KYQ4: Am Basteir and Bruach na Frithe

Sgurr nan Gillean to Bruach na Frithe

Saturday, 4 June 2022

Ascent:         1250 metres
Distance:      19 kilometres
Time:            6 hours 52 minutes

Bruach na Frithe     955m        2hrs 40mins
Am Basteir              933m        3 hours 54 minutes

The second day of our hill bagging was to the Skye ridge. John had wanted to climb the three Munros, the two above and Sgurr nan Gillean from Sligachan in order to complete a fourth round of the Skye Munros. Gregor had to get back to Glasgow for an event on Sunday and the last bus from Sligachan left at 3:55pm. Keith's completion of his fifth Munro round would have to wait until Sunday. We were slightly late starting and were lucky to find one of the last parking places just beyond the Sligachan Hotel. The weather was perfect again and we began by following the wonderfully clear waters with inviting translucent pools of the Allt Dearg Mhor towards the supposedly easiest peak on the Skye ridge, Bruach na Frithe.

After the first kilometre Gregor took off, we made steadier progress on the path and enjoyed the scramble up the narrow rocky northwest ridge. As we arrived a large party from a walking club who had taken a route up the Coire emerged at the summit and gave it the appearance of Snowdon but without the railway or the litter. Gregor had been here for almost an hour so we did not spend long before dropping down and around the rock face of Am Basteir.

It is always a long steep detour and an equally steep climb to reach Bealach a' Bhasteir. There were quite a few climbers on the second day of a Skye ridge traverse and we chatted to them before starting the scramble to Am Basteir. We decided to avoid the bad step by cutting down a gulley to the ramp that leads to the final summit section. It is a tricky scramble and a guide told us it was a lot more trouble than the bad step but he had ropes to haul his charges up and down the 4-metre rock face. The summit is very exposed and the Baisteir Tooth is just twenty metres away, a rock climb, although there is a way up from the south that requires a long scramble down from Am Baisteir and a climb up again. We did not stay long and retreated to the bealach where Gregor left us to head back to Sligachan to catch the bus to Glasgow.

We had some banter with two of the pairs of climbers who were nearing completion of the Skye ridge over two days. One pair set off for a "fast and light" ascent of Sgurr nan Gillean ie no ropes or equipment. WE deliberated. John was very keen to attempt it, we had climbed it twice before without ropes and decided to go as far as the chimney. I was less keen, I had no intention of another round of Munros and at the top of the chimney, there is a bad step across a chasm that leaves no room for mistakes. John and Keith continued and were helped by an off duty Mountain Rescue team leader who talked them across the gap. I returned to the bealach and began the walk out to Sligachan.

I was joined by the two climbers who had done their fast and light climb and had therefore completed their ridge. One from Aberdeen and one from Lancaster, they had considerable experience of climbing in Europe and beyond. We walked and talked until they felt compelled to halt and take a bathe in one of the pools to remove two days of sweat, and grime and soothe their aches and pains. I made the hotel just after 5pm and bought a beer to drink. I took it to a distant bench that looked towards the Cuillins. It was one of those magical evenings when the two days of exercise had been hard but rewarding and what better than a pint.

I was joined by a History Professor from the University of Nevada who told me that drinking beer outside the bounds of the hotel would not be allowed in the States. He was joshing but I told him it was a pity they did not take similar measures on gun control. For the next hour, we discussed everything from the Gini coefficient to a Trump comeback, the surreal beauty of Lofoten Islands, whether Boris Johnson was as much a sociopath as Trump, the collapse of the UK economy and the appalling driving habits on Scottish single track roads. He was surprised that Scotland had such brilliant weather, he had only been here three days, but he had 360 days of sunshine a year in Reno and had hoped for some rain whilst in Scotland.

We were still in full flow as John and Keith arrived back from Sgurr nan Gillean, John delighted at the capture of a tricky Munro. We drove to Kyleakin where my friend Mark had just arrived for a week's holiday and spent 20 minutes catching up on life. It was 9:30pm before we made it back to Achmore and began planning for the next day.