It's cuillin time!

Climbing King's Chimney, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich

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.

A windy but dry ascent of the infamous TD Gap

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. 

Abseiling off the Inaccessible Pinnacle

We had some tricky conditions. First super strong winds whilst we were climbing from the TD gap to In Pinn on Wednesday, followed by strong winds and drizzle on Thursday whilst we climbed the northern three Munros, and finally wind and lashing rain on Friday as we traversed from Sgurr na Banachdich to Am Casteal. A real mix of weather but great for Ian to experience the hardest parts of the ridge in less than perfect conditions so he and his brother go into their traverse attempt fully informed and with the best chances of success. Best of luck!

Summit smiles on the Inaccessible Pinnacle

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.

Looking back to the In Pinn with views to the East of the ridge

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.

Fun slab padding on Volcane, Ardnamurchan

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.