Pentland Hills – Kip Skipping!

The Kips From Black Hill

My favourite amongst the shapely Pentland Hills is the distinctive conical ridge of West Kip (551m). Whilst the name derives from the Celtic word for pointed hill (caep) this miniature mountain alternates in appearance from being a sharp cone when viewed from either NE or SW, to a short flat-topped ridge (which is actually what it is) when seen from the NW or SE. The final approach to the hill, from whatever direction you choose, is guaranteed to be rewarding with steep grassy slopes rising to a delightful roof-top ridge wide enough for its traversing path but not much else! Notwithstanding these plaudits, West Kip is but one highlight of an excellent out-and-back walk from the evocatively named hamlet of Nine Mile Burn on the A702 Edinburgh – Biggar road. The spot is 9 old Scots miles from Edinburgh (about 11 miles in new money)!

West Kip From Monks Rig

This 11Km route follows clearly-marked or good quality paths throughout and loses nothing in forcing you to return via the outward route. My only problem earlier this week was the skin-stripping wind that came in off the North Sea and took no prisoners as it scoured these exposed tops! It really dominated the walk and at times impeded progress to the point of frustration – probably not helped by the absence of my gore-tex jacket! Nevertheless, it was – and is – a cracking wee walk and took just 3 hrs to traverse West and East Kip, Scald Law and South Black Hill before returning me, sand-blasted but fulfilled, to Nine Mile Burn!

West Kip From South Black Hill

From the car park opposite the line of cottages now mercifully by-passed from the speeding traffic, follow the signpost to Balerno, through the kissing gate. Follow the dry stane dyke around the field eventually crossing a stile on to the open grassy shoulder known as Monks Rig. On the way you pass the Font Stane, a shaped piece of local rock with a sculptured recess thought to be the base for a cross, now long gone. Coins in the recess are evidence that the age old tradition of making an offering at the cross continues to this day! This is the course of the old Monk’s Road between Newhall Monastery and Dunfermline Abbey. Continue over the flat top of Cap Law beside a distinctive clutch of wind-sculpted larches from where a scenic vista opens up.

East Kip, Scald Law & South Black Hill From Cap Law

Now you can see the shapely cone of West Kip and the rest of the day’s hills that encircle the hollow of Eastside Farm and its eponymous burn. Here, the wind really took hold and it was head down to the base of West Kip before the short, sharp pull up to the summit. This would normally be a great place to linger but not today! It was smartly down (as all descents from West Kip are) and then up and over East Kip (534m) before descending to Cross Sward, the grassy col between the Kips and the main Pentland ridge. From here, a clear path takes a rising traverse up to the Pentlands’ crowning summit, complete with white trig point and expansive views - Scald Law (579m).

The View From West Kip Along the Pentland Chain

Braced against the relentless wind I ran down to South Black Hill (563m) which is effectively the SW Top of Scald Law and is adorned by a pile of red trachyte stones arranged in a shallow circular retaining wall. It didn’t offer much shelter today so it was quickly back down to Cross Sward and over the Kips, running with the wind back over Cap Law and down to the merciful shelter of Nine Mile Burn and the waiting car!

West Kip

Check out my future plans for this winter on: http://www.hillways.co.uk/winter/winter.htm

MLTA Workshop – Winter Mountaineering

Twelve months on and it was back to Fort William for another Mountain Leader Training Association (MLTA) (www.mlta.co.uk) workshop with British Mountain Guide Tim Blakemore. Tim runs a series of workshops at this time of year on behalf of the MLTA aimed at instructing/refreshing mountain leaders on useful topics. Apart from the obvious benefit of such training, participants also receive points towards their continuing professional development (CPD) a newly-introduced requisite for maintaining one’s mountain qualifications.

This was just a one-day workshop but Tim still managed to get a lot across to our group of 6. The main aim was to explore the grey area between non-technical mountain leading and winter mountaineering. This entailed practice in leading clients on steep ground using ‘short roping’ techniques. The leader and followers are tied on to the same rope with the former taking any spare rope around his body in coils. He then controls the distance between himself and the No 2 by holding or releasing hand coils. This technique enables a group to move steadily over difficult terrain without set climbing pitches and fixed protection.

Needless to say, it was a typically cold, blustery January day that we climbed into the Nevis Range gondola for the ride up to the top station. The biting wind and occasional snow shower ensured we all remained tightly wrapped in gore-tex all day! The crampons came on soon after leaving the top station, together with helmets, harnesses and ice axes. Splitting into groups of 2 or 3 we spent the day examining the snowpack, leading each other up and down steep ‘gnarly’ ground and looking at various ice axe belays. There was some invaluable ropework for us non-climbers and some discussion on the effectiveness of ice axe arresting. The empty promise of a nice hot coffee (I forget from whom....) ensured we descended to the gondola station in plenty of time to beat the last ride down and a short de-brief saw us on our way before darkness.

A big thank you to Tim (http://www.northernmountainsport.co.uk) for giving up his nice French alpine apartment for the joys of Fort William so that we could fill in our knowledge gaps and improve our experience. He’ll be back next year, and so will I!


Check out my future plans for this winter on: http://www.hillways.co.uk/winter/winter.htm