Has anybody namanaged to traverse around the cuillin ridge?
Is it suitable without ropes? and would i make it as a daredevil, fit but beginner climber

Only daredevils wearing lycra all-in-one neon pink outfits can do the cuillin ridge without ropes
If you got one, then you’re bound to succeed.

on a bike?

If you do the ab off the In Pin with a bike, I think you should post pictures!

Depends if you want to climb the “Inaccessible Pinnacle” or not. Also depends how experienced you are scrambling and with exposure. oh – and the weather…

It’s not too bad, or at least it wasn’t 20 years ago the last time I did it…

Rachel

Even the fast/experienced guys tend to rope up for the TD Gap, but hey – go for it.

Mostly walking/scrambling but with some very exposed sections. There are a few trickier bits where discretion would be the better part of valour and a rope would be nice to have (T-D Gap, Inn-Pinn, King’s Chimney, Bidien Druim Nan Ramh, Bastier Tooth and Am Bastier, Pinnacle Ridge spring to mind). Not a place to go with a devil-may-care attitude. There is no water once you are on the main ridge and the topography is incredibly complex. Just to complicate matters, the rock (gabbro) is highly magnetic so even if you are pretty switched on with a map and compass, you will still need a really good knowledge of the ridge to know where you are at all times and what your escape options are. Don’t rely solely on a GPS because it might fail and then you’re up shit creek. Easy enough on a sunny day (when you’ll need more water) but a very serious place to be when the weather is shite.

In summary, unless you really know what you’re doing, don’t underestimate it and hire a guide who knows the hills well. That way you’ll not kill yourself and you’ll have a great day without the worry of getting lost.

I’ve done most of the ridge in a day a good few years ago and it is not the place for inexperianced climbers and I would say you need a rope a few wires, slings and quickdraws. You will need a rope to ab into the TD gap and climb out, climb kings chimney and ab off the in pin. To try and do the whole ridge in a day is a very hard and serrious day out, when I tried it I was climbing E3 and would not have liked to solo the td gap or kings chimney due to the highly polished nature of the routes.

I’ve done bits and think that Stu is correct

If you were say happy soloing vs after vs at stanage in relaxed way it would be fine. You have to allow for the wet, polish, wind, wearing a rucsac, not wearing rock boots

I’ve poked my head out onto the ridge a couple of times and the whole place scared the bejesus out of me…and at the time I was a very fit and confident twenty something with alot of Nwales/Lakes/other Scottish, mountains under my belt.
Stood under the In Pin and was struck by proper exposure wobbles.
As I say, I was no stranger to mountains but I couldn’t relax up there, a very un-British mountain experience.
A stunning place to be scared though!

stuartie_c summarised really well.
another thing to have is the good sense to turn back to safety if it gets too much or the weather gets proper nasty.

I would agree with most everything that’s been said here. The Cuillin are not a place to dick about. Steady nerves and a head for heights are a must. The exposure in places is incredible. With that in mind I feel that to safely solo the climbing pitches you need to be very comfortable at HVS or more. No matter that the grades of the pitches climbed are modest, they are very polished in places and the exposure amplifies everything. You could fall a very very long way.

I would recommend, if you are a

fit but beginner climber

that you go with ropes and a mate or two to start with and do bits of the ridge as day excursions.

Having said that, The TD gap, Kings Chimney and the Inn Pin are perfectly avoidable. You’ve not really done the ridge if you do avoid them though, and they are not the only ticklish bits to contend with.

Don’t be put off. Go there & experience the ridge in safety. It is fantastic (in good weather 🙂 )

Done the ridge over 2 days with ropes. The climbs although technically not difficult and given v. diff grades are highly polished and the squeeze out of the td gap with a rucksack is usually undignified. While we were using ropes at one point (easy climb but big exposure before the td gap) a guy actually solo climbed past us. He joined a pair in front and used their rope when climbing the kings chimney- lucky he was as he pulled off a hold and pendulumed into the rock about 10metres below (yes – below!) His belayer who could do nothing while the guy was screaming. We didnt see him fall but heard the screams. We got to the bottom of kings chimney about 30mins later by which time mountain rescue had turned up! The guy was still screaming and his belayer was still in the same spot and was obviously unable to tie off his partner and free himself from the belay. We had to wait until it was all cleared up about an hour after the initial fall. Turns out he had shattered his leg.

Just a warnih that although a lot of the rock is grippy there is always loose rock for feet and handholds. I am also told that some of the rock gets very slippy in the wet although I have no experience of this.

Worth googling as I think one of the cuillin guides had put up a pdf of useful equipment. We used a Harvey map and the associated route in a guide book as you standard OS map is a black mess of crags. Not a route for beginners but as mentioned above there are day routes involving the easier parts of the ridge which give a good taste for how it feels.

