Isle of Skye

The Black Cuillin of Skye offer a unique experience of scrambling and climbing. A traverse of the entire ridge comprises 10km of continuous scrambling along the very exposed ridge, with rock climbing sections of up to grade Very Difficult and many abseils. The famous Inaccessible Pinnacle is climbed by its east ridge (Moderate) and descended by abseil down its shorter west ridge. The whole expedition along the ridge takes at least two days on the ridge with an overnight bivouac. This means carrying a sleeping bag, spare clothes and waterproofs and sufficient food and water (2 litres), so be prepared for two very long tiring days carrying about 10kg in your rucksack. Only very fit clients will complete the traverse in two days! Taking three days or more on Skye increases the chances of success dramatically by allowing us to choose the two days with best weather for the traverse. There is endless rock climbing and scrambling potential based from the valley, either Glen Brittle or Coruisk, so a trip of five days guiding on Skye is recommended to complete the best routes and the traverse of the Cuillin.

For a traverse of the Black Cuillin Ridge please use the table below. The price for two days is for people already on Skye and includes guiding, an overnight bivouac with dinner provided, ropes and technical equipment. We will only guide the full ridge traverse with a maximum of 2 clients.

An insructor to participant ratio of 1:2 is ideal for scrambling and rock climbing enabling all grades to be tackled, a ratio of 1:3 or 1:4 is possible for scrambling but will reduce the number of feasible objectives open to us. The prices are for the whole group, divide this by the number of people for the price per person.

What to expect on a full ridge traverse.

Download the printer friendly Skye Ridge Traverse kit list.

To make an enquiry or booking read the Course Information.

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