillin Ridge’ meet.
The trip was sold as ‘The Isle Of Skye is home to Britain’s ultimate mountain range, the legendary Cuillin Ridge. Stretching for 9 miles, this formidable massif of jagged volcanic rock is much longer than a typical Alpine ridge. It plays host to no fewer than twelve 900 metre peaks including Sgurr Dearg with its iconic Inaccessible Pinnacle which makes it the only big mountain in the UK that requires a graded rock climb to reach its main summit. The ridge also routinely throws up the kind of exposure that makes Crib Goch look like the summit plateau on Bleaklow. This is no place for faint hearted hillwalkers but for serious mountaineers the possibilities for adventure are endless. The focus of the week will be on reaching selected summits on that magnificent ridge via exciting scramble routes. Options include the Inaccessible Pinnacle* as well as Sgurr Alasdair, Sgurr A Mhadaidh/Sgurr A Ghreadaidh, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Am Blaster, Bruach Na Frithe, Sgurr Dhub Mor and Sgurr Nan Gillean.’
I had decided to see how feasible it was to go to Skye mountaineering by public transport, for me what feels like an endless move to all having bigger vehicles and continuing towards one car each feels unsustainable, so just how practical was it to travel to the mountains for a week of climbing and camping by public transport. Turns out that it takes longer, is impractical with regards to taking luggage on trains and is a lot less relaxing.
The first difference was really having to think about what I wanted to take and look at limiting it. So while the others in the group had tables, chairs and bbq I was limited to camping stove and picnic blanket.
Packing was split down into:
- What I needed for camping
- Food to take: Food ideas for week on Skye.
- What climbing gear I wanted to take, inspired by:
- Adrian Trendall’s book Skye Cuillin Ridge Traverse book.
- JB Mountain Skills Advanced Scrambling Rack
Travelling up
With my rucksacks packed, resulting in 60 litre backpack, 40 litre climbing rucksack and a 20 litre daysack. I headed off to the train station on the bus, then on to Inverness and a slightly longer than I had hoped walk to bed and breakfast for the night with rucksacks that I could barely lift. I wanted to use this trip to take the opportunity to visit some places that I had past through before although never stopped for long. I had a surprisingly nice time in Inverness exploring the city and visiting the islands and the Caledonia Canal.
My next stop was the Sligachan Hotel for a night of luxury and recharging my batteries, not metaphorically and actually charging a couple of large external battery’s which I was relying on to provide power for the week for strava , photos and the odd email. After failing to visit the Sligachan Hotel for a meal in September I fancied the idea of staying there for a night to get a feeling for such a historical place and possible get out for a local run, which I managed to do almost to the fairy pools.
In hindsight I could have made it all the way from Inverness to Glenbrittle although it was nice to see what the pub was like, break the journey and have a last bit of luxury before camping for the remainder of the trip.
On Skye before the other arrived.
That morning at the hotel I managed a short walk, some yoga, a bath, breakfast and then a mad rust to get everything packed to get my very expensive taxi.
My journey so far had involved a train to Kyle of Lochalsh via Inverness and then I booked a space in advance on the reasonably busy citibus plus paying for excess luggage and finally a 60 pound taxi to the campsite. If I had had slightly less stuff, and I was not travelling on a day with no bus I would have probably tried to get the bus part of the way and hitch the last bit. In fact if you manage to go very light it is perfectly reasonable to walk from the Citylink bus stop at the Sligachan Hotel through the mountainside to Glenbrittle. Like a number of remoter places the public transport infrastructure was somewhat limited to citylink bus and few local services, although nothing that takes you all the way down to Glenbrittle, even though the Fairy pools and beach are well visited.
On arriving at the campsite, which was to be home for the next seven nights I pitched up and then after some food slept most of the afternoon before having a bit of an explore of the approach paths to the mountains and to see if I could find a post box before the others arrived at around 7:30 pm
Day 1
We all suspect this was going to be the best day of weather we were going to get and as it was also Sunday we were expecting it to be busy up on the ridge. After some discussion the decision was made to head up to Loch Coire Lagan and the An Stac screes to take the north west ridge up Sgurr Mhic Choinnich. Going up was fairly straightforward as the group managed to stick close to the rocks and avoid the worst of the screes. While waiting for the slower members of the group to catch up and after a snack we headed on to the start of the scrambling.
This was going to be my first serious scramble with this group and my head was not really with it. We had the probably to be expected faff, one of the group members realised he had forgotten his waterproofs, another dropped his helmet down the screes and had to go and retrieve it and knowing a number of the group were inexperienced climbers I had a conversation with the group leader to let him know that I was not feeling great about scrambling today. When we got to the wet exposed rock and the confident people just rushed ahead I decided I would go back and let the group members know.
So I was sat feeling a little sorry for myself and decided I would see what the next section of the ridge going the other way was like and if I could scramble along that direction. While I was sat having a sandwich one of the people passing was doing a recce of the part of the ridge and I asked if he had been along that section before, he said he had, he was going that way now and that I was welcome to join him. Prior to setting off he suggested it would be good to be wearing my harness and together we set off.