Enjoy it. One of my best mountaineering weekends

Oh happy days, my long weekend on the ridge many years ago is one of the best things I have ever done.

echo what most have said above, especially the turn back if its shite. 1st day we were up on the ridge it hammered down, group decsion to turn back and brave it out at the bunkhouse drinking beer. 2nd day sun was splitting the sky and what a day. Enjoy but go with someone who know what they are doing.

B

Echo what peeps above have said. Been over 30yrs since I was last on the ridge. Here’s a ropey photo of Sgurr Alasdair taken from a slide (no fancy digital stuff back then).

I did the Coire Laggan circuit and also the Pinnacle Ridge-Bastier tooth with my lad (aged 9). I was also suprised just how steep things like Kings Chimney and Naismiths’ Route were: Didn’t fancy soloing in boots (I was leading E6 at the time). An Stac is a cracker too.

Hopefully the OP appreciates the different conditions you can encounter in the summer on Stannage for examples, vs Scotland in the winter….

in pinn. scary boots.

Did it in my 20’s in my first imflammation of baggery.Ropes are advisable for reasons that Stu puts quite well above.Perhaps also a teddy or sooky blanket,because I would pack them.I did it in Easter,pished with rain the entire time,and even with the 20’s immortality card I was really scared a couple of times (Am Bastid more like).It is also difficult to describe how in the middle of nowhere you are.
I was back with my family a couple of years ago and was struck how much busier the whole of Skye was,which means the rock will be even MORE polished. (going back in June to do the I-P again mind 😕 )

Very different to single pitch rock climbing as route finding and general mountain skills/decision making come into play.

Make sure you have done some of the other classic ridges first (Crib Coch, Aonach Egach etc) – although of course the Cullin traverse is a more serious undertaking than both of those.

Also try some of the classic grade 2/3 scrambles and practice your ropework to get prepared. Cneifion Arete in N.Wales would be a good start as the pinnacled ridge is similar in many ways to what you will find on much of the Cullin.

Also remember that almost no-one finishes the Cullin Ridge in bad weather so allow a good few days weather window fopr your attempt. You will also need to take sufficient water and kit for two days (heavy) or do a pre-traverse reccy and stash some water and bivvy gear high up on the ridge the day before the main attempt.

Last time we tried the Cullin we climbed up to the ridge below the Basteir Tooth. Then the heavens opened when halfway up Naismiths and very quickly everything became slippery as hell. We scrambled to the top of the tooth unroped with water literally pouring off the rock. Not a very nice place to be.

Very soon after with the wet weather set in for the duration we bailed and headed back to the car, and then the pub.

Hey guys thanks for all the advice
and i am happy to say we made it 4 days camping waiting for the weather and we hit it, bivvying uo there before scrambling across.
Crib Goch is next on the list, we understand this is fairly simple?

By Cuillin ridge standards, crib goch will be a short disappointment (although it is good). There’s not much better in the UK, certainly not much to the next level ridge wise, a trip to the Alps next for you, my boy.

Lewis – well done. Was there much snow/ice up there?
BA Nana is right, after the Cuillin you’ll zoom along Crib Goch thinking what’s all the fuss about (especially if you get decent weather)
There are some good vids on YouTube of Crib Goch. Here’s one

Tower Ridge next then?

Tower Ridge next then?

In under 3 hours if you’re on fire!

Well done Lewis as said above its the Alps next. I was last on the Ridge 30 years ago! Met someone last week in the British Mountain Running Team, they did it in 4.5 hrs Oh my G! And whats worse is they plan to go back and set a new record, reckon they can get under 4 .. WT….

Pinnacle ridge if full winter condiotons two years ago ranks as one of my best climbs in the UK

Cheers everyone 🙂
I would recommend to anybody to do it.
Alps, well thats a scary thought, but then i guess your right!
Lionheart thats incredible, shows theres some ultimate fitness people out there!
Thanks for your advice about Crib Goch, I think I shall do it anyway just to say ive done it 🙂

Well done its not easy. Unfortunately you have now ticked off the longest scramble in the uk. I would suggest taking a look at the routes on the north face of ben Nevis next. I found some of the scrambling sections on tower ridge pretty tough and it took us 5 hours a few days after completing the cuillin ridge. Observatory ridge is harder but there is so much loose rock that we struggled to enjoy it as much as tower ridge. Other than that you could try doing 2 or 3 of the scrambling routes on buachaille etive mor in glencoe and link them up by downclimbing say curved or crowberry ridge. Gives a good day out.
Was scrambling in the lakes today and there is still some ice on the rocks (well it was a ghyll scramble).

anyone watching documentary on the InPin on BBC 4?
Made that bugger with no ropes!