Area: Cuillin, Skye
Unlike all our previous trips to the Highlands at this time of year, weather luck was not with us this week. It was far from a washout, but it was cold: too cold to execute my plans to explore the bits of the Cuillin ridge that I missed in 1993. This was apparent again this morning. I planned to do a big chunk of the ridge, and got up very early to do just that. But after parking in Glen Brittle and running up to Coire a'Ghreadaidh (again quite gentle so very quick progress) it became obvious quite quickly that the weather would force a downscaling. From the top of the lower corrie, a steeper rise leads to a river crossing then a pull into an upper cwm. Atmospheric again, with mist swirling around the crags above and a few teams already on their way down! I decided not to go for the traverse of Mhadaidh, opting instead for the safe option of the steep screes that lead to the tiny pass of An Dorus ('the door': very similar to the kind of narrow 'breche' you see in the Southern Alps). The wind howled through this gap, and I grappled with all my spare clothes. The route out of the gap was tricky initially, soaking rock and a windchill (according to the mountain weather forecast) of -15C! It was cold on the fingers to say the least, but above this little pitch the route to the summit eases considerably to a series of ledges which then led to enjoyable but cold and wet scrambling to a very windy summit (73 minutes from Glen Brittle). At that moment, the wind tore a hole in the mist revealing superb views of a black and forbidding Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh, and Sgurr Thuilm. I had my winter climbing gloves, down jacket and waterproofs on, and was still cold. My ancient fell running shoes were OK on the wet gabbro, not so good on the wet basalt, but nothing is. The little pitch to An Dorus was tricky, and an abseil rope was in situ on the Greadaidh side. It was raining too, so I decided to abandon even my worst case 'fall back' option and not bother with Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh. Instead, I beat a prudent retreat from An Dorus back to Glen Brittle. Very good, fast running: back at the cottage in Glendale before 11am in time for a venison platter at the Red Roof cafe.
Unlike all our previous trips to the Highlands at this time of year, weather luck was not with us this week. It was far from a washout, but it was cold: too cold to execute my plans to explore the bits of the Cuillin ridge that I missed in 1993. This was apparent again this morning. I planned to do a big chunk of the ridge, and got up very early to do just that. But after parking in Glen Brittle and running up to Coire a'Ghreadaidh (again quite gentle so very quick progress) it became obvious quite quickly that the weather would force a downscaling. From the top of the lower corrie, a steeper rise leads to a river crossing then a pull into an upper cwm. Atmospheric again, with mist swirling around the crags above and a few teams already on their way down! I decided not to go for the traverse of Mhadaidh, opting instead for the safe option of the steep screes that lead to the tiny pass of An Dorus ('the door': very similar to the kind of narrow 'breche' you see in the Southern Alps). The wind howled through this gap, and I grappled with all my spare clothes. The route out of the gap was tricky initially, soaking rock and a windchill (according to the mountain weather forecast) of -15C! It was cold on the fingers to say the least, but above this little pitch the route to the summit eases considerably to a series of ledges which then led to enjoyable but cold and wet scrambling to a very windy summit (73 minutes from Glen Brittle). At that moment, the wind tore a hole in the mist revealing superb views of a black and forbidding Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh, and Sgurr Thuilm. I had my winter climbing gloves, down jacket and waterproofs on, and was still cold. My ancient fell running shoes were OK on the wet gabbro, not so good on the wet basalt, but nothing is. The little pitch to An Dorus was tricky, and an abseil rope was in situ on the Greadaidh side. It was raining too, so I decided to abandon even my worst case 'fall back' option and not bother with Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh. Instead, I beat a prudent retreat from An Dorus back to Glen Brittle. Very good, fast running: back at the cottage in Glendale before 11am in time for a venison platter at the Red Roof cafe.
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