We got chatting and when we got to the Inaccessible Pinnacle he asked if I wanted to climb it and that he would be happy to lead it, it was too good an opportunity to miss. The weather was perfect for it and it was very enjoyable although exposed and glad not to be leading it with inexperienced climbers. After abseiling down off the two large mallons and chain on his very skinny rope we walked down together down the front of the mountain enjoying the views and chatting.
Was little curious on how the others had got on and on my return to the camp it was good to hear they had all successfully summited and descended from the summit.
Day 2
Another day, not without some excitement. It was a windy night and one of the group tents had snapped a pole over night, which was repaired before heading off.
With another slow start, we drove up to fairy pools and did a Grade 2 scramble called ‘The Spur’ up Sgurr an Fheadain (688m) close to waterpipe gully. We walked in past the fairy pools and then on to the initial slabs which as we progressed up I felt my confidence improving. The scrambling was straightforward, on good holds and not particularly steep.
As we headed up some group members were discussing if they were happy continuing in the damp and windy conditions although the decision was made to carry on. Unfortunately, the day was marred by tensions between group members on how the group was lead, in particular around a comment that the group was not provided enough information and an argument followed although group dynamics improved on returning to the campsite and all pulling together to take down tents that had got broken in the wind and reenforce others that were flapping in the wind.
After I had helped to sort the group tents I decided to move mine slightly to face into the current wind direction before a small group of us drove a short way down the valley to visit the guidebook writer who lives with a lovely view of the Cuillin Ridge from his sitting room and we swapped stories and picked up some tips.
My tent was a little way away from the main group and after a brief conversation with few of them about plan for the next day I spend my evening relaxing and chatting to my neighbour.
Day 3
With another wet and windy day forecast we headed off to do another grade 2 scramble up Sgùrr nan Gobhar Ridge on the side of Sgùrr na Banachdaich.
Today with a different leader for the group who had planned a route and we plodded off at the typical fast pace and I managed to get slightly separated from the main group. Then as I crossed the river in a slightly easier looking spot and after walking parallel to the group for a bit I took the opportunity of being on my own for a call of nature. As they were now slightly out of sight I decided to catch them up at the start of the scramble and headed directly there. On getting to within sight of the the start of the route I was surprised they were not close by. So leaving my rucksack by a large rock I contoured back round the mountain to see if I could see them. Finding them about to start up a different way. On pointing out I felt this was not the start of the guidebook route I asked if any of them would like to join me on the described route and with only one taker we headed round to get my bag and find the official start which went up this interesting orange-brown dyke which was full of plants benefiting from the relatively sheltered position. We headed up slowly with a number of breaks hoping the others would catch us up and eventually as we were reaching the top of the dyke some of them did just as we were getting onto the lovely ridge.
At this point I was slightly out of sight of the main group and did not see what happened although there was a call of below as a number of rocks had been dislodged. Some of them narrowly missed a couple of group members who were understandably shooken up and unknown to us at the time they decided to go down. The rest of the group all got to the ridge line and then we carried on. After looking at the map I realised the best option was to continue along the ridge, although it was very windy (50mph gusts) and light rain. The group leader agreed this was his plan and I supported the group with doing the route finding along the technical sections of the ridge and worked to keep the group together in what was deteriorating conditions. After some more nice grade 2 scrambling (ok I was in my element, as compared to my winter adventure did not feel too bad in the weather) we eventually made it to the path and headed down and the weather improved. Little gutted to get within 150 meters of ascent from summit and have to turn round although with a number of the group members struggling and the weather conditions I know it was the sensible thing to do.
Today there was a comment from one of the group that we should get t-shirts made up with: ‘I survived Skye 2022, Sheffield Mountaineering Club.’ although as it was to turn out only two of us would survive the whole trip.
That evening I learnt what what 26mm of rain in 6 hours feels like. I was just back from the toilet and getting water to make dinner when it started. It was surprisingly easy cooking and after dinner I have raised everything I can off the tent floor or put it in water proof bags as the ground is saturated and water is pooling everywhere even under the tent. So expected it likely to come through where I’m pushing down. So after eating I settled down in my bivvy bag in my sleeping bag in the tent for what was going to be a very stormy night.
Day 4
The day almost everyone left. After the what seemed like endless rain the more vocal people were talking about going to the pub for the day and it soon became a discuss about going to either the cairngorms or Lake District to see if the weather was better. After a brief attempt at consulting people the decision to break camp was made, with a plan on heading to the Lake District.
