PINNACLE RIDGE, CUILLIN - Roger Dyke
By Roger Dyke
We started from the MR Hut near the Slig, walked across three miles of moor, went up to the top of Sgurr nan Gillean - a modest 3167ft - via its Pinnacle Ridge for a late lunch, came down the West Ridge and walked back to the car. It may have been a casual trip up the hill for Jim Gregson and Sandy, but it was more of an expedition for Midge and I. The Scrambles guide describes the trip as "one of the best rock climbing courses in Britain", and it certainly was a grand day out.
Midge had already sampled Jim's Cuillinary expertise earlier in the week with a swift crossing of the Main Ridge into Coruisk to start the Dubhs Ridge from near sea level - a 12 hour trip that left her?. shall we say tired? - so she warned me we needed to go light and with lots of water. We did - six slings, four nuts on tape, a rope, belay devices, a figure 8 apiece, harnesses and prussic loops. No helmets, no rock boots, no waterprooofs, barely enough food, but a litre and more of water each.
Jim was very kind to us and set a pace across the moor that we could just maintain, and stopped for breaks before we started to flag. In a small lochan, he pointed out the Bogbean plant, menyanthes trifoliata. The village green in Goostrey [where I live] is known as The Bogbean, but I had never seen the plant before and was beginning to think it was all a myth.
Our second break was at the start of the scrambling, and we geared up - immediately feeling guilty about our nominal packs as Jim rigged a full rack around his waist, then produced a heavy camera.
Easy scrambling at the start, but soon getting steeper. Jim seemed to have a magic navigational device built in, picking the easiest way through what to me was a jumble of broken rock. Thanks no doubt to the World Cup, we had the Ridge to ourselves. The top of the first pinnacle arrived quickly - impressive views all round - and the temperature dropped. Despite the exertion, I was soon wearing all I had brought with me.
From one of the pinnacles, the only way on up is by abseil [?] from a colorful collection of tat. I had recently been trying to get the hand of abbing with a French Prussic below the abb device. At Earl Sterndale, using it with an ATC had been hopeless: there was far to much friction, and I had to push the rope through the system. Here, I used the FP below a Figure 8 and it all worked superbly. What with this safety device, and the comforting "we've done this a thousand times before - just follow our drill" from Sandy and Jim, I abbed without feeling frightened for the first time in my life. Breakthrough!
Coiling [my 15 year old] rope at the bottom, Jim said "This rope has flats in it" "Don't worry" I was able to reassure him "it's only the core that's gone. The sheath is still good."
We now roped up, in two pairs. Jim and Sandy showed us how to carry the spare roped bundled in a sack instead of hung around us in coils. This worked very well, especially as all our spare went into Midge's sack. We set off along a metre wide terrace - with a gap in it. Jim and Sandy went first, and Sandy left for us the gear that Jim has slotted in to protect the gap. Real alpine stuff this! In very impressive surroundings. It wouldn't have been difficult to be scared, but on balance it seemed better not to be.
After the terrace, up some steeper stuff, moving together. Aren't there supposed to be spikes the leader can drop slings over, that the second collects in passing? The crew that built this hill hadn't installed them. For much of the time it was difficult to see what one could do if the other slipped, except curse and follow. But we didn't slip. On a long narrow sloping ledge with the big gap in it, over a particularly unpleasant drop, we went one at a time and belayed one another, but there wasn't much for the belayer to belay to. [Hope you followed that.] I was glad now that I had practiced this un-belayed belaying on Sheena at 3 Pebble Slab earlier in the year. We thought in awe of John [Castick] doing all this in snow and ice, one Hogmanay long ago. No wonder he said it was his all-time most serious day out.
Suddenly, we were on the knife-edge ridge leading to the summit of Sgurr nan Gillean. Debate about whether, if one of us fell off, the other really would jump down the other side. I think I would. But gently. Tremendous views from the summit - and just one other person in sight. What a day!
15 minutes for put-the-gear-away, lunch and photos, then a quick debate whether we went down the easier Tourist Route or the West Ridge. You're right. Jim warned us that there was a tricky bit where a gendarme had fallen off. He wasn't kidding! In retrospect, Midge and I agreed we should have roped up again for this. Only Diff I suppose, but on dolerite not gabbro, and over a long drop. And the wind was gusting to about 30 knots. We must have been more scared of appearing chicken to Jim and Sandy and to one another, than we were of doing 1,500 ft in two bounces.
After that, down a steep wide chimney to a ledge where Midge demonstrated she could still do the Splits, but no-one was quick enough with a camera for proof to appear in the Newsletter.
Just clear of the ledge we met a party of four who were going up the way we had come down, to finish their two-day traverse of the Cuillin Ridge. They looked rough! Seriously dehydrated. We realized too late we should have given them our remaining water. However, twenty minutes later, they had water delivered from Heaven. I regretted not having a waterproof, but - wait for this - the 20 year old red cotton jacket you all know and love kept the rain out. Surprised me. I don't remember it being waterproof.
The midges stayed away, but our Midge - we were getting tired by now - twisted her ankle. She carried on regardless, and we were back at the cars just ten hours after we had left them.
It was my best mountain day ever.
The Slig was we knew closed for a wedding party, so it was back to the Memorial Hut to make our own supper: but some days are just perfect - Martin and Zoe had anticipated our exhaustion and cooked for us, even though they had had a long day out themselves.
Nice to have so many friends!
PS Roger's Coarse Climbing tip no 3726:-
If like me you struggle to lead VS's.... use an old guide book - they are often only HS in the older books. And you can really romp up modern Severes, because they are only VD.
and one from Duncan - a serious one that really works:-
Want to put a thread thro a tiny hole? Poke through the hole the wire of a nut which is too big to go thro, and clip into that. My supplement to it:- If you can find a slot where the swage on the wire will JUST pull thro, so that the swage is one side and the nut the other, that definitely slows your second down.
