Scotland

Prepping upcoming trip to Scotland here.

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Climbing — 1 An Teallach · 2 Beinn Eighe · 3 Liathach · 4 Sgurr nan Gillean · 5 Ben Nevis · 6 Aonach Eagach

Map of the objectives

CategoryNameGradeRegion
Rock An Teallach 3 Scramble Wester Ross
Rock Aonach Eagach - Glen Coe 2/3 Scramble Glen Coe
Rock NE Buttress & Tower Ridge - Ben Nevis Very Difficult Grampian Mountains
Rock Liathach - Glen Torridon 2 Scramble Glen Torridon
Rock East Buttress - Beinn Eighe Difficult Torridon
Rock Observatory Ridge - Ben Nevis Very Difficult Grampian Mountains
Rock Pinnacle Ridge - Sgùrr nan Gillean 3S Scramble Isle of Skye

Basic scramblers’ rack

An informal term with no fixed definition — enough to protect a few short moves and safeguard a second, and nothing more:

  • A short rope, around 30 m.
  • Slings Four to six, mixed 120 cm and 240 cm.
  • A partial set of nuts, four to eight mid-size wires.
  • One or two mid-size cams, optional and often left behind.
  • Extenders, a couple of screwgates, a belay plate, a prusik. Helmets.

Wet days

Distilleries within reach of each base, for the days the rock is out of condition.

  • Skye — Talisker at Carbost on Loch Harport, distilling since 1830 and the fullest visitor offer of the lot: tour and tasting, Made by the Sea, a cask draw, Decades by the Sea. Book online. Torabhaig in Sleat and Raasay (car ferry from Sconser) are the others; the Hebridean Whisky Trail does all three in a day if nobody wants to drive.
  • Fort William — Ben Nevis Distillery, at the foot of the hill since 1825, which is a fair way to spend a day the mountain is out of condition. Advance booking is essential — no walk-ins. Oban and Ardnamurchan are also in reach, Ardnamurchan a full day out and back.
  • Torridon — Badachro near Gairloch. Gin, vodka and whisky, founded 2018 and small enough that the founders run the tours themselves: the still room, then five spirits tasted in a sunroom over the coast. Drivers get a 5 cl miniature instead of the dram. Book ahead, especially at weekends.
  • Driving east — The Singleton of Glen Ord at Muir of Ord. Open 10:00–17:00, but closed Monday 14 September. Signature tour, flavour-journey tastings, warehouse experiences.

Worth seeing

Non-climbing, and mostly wanting the same weather the climbing wants.

  • The boat from Elgol into Loch Coruisk is the standout, and precisely because we climb: you sail under the whole Black Cuillin and land in the middle of the range, seals on the way. Bella Jane or Misty Isle from Elgol jetty, 1½ to 4½ hours. Weather dependent — book, and keep a spare day.
  • Bealach na Bà to Applecross — the best mountain road in Britain, single track and hairpinned to 626 m, with the Applecross Inn at the far end. 7.5 t limit; no good for anything large. On the doorstep from Torridon.
  • Steall Falls and the Nevis Gorge — a 120 m fall up a gorge of boulders and woodland, 5.8 km and 222 m in under two hours, with a three-wire bridge across the river. Minutes from the Ben Nevis parking.
  • Corrieshalloch Gorge, an 1874 suspension bridge over a 200 ft slot, sits on the road out towards Inverness rather than off it. Inverewe Garden at Poolewe grows subtropical planting at 57°N, and pairs with Badachro.
  • Glen Coe for the Three Sisters and Signal Rock, and Glenfinnan for the viaduct — the Jacobite crosses twice a day, watchable from the viewpoint without a ticket.
  • Skye’s honeypots — the Quiraing, the Old Man of Storr, Neist Point. All charged now: Storr £6, Quiraing £3 for 3 hours or £5 for 6, and fines get handed out at Storr for getting it wrong. Busy, and worth less than the boat.

Useful Resources

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