Munroists Everest

For the aspirant Munroist there is one summit which looms large in their sub-conscious from the time that the fateful obsession to start ticking the 284 3000ft summits of Scotland takes hold. A summit which, for most, keeps getting put off and put off again for yet another day, until the time arrives when it can be ignored no longer. That summit is the ‘Inaccessible Pinnacle’ of Sgurr Dearg, one of ten Munros which make up Skye’s Black Cuillin Ridge. However it is clear that prior to the birth of the Munroism cult, the Inaccessible Pinnacle did not attract the reverence it does today. Sheriff Nicolson of Skye had this to say of it in 1874 “It might be possible with ropes and grappling irons to overcome it, but the achievement seems hardly worth the trouble” Not so today.

Why then should a relatively small rock pinnacle, 100ft from top to base, have such an effect on these poor unfortunates? The answer is quite simple, it is that very pinnacle which makes Sgurr Dearg the only one of the Munros that requires rock climbing skills. Sure, there are many which are airy and exposed, An-Tellach and the tops of Glencoe’s Aonach Egach ridge come immediately to mind, but these are attained by what I would term rock scrambling rather than actual roped climbing. In 1880 the ‘In Pin’, as it is known to the cognescenti ,was first climbed by the Pilkington brothers and was described as “A razor- like edge with an overhanging and infinite drop on one side, and a drop longer and steeper on the other!”

Having climbed the Pinnacle myself more than once, I was recently put upon ( not that I neededed much persuasion) by a group of walkers who, to a man/woman, had fallen under Munros spell, and asked to accompany them to Skye with the avowed purpose of assisting them in completing an ascent of the Pinnacle, the Munroists ‘Everest.’ We stayed the night before the climb at the Glen Brittle Memorial Hut, built in remembrance of climbers who fell in the Great War. This ‘hut’ is really a well appointed cottage, hut being a euphemism used by climbers as a ruse aimed at partners who might think that they could possibly be away for the weekend enjoying themselves! It is in a wonderful location, situated at the bottom of the Glen about half a mile from the sea and with the full majesty of the Cuillin Ridge rising to over 3000ft virtually right out of the front garden.

The morning of our proposed ascent was rather overcast with just a hint of drizzle but, as I explained to my charges over coffee, the fact that we could see the tops at all was in itself unusual. This did little to allay their misgivings and there was not a lot of banter as we made our way up the steep screes of Coire Lagan.

When, two hours later, we reached the base of the Pinnacle itself the weather had cleared but the silence among my companions was palpable. The geological origin of this hundred foot horn of rock that had definitely grabbed their attention, is that it is composed of hard gabbro which once lay between dykes of softer basalt, subsequent erosion having left it standing proud of its surroundings. It has two normal ways of ascent, a long relatively easier climb on the east side where the main problem is the degree of exposure experienced while climbing. The shorter, steeper and technically harder west side was more attractive for the days purpose making it faster and easier for me to protect the ascent and, just as importantly, the descent of ten very nervous individuals.

I tied into the rope and could feel ten pairs of eyes following my every move as I soloed up the route and clipped the rope into a wire sling left permanently round the summit block. I felt it important that the first of the summiteers should make it look as easy as possible in order to give the others a much needed confidence boost and, to that end, I chose the youngest and fittest male from a group that were finding it increasingly difficult to hide behind one another on this bare mountaintop. He shot up the climb like the veritable scalded cat on a mixture of fear and adrenalin and so, I’m glad to say, in somewhat slower progression, did the other nine with varying degrees of style.

Needless to say there was a buzz of excitement as the successful group gathered on the narrow summit but their exuberance was still mixed with a tinge of apprehension. The only way down from this airy perch is by abseil and I was glad that I had spent an evening in Edinburghs Blackford quarry teaching my charges the rudiments of this skill, which has often proved the undoing of even the most experienced of climbers. An hour later all were gathered again safely at the foot of the Pinnacle where they more than made up for the lack of banter earlier in the day.

Later that night in the Sligachan Inn, champagne corks were popped, drams taken and tales of derring do circulated, much as one would expect amongst those who had newly joined that select band of adventurers made party to the mysteries of the ‘In Pin.’

Note: One of the party Archie Tollin, at the grand old age of 74 is included as number 2464 in this years list of completing Munroists published in The Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal.

First published in The Scots Magazine 2001