Skye 2011 - Payback Time!

Sgurr nan Gillean & Am Basteir

Am Basteir & Bruach na Frithe

Following the dismal showing in Kintail earlier in the week, I’ve now returned to Skye hoping for a return to the balmy sun-kissed conditions we had at the start of the month. Forget it!

The Basteir Gorge

The NW Highlands are currently experiencing atrocious weather as an endless string of deep depressions scream in from the Atlantic whipping up winds of 100kts and rain enough to please the driest garden in SE England! In these conditions, you have to grab what you can and be prepared to fight to place your feet on any Scottish summit, let alone the challenging pinnacles of the Black Cuillin. Indeed, most of the Skye Ridge is currently off-limits and most sensible self-respecting folk will just give up and go home to their stamp collections. Not so us though!

Despite their bad press, ex-RBS bankers are made of stern stuff and have a tough strip of metal running through them (that they probably get from their banknotes)! Approaching the end of their Munro quest, Richard, Jim and Luigie were prepared to sit out the worst of the weather and try for their last 3 Cuillin Munros whenever the chances of success rose above 50%.

The Northern Cuillin

First off was an attempt on Am Basteir and Bruach na Frithe on what looked like a half-reasonable day (i.e. one where you could actually stand when you got out of the car)! We gamely trooped off from the Sligachan Hotel towards the dark brooding shapes of the northern Cuillin prepared at least to give them a go. Jim couldn’t find his gloves but was good enough to wait until I’d unpacked my rucksack to give him my spare pair before remembering where his were (his son Mark was always less trouble)! Apart from the odd hosing down with heavy showers, nothing stopped us gaining the ridge-line below our first peak (not even Richard’s cruel riposte to my rather interesting chat about geological landforms which he preferred to classify as rocky lumps)! Wet rock and increasing wind made for a challenging but successful snake up the thin flake of Am Basteir’s east ridge and after circumventing the ‘difficult step’ we fought our way to bedraggled glory and stood on (or clung to) the summit of Am Basteir (935m; the executioner).

Am Basteir

This not being a time or place to linger long, we smartly retraced our steps down into Coire Basteir and fought our way westwards in increasingly dire conditions to the rather more straightforward summit of Bruach na Frithe (958m; slope of the forest). Once again, there was nothing here to suggest loitering so we descended into Fionn Choire for the long march home. Only it wasn’t quite that straightforward...

Several hours of persistent rain had made its mark on water levels and everywhere, water was running off the hillsides. Burns became raging torrents, trickles became significant watercourses and any flat bog started growing lochans! By the time we reached the Allt Dearg Mor (big red stream) it was impossible even to contemplate crossing. Unfortunately, returning to the Sligachan on the uphill side of this now thundering torrent forced us into having to cross several other enlarged burns, saturated bogs and impromptu lochans before we reached the main Sligachan path which itself was beginning to disappear under water!

Water, Water Everywhere...

Stayed in bed today!

Sgurr nan Gillean

Sgurr nan Gillean & Am Basteir

We took advantage of a wee weather window this morning to climb Sgurr nan Gillean. We traipsed up into Coire Riabhach and up on to the mountain’s SE ridge following the so-called Tourist Route. There was little wind and only the occasional shower. Jim remembered where his gloves were! The rock was wet but apart from taking it very carefully (and using our bums a lot when the rock looked dodgy) no serious problems were encountered and after a little over 3hrs we gained the cloud-enshrouded summit of Sgurr nan Gillean (965m; peak of the young men).

Sgurr nan Gillean

As expected, the descent and walk out were undertaken in increasingly heavier rain as our morning weather window came to a dramatic and unequivocal end. We trudged home, entertaining each other with really interesting quiz questions and thoughts of whisky, hot baths and dry clothes.

I think it’s going to rain tomorrow……

Sgurr Mhic Choinnich

Approaching Coire Lagan

Jackie and Charles sold their cottage, gave away their children and drove all the way up from Edinburgh just to climb their penultimate Cuillin Munro. The least I could do was ignore the apocalyptical weather, slip on the old gore-tex and guide them to their goal.

Loch Coire Lagan

At least it promised to be a shorter day than of late so it was with some energy and enthusiasm that we left the water’s edge at the Glenbrittle campsite and walked up into Coire Lagan. The mountains were invisible behind their grey cloak of stratus as we climbed, well-trussed up against a peppering of short sharp showers of hard rain. After reaching Loch Coire Lagan, the serious climbing started. We moved up and around the edge of the An Stac screes until the ridge-line came into view - the benevolent wind and cessation of rain suggesting the summit was within our grasp. We celebrated impending success with some outstanding hot Thai chicken soup which Jackie (sorry, St Jackie) produced from her rucksack. There followed 40 mins of cautious, deliberate ridge-straggling (mainly on our bums) over very slippery basalt until the diminutive summit cairn of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich (948m; McKenzies’s Peak) was ours. Top effort!

Sgurr Mhic Choinnich

We re-traced our ‘steps’ back along the ridge and descended the same way to the lochan. The rain kept off until, as it always does, it returned with a vengeance 10 mins from the car. Let’s face it, getting home bone dry just wouldn’t have been manly now would it………?

Day off tomorrow; off to Ullapool to try some different hills. Maybe a change in location will produce nicer weather…….? I’ll get back to you on that!

Afternoon Brightness on Loch Brittle

Check out my future plans for similar walks on: http://www.hillways.co.uk/summer/summer.htm