Mountain Diary and Conditions

That's more like it! After a couple of days of wet and breezy weather, Cameron, Andrew and I were finally able to enjoy the southern three Munros in the sunshine and with clear views in every direction! Needless to say, I'm pleased that Cameron and Andrew were able to leave Skye having seen the splendor of the Cuillin Ridge in all its glory, rather than 20m at a time!

Despite the amazing weather, we still didn't see many people on the ridge, although plenty were enjoying Coire Lagan and the road out of Glenbrittle was quite busy…

After these past three days, Cameron and Andrew have reached the summit of all 11 Munros on the main Cuillin Ridge and for Cameron, he's now down to his ultimate Munro; Ben More on Mull.

Yesterday, our Skye Munros team completed the course by reaching the summits of their final 3 Munros on the main Cuillin Ridge; Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir and Bruach Na Frithe.

The weather remained very changeable, with some clear spells, but overall, it was a bit on the damp and windy side, although we were well sheltered when on the northern flanks of the ridge.

Conditions have been quite tough at times this week, but it was clear that throughout the week that the whole team were hugely determined, so a big well done to them all.

The most notable feature of today were the winds, which led us to changing plans and tackling the central Munros on the Cuillin Ridge; Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh and Sgurr a'Mhadaidh.

With gusts of up to 50mph, it didn't make sense to head to the southern end. It turned out to be a pretty social day, with Dave A and Dave B, both fellow fully qualified Mountaineering and Climbing Instructors, out with their groups on the central Munros too.

The winds look to be with us through the night and hopefully easing tomorrow morning.

That's 5 of the 11 Munros on the main Cuillin Ridge down, six to go.

If you fancy a shot at all 11Munros, we have space on our course running 10-13 September.

http://51.38.64.114/…/guide-skye-cu…/

Yet again, the weather turned out to be much better than expected whilst Jason, Mal, John and I climbed Curved Ridge and Crowberry Tower on Buachaille Etive Mor in Glencoe today.

When I woke up, the weather was living up to the forecasts, with very heavy rain and thick cloud down to low levels, but it soon brightened up and soon after leaving the car, the waterproofs were stowed away. Whilst we had the odd bit of drizzle through the day, it wasn't enough to dig the waterproofs back out.

What this meant was that we enjoyed a largely dry ascent of Curved Ridge and then made the exposed traverse over to the foot of Crowberry Tower, which we climbed in two pitches before then making our way to the summit of Buachaille Etive Mor.

Jude also joined us today and was out observing, in preparation for her Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor assessment, which she has coming up later this season.

Yesterday, I was working alongside Jamie on the final day of one of our 4 day Cuillin Munros Courses. We tackled the northern end; Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Bhasteir and Bruach na Frithe and managed to once again dodge much of the rain.

Today was a different story, as Jason, Mal and I enjoyed a dry and clear day on the Aonach Eagach in Glencoe. Conditions were pretty much perfect, with much of the rock being completely dry. Plenty of other teams making the most of the dry conditions. Good to also bump into Mike Pescod, who was running along the ridge in the opposite direction to us. It felt a bit more like June should today!

We have a few spaces left on our open Aonach Eagach trips (£99/person):
22 June
3rd August 2019
31st August 2019
14th September 2019

http://51.38.64.114/…/aonach-eagach…/