With a favourable forecast, 8 AMC
members set off on the long drive to Glen Brittle Memorial Hut right on the
doorstep of the Skye Cuillins, an enviable location for walking, scrambling and
climbing. The hut, held in trust for the
BMC and Mountaineering Scotland, is a luxurious space with plenty of
accommodation and sociable areas with stunning views on to the Cuillin ridge
itself.
6 members of the group arrived
some time on Friday evening, with Mark C and Mark M having climbed at Huntly’s
Cave near Granton-on-Spey during Friday en route to Skye.
On Saturday morning all 6
climbers set off for Sron na Ciche on the south side of Coire Lagan with it’s
wide selection of well-established classic routes on offer and the opportunity
to stand on top of the iconic Cioch, famous for its feature in the movie
Highlander (1986).
After a short walk in, Mark M and
Mark C opted for ‘Cioch Direct’ on Cioch Buttress whilst Hazel, Derek, Roddy
and Simon chose ‘Little Gully’.
Both routes lead up to the face of the Cioch Slab. The two Marks,
Roddy and Simon climbed 'Arrow Route' while Hazel & Derek climbed 'Slab Corner' leading directly up to the neck and onto the Cioch block itself, the perfect
spot for a relaxed picnic in the sunshine if you don’t mind the sheer exposure
on all sides!
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| Hazel leading Slab Corner, Cioch Slab |
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| Mark C leading 'Arrow Route' |
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| Derek picnicking on the Cioch with Mark C leading the final few moves of 'Arrow Route' in the background |
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| Mark C & Mark M on the Cioch |
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| Simon (in orange) leading the first pitch of 'Arrow Route' |
From there Mark and Mark
continued on to the Upper Buttress and ‘Integrity’, a reportedly deserved 4*
route and classic end to the climbing. A
boulder-filled descent down Sron na Ciche and back to the hut ended the day in
the warmth of the late afternoon sunshine.
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| Views over to Sron na Ciche |
Derek & Hazel descended via
Eastern Gully with a couple of short abseils, some scree and boulder and
concluded by an abseil down a very wet chimney!
Roddy, equipped with prior experience of the wet abseil, and Simon
decided to abseil directly from the slab and traverse the buttress to make a
much drier descent to the footpath.
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| Elegant abseiling moves by Hazel, trying to avoid getting soaked in the overhanging waterfall |
All teams arrived safely back at
the hut, with Ed and Scuz arriving late on Saturday afternoon following a morning
of chores and a short afternoon on the hills en route. A grand sociable dinner was enjoyed thanks to
the volunteer chefs (Roddy, Hazel & Scuz) and to Roddy for the wine.
Sunday brought another reasonable
forecast so after tidying up the hut and packing away, Mark C and Mark M were
first to set off to tackle The Bastier Tooth (Am Bastier) from Sligachan. Having hiked to the foot of the tooth the
weather turned for the worse and both agreed that the climb would have to be
tackled another day, retreating for coffee at the Sligachan before the long
journey home.
Hazel & Derek opted for a
scramble up Sgurr Dearg and a climb up the famous Inaccessible Pinnacle.
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| Derek making his way up the Inaccessible Pinnacle's Eastern ridge |
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| Hazel at the top of the blustery In Pinn |
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| Derek at the top of the In Pinn |
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| Hazel abseiling down the face |
Scuz, Ed & Simon selected to
link some scrambling routes in Coir’ a’ Ghrunnda leaving directly from the hut.
Roddy decided to set off on the
journey home stopping near Achnashellach to climb Corbett Sgurr a’ Chaorachain on
the way, with a few light spots of rain and breezy gusts of wind. Lovely 360° views from the top were had and a
rather hazy view back over Skye.
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| Views from Sgurr a' Chaorachain |
As always, a fun weekend of
mountaineering and socialising with the Aberdeen Mountaineering Club.
