Climbing Scotland
Having learnt to climb in Canada, Australia and Thailand I wasn’t even sure what Scottish climbing was all about. I have been pleasantly surprised thus far.
The winter climbing in Scotland when the conditions are moderate to good is exceptional. Whilst it is in its very essence incredibly hazardous and requires an experienced repertoire of skills, guile and cunning the rewards can be worth the suffering. Balls of steel and a inordinate ability to enjoy hardship are also prerequisites for the Scottish winter climber. Sadomasochism? I have had some fantastic days on the hill in the winter in Scotland with Fin and Smokey Pete and hope to have many more in the years to come. See Resume and Logs for a full listing of the routes I have done.
The rock in Scotland is good. My highlight climbing has been on Arran but I have climbed on many small crags all over the country. I hope this summer will allow me to get on some of the classic routes which as yet I have not had the chance to see.
In terms of hiking in Scotland I think I am up about the 50 Munro mark and have done some really cool multiday hiking trips. Skinman, Robin & myself in Torridon; with Fin and Al on An Teallich; With Fin, Ross, Gerk & Jimbo in Knoiydart; with PGDip in Rum and Harris. Through the summer of 08 I began to bounce some emails around with some of the boys about the possibility of trying for the Cullin Ridge on The Isle of Skye at the end of September that year. Responses were slow but gradually a team began to come together. Ominously it began evolve into a rather large brigade. Every word of advice we read guarded against big groups urging tight teams of 2 or 3. As the ridge has a success rate of 1 in 10, I was duly worried by the size of our expedition but in the great words of the Aussie River guide watching carnage unfold and the idiom of my mountaineering career “she’ll be right mate.” Besides its more fun with the odds against you and a bunch muppets around you. By the time we made it to Fort William we were a confirmed 6. Myself, Fin, Gav, Tim, Stu and Scott. I knew 5 0f 6 Fin knew 5 of 6 Gav knew 5 of 6 Tim knew 4 of 6 Stu knew 3 of 6 Scotty knew 6 of 6 So between us we kind of knew most of us. Scotty the last minute addition actually knew everyone, although he didn’t know this until he met Stu at 11pm the night before the next day. Precise and exact planning was also advised, much to the humor of the small strange man in the hostel as we sat around a table with some maps discussing tactics just hours before we were making an early AM start. No stove, some rack, some rock shoes, 2*30m 8.5mm ropes, bivi bag/bin liner, sleeping bag/thin cloth, very strange assortment of food (and dips to go with the Indian Takeaway), some water (all water must be carried as there is none to be had on the ridge). Scotty set the mood of desperation early on, curling a dump outside some poor dudes tent in the Glen Brittle campground unable to make it to the campground bathroom, just 200m further on. The morning saw us eat up the ground and make really good headway until…..it was bound to happen, route finding is tough and we got well lost. As Fin led off up some desperate chimney on what was supposed to be Grade 3 Scramble, the murmurs of uncertainty began to filter up from the massed ranks below. A struggled reversal saw us back on track but badly delayed and whilst we worked hard to make up for lost time our haste and exhaustion also saw us miss out on one of the Munroe Peaks on the ridge. The mountain ain’t going nowhere, so we will be back but still it was frustrating as the summit was only 15 minutes up the ridge from where we passed by. By dusk we were at the Inaccessible Pinnacle and I was ready to bivi there and then but Fin persuaded us to bag it before bed. Great decision! 15 minutes of fantastic if exposed scrambling saw us on the summit of Scotland’s only ‘technical’ Munroe as the last of the light left the sky over Rum. Ab-ing down in the dusk followed by bivi arrangements in the dark: A really special moment. The scrapes at the Inn Pinn are as good as anywhere else we saw on the ridge and managed to accommodate all 6 of us on the precariously steep mountain side. Scotty suffered in his poly bivi bag and Gav shivered in his ultra alpine sleep bag but the rest of us got a decent if stony nights kip. Next day was all about no fuck ups and a speedy pace. It went as good as we could have expected and until the very last technicalities the day passed drama free. End result was walking into the Sliochan in the gloom but elated to have finished what was a difficult challenge well dispatched.
The Summer of 07 was wet and busy on the river, however i did get some good stuff done with Fin and Jamie. On a qualifications front it wasn't quite so good as i got deferred on my ML exam but was really pleased to pass my SPA.
A couple of my PG Dip mates have put together some interesting business initiatives.
www.muckyadventures.com
www.summitmap.co.uk
Definitely worth a gander. Well done boys.