I was feeling a bit low that after 3 days as a group they were heading off although I was keen to make the most of having got this far north I had decided to stay. I wrote a postcard to the kids and rushed down to the post box to get todays post, then deciding to carry on and head up hill to check messages, upload photos and let girlfriend know to keep an eye on my spot as I would likely be on my own. As I spend a lot of time in the mountains on my own this is not an unusual request and the standing orders are if I’m moving I am going to be ok, as if there was an issue I would press one of the emergency message buttons, then if my track is at the campsite or carpark I’m down and if I am wildcamping I’ll use the custom button to transmit a message saying I’m safe. When I can I try to supplement this with text messages when I have signal on one of my two phones I carry. I work hard to make sure my fitness, skills and equipment are up todate although all too aware that things do go wrong to even the most experienced outdoors person.
On arriving back at the campsite it was good to see Pete’s van was still here and I popped round to see if he wanted to go for a walk and we decided to head out after some food. After the night before of all the rain I took the chance to drying out the inside of my tent and footprint. This Involving taking everything out, including the groundsheet protector. The wind made quick work of this and after a sandwich I was waiting for Pete to have his lunch and then heading out for a local walk.
I was keen to head along the coast, I knew we did not have time to make it all the way to the Viking Canal where I think they were able to use it as a kind of dry dock although like the idea of getting a different view of the valley. Turns out no plan in Scotland survives meeting the first big river crossing! We headed along the coast until we got to the first big river and due to all the rain and how hard it was going to be to cross decided to head up stream toward the mountains with great views of the Cioch Buttress on Sron Na Ciche and the location of the dramatic sword fighting scene in the film The Highlander then we followed the path back to the campsite.
Dinner was eaten, kit sorted, plans were made and with the wind picking up again it was time for bed. I slept well, maybe too well as when I could hear the heavy rain it was all I could do to bring my rucksack back inside and cover my walking boots. Turns out the seams on my tent need resealing, which I suspected was the case although did not quite appreciate how effective the wind would be at driving the rain through the gaps.
Day 5
Sgurr Dubh an Da Bheinn via Loch Coir a Ghrunnda.
We headed off up towards Loch Coir a Ghrunnda in the strong winds expecting some bad weather to see how far we could get, knowing that in all likelihood the weather would stop us at some-point. On the way up with were travelling at roughly the same speed as another group who looked to be from the Memorial Hut, on a break we all stopped at the same place and got chatting. On explaining that we were a Meetup group and after a nice chat we learnt they were from FRCC. I explained I was looking for a BMC affiliated club that did family meets to come and have shared mountain experiences with my kids. They mentioned that the BMC were looking at ways to include Meetup groups although the style of the meet-ups membership made it hard to fit with BMCs current insurance approach. Let’s hope they come up with something.
This is a topic I had been putting some though into and I have to say one of my concerns is that the Meetup leaders won’t be covered by things like BMC individual membership liability insurance as they are taking money and that 200+ pounds a year for professional insurance is not practical for number of them.
As the wind was not too bad I was keen to try and head up onto the ridge. So after a little debate we decided to follow the SMC Munros guides round up rather than Adrian’s suggested approach due to being closer to the scrambling summit we were aiming for, we said goodbye to the other group, who had just come up to the loch and were heading back down. The summits were in the cloud although we were treated to lovely views over to the small isles.
The going was tough, with the only evidence of a path in a few places we headed across large boulder of possibly volcanic lava rock. It was a good test of my route finding and navigation skills and with possibly a bit of luck we made good progress onto the ridge. Now we were in the cloud, and not knowing if we could trust the compass headed right along the ridge to Sgurr Dubh an Da Bheinn which we summmited without event. From here the aim was to decent the east ridge and then pick our way through the scramble, which gets a whole page in Adrian’s guidebook, so we were expecting it to be a bit complex. The decision from here was easy to make, with the strength of the wind and the narrowness of the ridge it was time to turn back. We had been making slower progress than I would normally make when travelling in the mountains on my own and time was against us a bit so we retracing our route and picking a slightly different route through the boulders, made good time out of the cloud and back to the lake. From here there was some nice down scrambling and hiking to loose height and we had yet again some lovely views.
Day 6
This is what my old climbing friend would call a tea and pee day. Sat in my tent watching the rain. The wind has eased and at that moment the rain is not the monsoon like rain we had over the last few nights although it is definitely raining. So I took the chance to do a bit of packing of my climbing kit and other things I won’t be using so I am a bit more organised for my departure tomorrow morning and heading back home. Mood on the campsite was quite relaxed and I had some lovely conversations with fellow campers while in the washing up area.
Then when the weather sorted itself out it was time for a waterfall and mobile phone signal walk. Main aim was to check train timetables and pick up messages as well as getting a post to insta! Then with that done we walked over to the larger waterfall and discussed plan for the next day. Getting the 6:11 train was the preference although it would mean an early start as Pete had very kindly offered to give me lift to the station from the campsite.
Day 7
4 am start, 4:45 departure and a dash to the train station. Then with some disruption to the train I had a few more connections and more regional trains and with it being a Saturday they were a lot busier although when I was sat on the Crosscountry train from Edinburgh back to England I was starting to feel like I could relax in the knowledge I was going to make it all the way home in one day.