North Cuillin traverse

Peaks: Knight's Peak (914m), Sgurr nan Gillean (964m), Bhasteir Tooth (917m), Bruach na Frith (958m)
Routes: Pinnacle Ridge (D:al), West Ridge (M:sol), Naismith's Route (S:led p.1)
Area: Black Cuillin, Skye
The agonies of choice became even more acute today, as circumstances meant it was my last day on Skye - a whistlestop trip. One option was climbing on Blaven, but Vic had the whole week at his disposal so I opted for another mountaineering outing with a dash of spice. A good option, because for me Sgurr nan Gillean is the best mountain in Scotland. I first climbed it via the normal south-east ridge in 1993 and have done all the other contenders for that accolade - I just think its appearance and elegant ridge routes to the summit, with no easy options, make it a great mountain. As such, the full traverse - up Pinnacle Ridge and down the West - is quite special, completed all three ridges on the mountain for me, and was just the first part of a memorable day. Pinnacle Ridge itself is one of the most eye-catching lines in the British Isles, much closer to an Alpine route than a British rock climb - PD+ rather than Diff. We walked in from Sligachan taking the route I'd used to Am Basteir in 2015. From the blunt spur at the entrance to Coire Bhasteir, we moved up to the obvious ribs that lead to the top of the first pinnacle. This is not necessarily the normal route but gave some excellent scrambling. The weather was not as perfect as it has been: grey, with a spot of very light drizzle, although it improved slightly later and the cloudbase remained high. We roped up and I led a nice pitch to gain the top of the second pinnacle via a series of walls and chimneys. The ridge is broad at this point, and just a walk, so we moved together - this became Alpine style as the route steepens towards the third pinnacle. Some slabs and a nice open groove gain the top and a sudden dramatic change in character as the ridge plunges down to a breche between the pinnacle and Knight's Peak, which looms beyond the gap with a big drop to the north. We had very little information about the ridge, as it was a last-minute decision, so initially it was unclear where the route went. There was abseil tat, however, and after some scouting around, we descended where the nail scratches were - and once abseiling down it all becomes much clearer and less dramatic. The wall descends to an open chimney which the abseil continues down to gain the tiny col between the two peaks. I led a pitch up the obvious traverse line up right to a flake, then good easy climbing up slabby rock. Vic continued with another long easy pitch on good rock to the top of Knight's Peak itself, surely one of the hardest summits in the UK to reach (although I believe it lost its Munro top status recently). This is a great place, and another gulf separates it from Gillean. This time, however, it can be negotiated by downclimbing and traversing round a gendarme to gain another 'breche'. From here, the route finding is complex - I climbed down the gully before ascending a vague orange groove. There were very few anchors, and I eventually emerged at the traverse path which marks the end of the route. After bringing up Vic, we continued to traverse, airy in places, to the West Ridge. I went up this to the Window, then came down for lunch. We descended the rest of the ridge, abbing down Tooth chimney to avoid a very slow guided party, then took the traverse path on snow patches and scree below Am Basteir on the Sligachan side (I failed to find this route in thick mist in 2015, hardly surprising as it is quite tenuous). After the snow patch, the steep scree is hard work and leads underneath the unappealing King's Cave chimney, which was likely to be our abseil descent route.We left our sacks at the Bealach nan Lice, and took the ridge towards the Basteir Tooth, another legendary feature of the Cuillins and almost certainly the most intimidating pitch on the ridge if the classic Naismith's Route is taken. I led an easy first pitch traversing right over lots of space to a spike, then Vic led through. It is, of course, far easier than it looks from below: a simple groove leads to a traverse, then a surprisingly tricky move (perhaps taken too far right) to a ledge before the final, obvious finishing cracks in a tremendous position. Pulling over was a real surprise. The summit of the Tooth is above, but reached via a gently sloping roof - not precipitous at all. Still, another great place to be, and to have to ourselves. I'd done Am Basteir in 2015, so we slithered down to an abseil point. A short ab led down to King's Cave Chimney, a dank and gloomy cleft between the Tooth and Am Basteir. From here, another 25m abseil, free hanging initially, led down the dripping cleft to the traverse path we'd just taken. All very efficient again, and after a snack we ambled to the top of Bruach na Frith, a munro and one of the simplest of Skye summits. A little sunshine tried to force its way through the clouds, and Vic and I went our separate ways: Glen Brittle in his case, and back down Fionn Choire in mine. I decided to run down, not wanting to miss fish and chips in Broadford. After a short rocky section, I could open out and emerged into the greenery of Coire na Circe where I crossed the Allt Dearg Mor and gained the Glen Brittle path for fast running back to Sligachan, where the view of Glamaig towering in front brought back fond memories of my birthday attempt to break the hour in 2015. I washed in the river, dined in Broadford, and drove to Crianlarich. A memorable three days in the Cuillin, with a necessarily strategic approach taken to the maximising of limited time and the desire to fill the most obvious (30 year) gaps in my British mountaineering CV.