Over the last three years Richard has been coming up to the Isle of Skye to try and climb all of the island's Munros. Each season Richard and I have ascended some of the most challenging peaks on Munro's list and this year he wanted to finish them off.

With tricky route finding, often poor weather and large amounts of technical ground requiring scrambling and occasionally climbing, the Cuillin Munros can be a burden in the backs of many Munro Bagger's minds. Often the easiest choice can be to hire a guide who knows the mountains well and can help deal with the technical difficulties and warren of paths safely and efficiently. This is what Richard was after when he set out to climb them all.

Over the past few days we ticked off Richard's final Cuillin summits with ascents of Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh and Sgurr a'Mhadaidh on Thursday in less than ideal conditions and Sgurr na Banachdich on Friday with the occasional view through the clouds. Well done Sir!

May, June and July over the past four years have always meant Cuillin time for me, and this year is no different. Although the ridge feels like a second home to me in the meantime it's always super inspiring regardless of the weather.

Over the past week or so I've been out with lots of different people tackling various different objectives.

During the week I was out with Ian for Skye Guides showing him all the hardest parts of the ridge, some of the sneaky bypasses for poor conditions and the best line on the ridge in order to attempt a ridge traverse, unguided, next year with his brother. 

On Saturday a big group from Peak Meet-Up were out with Abacus Mountain Guides and we managed to do a couple of laps of the Inaccessible Pinnacle for those who had that in their sights. For those that just came for the walk we were rewarded with the clouds parting whilst we were on Sgurr Dearg and some fantastic views.

Sunday was I was out with Chris and Peter, for Skye Guides again, up on Skye trying to complete their remaining Munros and Tops on the Cuillin Ridge. Thankfully the cloud stayed low whilst we were on the In Pinn so Chris didn't have to deal with the massive exposure of the climb, but whilst we were on Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, the second Munro for the day, we got some brilliant views of the surrounding mountains and further afield. A great outcome.

In between all these bits of work on the ridge, Sally and I managed to snatch a lovely sunny day out climbing perfect gabbro slabs at Ardnamurchan, no midges, just pure fun!

With the weather patterns at the moment seeming to be showers in the mornings followed by a slight lifting of the cloud over the afternoon and into the evening I'll be looking to utilise this so that the next few days out on the Cuillin ridge stay as fun and dry as possible.

Today Sally, Niels and I were on Ben Arthur/The Cobbler with a fun team up from various parts of the UK.

The rare diseases team were up on a work / team building trip for a few days. Originally we had discussed hiking up Ben Nevis but chose to climb The Cobbler instead and were rewarded with good weather, fantastic views and a great day out.

Well Done! Hope you enjoyed a fine pint or two at the Fyne Ales brewery after! 

The last couple of weeks have been a great mix. A great mix of different activities and work, but also a lot of different weather to contend with. Everything from glorious sunshine and warm rock climbing in Glen Etive, through difficult showery spells trying to go cragging, to snow, hail, heavy rain and strong winds on the Cuillin Ridge on Skye and everything in between. Sometimes choosing the right objective for the weather is the most important factor for insuring a good day out.

John from Mountain Expeditions came up to Scotland for a bit so we hooked up to climb for a couple of days. With awkward showery spells we managed to play around at Glen Shian trying some of the harder, sparsely protected lines after fleeing the rain and midges in Glen Nevis. The following day we climbed the Etive Slab classic, The Long Reach. Didn't notice a particularly long reach but there were quite a few long runouts. A fantastic route!

With much of my work on the Isle of Skye again this summer, I've spent many days over the past couple of weeks bagging Cuillin Munros with clients. Numerous ascents of the Inaccessible Pinnacle and the other fantastic peaks, interspersed with the odd day of sea cliff climbing at Elgol. Whilst working for Abacus Mountain Guides, West Coast Mountain Guides and Skye Guides, we managed to avoid much of the bad weather and enjoyed some brilliant days out.

Though much of the past couple of weeks I've been on Skye, I also snuck in an ascent of Tower Ridge and a quick fun afternoon climbing one of Polldubh's classic climbs, Storm, with it's steep, exposed but juggy second pitch being the highlight.