Page 31 - 2018 AMA Winter

We enjoyed the magnificent vista, soaking up our achievement as we dropped down the tourist path. We had a welcome stop at the final stream, bathing our feet and drinking to our hearts’ content ahead of the seemingly endless march into the Sligachan.
Our group had made guidebook times throughout and with the bivvy at Coire na Banadich, without undue haste, we had had two, 12-hour days. The north-south team arrived at the Sligachan shortly after, having had a slightly longer second day. The traverse seemed equally suitable north-south, with all of the notable rock climbs, less the TD Gap being covered. Unfortunately, our second rope team moving south to north, ended their attempt at Bruach na Frithe.
The weather was too good to simply call it a day after the traverse and whilst a couple of people headed-off, we had a relaxed day on the Thursday; a bit more scrambling above Talisker Bay for those who fancied it, a visit to some of the local attractions (Eialean Doanan castle and the obvious distillery) and some even managed a (brief) swim in the sea!
No trip to Skye would be complete without a visit to the Cioch. It is fantastic. It is on a scale of alpine proportions; numerous separate buttresses, multi-pitch routes of several hundred metres that only get you halfway up! A couple of us chose the classic link-up of Cioch West, followed by Arrow Route. This allowed us to make the iconic Highlander re-enactment, thankfully assisted by in-situ props (plastic sword)!
CUILLIN RIDGE TRAVERSE ADVICE
The best advice I have to offer about the traverse is about the advice itself; there is loads of it and every scrap of detail is covered comprehensively. It took
me a while to decipher the conflicting approaches advocated by the various authors. I would recommend following the overall advice advocated by Mike Lates of Skye Guides, who suggests a two-day attempt, bivvying halfway. The Rockfax Skye Guide is a useful document, offering a handy, user-friendly topo, although care must be taken with interpreting the snippets of advice that are given, which do not offer a comprehensive account of the whole route which at some stages is confusing. It must also be acknowledged that the Rockfax guide is aimed at runners and so often promotes the time-saving bypasses, rather than sticking to the ridge. Dan Bailey (Scottish Mountain Ridges) suggests getting onto the ridge late on day one, leaving most of the ridge to be done in a full-on send day. If this is your first attempt, I would disregard that suggestion and give yourself the time, weather permitting. The SMC Skye Scrambles Guide is a really worthwhile guide as it contains excellent sketches of parts of the route which are invaluable aids to navigation. In clear conditions, a map is pointless.
The only other advice I would give is to have a comprehensive contingency plan. We were blessed with the weather, but that is clearly not always the case. Given that most people were travelling from England and our Warcop RV, I planned and staffed an alternative itinerary for the week, camping and rock climbing in the Lake District which could have been enacted should the weather forecast have suggested that the journey north would not have been worthwhile. I also planned and staffed an alternative northern Scotland option comprising of a road trip to bag the northerly munros. Although requiring a bit more effort, the processes for land clearance and JSATFA-completion are
straightforward enough and it should be recognized that the most difficult thing to arrange is getting lots of suitably qualified and enthusiastic people together in one place, which should not be squandered!
PLEA FOR THE FUTURE!
As a military trip, a traverse of the Cuillin Ridge is a fantastic objective and it should be repeated by the Army Mountaineering Association! From a simple Mailchimp message to all members, within two days I received over thirty expressions of interest for twelve places. There was no shortage of qualified people (you need RCI and ASL to lead the ridge), as this itinerary sits firmly on the radar of many mountaineers. On initial planning we even had sufficient qualified personnel to go in pairs and even with the final group we had sufficient contingency. I garnered support from my chain of command to act as DDH, by offering several places on the trip internally within my own organisa- tion; effectively this was a Unit AT exercise backfilled by other members of the Army, both regular and reserve. The administra- tion for the trip could not be easier, with the use of service transport, accommo- dation and feeding and no requirement to raise funds or account for finances. If you fancy doing it, step forward and organise it!!
FACTS
ACTIVITY: SCRAMBLING
LOCATION: ISLE OF SKYE
EXPED DATES: 27 MAY – 2 JUN 18
DEPLOYED PERSONNEL: 12
ACCOMMODATION: WARCOP CAMP, BALMACARA HOUSE
PXR AVAILABLE: YES – ATSYS & AMA ARCHIVES
Abseil from Am Bhasteir going North to South
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No caption required!
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 31
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