KYQ4: Inaccessible Pinnacle/ Sgurr Mhic Choinnich

In Pinn done, start of abseil

Tuesday, 18 July 2017

Ascent: 1338 metres
Distance: 11 kilometres
Time: 9 hours 2 minutes

Sgurr Derag Inaccessible Pinnacle 986m 3hrs 32mins
Sgurr Mhic Choinnich 948m 5hrs 35mins

The Youth Hostel dawned to blue skies, today I could be Helios following the path of the sun with the Inaccessible Pinnacle my midday objective. We had a lazy breakfast, hydrating with the assistance of a large institutional pot of tea. We were still amongst the first to set out at 8:30am from the path by the sheep pens beyond the mountain rescue post. A mountain guide and party of three were 10 minutes ahead of us as they crossed the footbridge over the Allt Coire na Banachdich.

Dave set the pace and after an ascent of 250 metres we had caught the group ahead. The guide was Jonas Jones, who became a familiar figure as the day progressed. In addition to his three charges, he was exercising the mountain rescue dog so we were in good company. As the slopes steepened on the ridge ahead I took the lead and forced the pace to the summit. There was a long section of screes but the path eased us through them and then several sections of scrambling near the summit provided some fast forward entertainment. I was anxious to beat any queues for the In Pinn. When attempting the whole ridge in a day we arrived to find a small crowd and had to wait over two hours to set foot on the climb.

The visibility was excellent with views down to the small isles and the Rum Cuillins. The sinuous Skye ridge was visible in its entirety and exhibited its angular complexity that Sorley MacLean had captured in his epic poem of 1939, 'The Cuillin'. He used his intimate knowledge of the Cuillins as a series of metaphors to describe the descent of humanity through the political conflicts leading to the second world war.

"I am the great Clio of Skye,

Far, far distant, far on the horizon,
I see the rocking of the antlered Cuillin,
beyond the sea of sorrow, beyond the morass of agony,
I see the white felicity of the high-towered mountains."

Although there was a steady breeze it helped keep us cool during the ascent. My fingers were losing their prints on the rough gabbro and it made me focus on the climb ahead. I had climbed the In Pinn on four previous occasions, twice leading the climb, but I had not climbed for ten years and I had been apprehensive about the climb up the In Pinn. However the conditions could not have been better and eager anticipation overcame any false fear.

We reached the adjacent summit of Sgurr Dearg and the In Pinn loomed large above us. Three climbers were beginning their ascent so we waited our turn, sorting equipment for the climb and then edging down the ramp of bare rock to the start of the climb. Dave led the climb putting in some slings before reaching the crux, a vertical face of fractured rock and no obvious footholds. He established a belay above the normal place and it was my turn to climb, I made steady progress to the crux. By this time Jonas had wasted no time in starting to climb behind me, leading the first of his customers. I had struggled to retrieve a sling on a nut, which he recovered for me. He waited for me to climb over the crux and up to Dave's belay before climbing past us. Dave was meticulous in clipping me to the belay and sorting the gear before he continued to the summit. This part of the climb is fairly straightforward although the exposure to a 250 metre vertical drop to the east is formidable and best ignored. We waited at the summit for Jonas and his customer to abseil off and then set ourselves up to make our descents.

I went first and reaching the lip of a slight overhang I saw that three other climbers were watching from where our rucksacks had been left. I shouted down for one of them to retrieve my camera and get some photos of the abseil. Something that I had missed on previous descents. They obliged and I had half a dozen photos of the abseil. Although my climbing was not as fluid or carefree as in the past the climb was not difficult and the abseil was thrilling as I surveyed the surrounding peaks and took in the views to Rum and the small isles glistening over the sea. Dave followed me down to the base of the In Pinn where we chatted to the other climbers, swapped e mail addresses to get photos, sorted and packed the gear and made light of lunch..

Dave was having doubts about our intention to climb Sgurr Mhic Choinnich and then taking Collie's ledge to Sgurr Thearlach and over to Sgurr Alasdair. Nevertheless we started the steep descent down the ramp of rock slabs that were lubricated with loose scree. Dave had hurt his feet over the two days and it took a while to reach the low point before beginning the climb to Bealach Mhic Choinnich. I was worried about time so immediately began the climb from the bealach. Dave called me back and said that he could go no further and would go down the stone chute. He lent me his guide book to the routes ahead and I continued leaving Dave to return to Glen Brittle where I agreed to meet him at 6pm.

I was surprised by the steepness and scrambling ahead, I had always enjoyed climbing Mhic Choinnich but had not remembered it as quite so challenging. However as I discovered later on the descent I had kept to the ridge line rather than following an easier route to the left. It required more exposed climbing on rough gabbro blocks. About 50 metres in altitude below the summit I met another walker who looked as if he was searching for the route down to the start Collie's ledge. I asked if he wanted to wait whilst I climbed to the summit so we could go together. He replied saying he had not yet been up Sgurr Mhic Choinnich and it looked a bit tricky. He asked if I would guide him to the summit. I agreed and we took our time over the steep final scramble. He was carrying a SLR camera and photographing all of the route.

We reached the summit where we chatted easily whilst basking in the warm afternoon sun. He was an IT manager for an American bank and made annual pilgrimages to Skye for the walking. Mhic Choinnich was his penultimate summit on Skye. He cogitated about Collie's ledge but decided it was a step too far so I agreed to lead back to the bealach from where we would be able to descend via the stone shoot. He offered me some money for guiding him up Mhic Choinnich, perhaps I have missed my vocation. Instead I invited him to come and have a pint with us at the Carbost Inn but he decided to stay at the bealach to take more photos as the afternoon shadows lengthened. I began the descent with another walker who had just completed all of Skye and was to finish his munros on Ben More on Mull the following week. He was moving well having driven up from Glasgow in the early hours after his nightshift as a printer for the Daily Record. Like everyone else that I had met today he was ecstatic about the conditions.

My shoes had filled with stones during the descent so I stopped on the pillows of basalt that hold Loch Lagan, emptied the shoes of stones and the rucksack of food. All that remained was a walk out by the path, rocky at first but becoming easier on the feet as I dropped down. I was back down to the car where Dave had only just arrived after sitting for an hour above the Eas Mor falls in the late afternoon sun watching some Germans enjoy a bathe in the pool.

We drove to Carbost where we rehydrated with pints of water and beer, Jonas came over and congratulated us on the climb. He had done it 1441 times. We had booked the last room at the B&B in the Carbost Inn from where we watched the sun set on the Cuillins as we had an evening meal. It had been a wonderful two days and the most difficult summits on the Skye ridge were now ticked off.