Scotland’s Mountain Ridges - A Guide to Scrambles and Climbs

A guidebook to the rich mix of summer scrambling, rock climbing and winter mountaineering on Scotland’s ridges, from the remote Cairngorms to the splendour of the Cuillin. With inspirational photographs, the guidebook is both a celebration of the landscape and a practical route guide.

Size, as they say, is not everything. In comparison to the greater ranges, Scotland’s mountains might look diminutive, but they punch above their weight. Although they tend to be short by international standards, Scottish scrambles, traditional rock climbs and winter routes are as good as any of their type. What Scottish peaks lack in altitude they make up for in attitude: long walkins, rough terrain and mercurial weather are the norm. It is often claimed that those who learn to handle Scotland’s mountain mood swings can adapt their climbing to pretty much anywhere in the world – and it’s more or less true, give or take hypoxia and crevasses. But why climb elsewhere at all, when what we have here in Scotland is so good? While we’re spouting old clichés it just remains to say that in the trade-off between quantity and quality, the Highlands hold their own. The Scottish hills contain an almost limitless supply of superb objectives – challenging trips in beautiful settings. Metre for metre, there can be no finer mountains.

It is amazing just how much is packed into such a small country. One of Scotland’s great strengths is the diversity of its distinctive landscapes. From the Cuillin’s seaside saw-teeth to the magnificent buttressed face of Ben Nevis, from the sub-arctic desolation of the Cairngorm plateau to the sandstone monsters sprouting out of the waterlogged Assynt moors, variety abounds. The landforms are underpinned by a complex geology, a gift to climbers. In this book alone there are routes on granite, gabbro, basalt, rhyolite, andesite, gneiss, schist, quartzite and sandstone – sometimes even a combination of these in one day. Each is a different climbing medium, a different experience.

The pointiest peaks, specifically those of Skye, demand compulsory scrambling. But other than these few notable exceptions, relatively non-technical hillwalker’s trails can be followed up almost every mountain in the country. Those who are keen to tick off arbitrary shortlists of summits might see this as good news, though they are in danger of missing out. Some Highland hillwalks may be fantastic, but a summit-focused mentality can blind Munro-baggers to the obvious merits of smaller hills and more interesting routes. In contrast, people for whom the quality of the ascent experience is at least as important as the peak itself can find more challenging and more aesthetic climbs by the score, only the easiest of which receive much attention from hillwalkers. Where the going gets tough, the fun really starts. Delve into Scotland’s rich horde of classic ridges and you’ll discover mountain climbs as satisfying as any, anywhere.

The market is already saturated with mountain books. If we read them all we’d never have time to climb. So is this particular book sufficiently different to deserve your attention? I’d like to think so. The answers to the following questions go some way to explaining why.

Why a ridges theme?

Surely every mountaineer loves a good ridge? Threading a bristling gendarmed spine; inching around an extravagantly fluted cornice; balancing gracefully along a stone tightrope in the clouds – these are some of the finest things a climber can get up to. We all live on a metaphorical knife edge; sometimes it’s instructive to be reminded of that fact by pitting ourselves against the real thing. Ridges are airy and elegant, among the most attractive features of any mountain. There is a compelling narrative quality to ridge climbs, a linear development from beginning to eventual resolution via the twists and turns of plot along the way. A ridge is a story in stone. There may be technically harder climbs on any roadside crag, but few have the charisma of Scotland’s classic ridges. These are some of the grandest mountaineering lines in the country, each a memorable and unique adventure.

Why a ‘best-of’ selection?

Quite simply because there are too many potential inclusions to cover in one book (perhaps there’s scope for a volume II?). The selection leans towards the classics, alongside which are a few that are more obscure, and yet equally worthwhile. Though seasoned Highlands aficionados might already know many of these routes, it seems a fair bet that only a tiny handful of climbers will have done them all. There may be no information here that you couldn’t glean from days spent poring over a small library of area-specific climbing, scrambling and hillwalking guides, but bringing these routes together in a single volume gives the ridge enthusiast a compact source of reference, one that also aims to serve as a celebration of Scottish ridges. It is a personal selection, and not everyone will necessarily agree with all of my choices. Have I included a dud, or overlooked a gem? If this gets one or two people talking about something other than football, even for a minute, then the book will have served a useful purpose.

What are the criteria for including or omitting routes?

Enduring favourites such as Suilven or the Dubhs Ridge could hardly be left out, but there are many other excellent climbs worthy of inclusion. There’s something special about every featured route, be it beautiful line, quality climbing or stunning location. Of course, the best days out are a combination of all three. One prerequisite at least is self-evident – that any included route must resemble a ridge, more or less. That is, it must be longer than it is wide, with steep sides and a defined crest. Obvious really. The chosen routes also need to be exciting. Wonderful ridge walks abound in Scotland, but only those that involve a modest degree of technicality and exposure – danger, if you like – make the shortlist. This is a mountaineer’s guide, and scrambles are the bottom line. There is no intrinsic upper grade limit, though the hardest climbs described weigh in at only VS or winter III. Sticking to relatively moderate winter grades was a conscious choice; though far harder (and just as good) under snow, celebrated ridge climbs such as those of Ben Nevis remain classics even in summer, at which time they can be enjoyed by a wider range of people. The selection aims to reflect the diversity of the Scottish mountaineering experience, which is a rich mix of roped and unroped scrambles, roped summer climbs and winter routes.

Who is the book aimed at?

Experienced mountain walkers will doubtless have done plenty of scrambling in their time, and should feel pretty confident on the easier routes described here. But many scramblers will have set their sights a little higher still, aspiring to the classic low-grade rock and winter climbs. This is where the ground gets really interesting, while still remaining technically feasible for a majority of able-bodied people. Unhelpfully, it is exactly at this point that scrambling and hillwalking guidebooks tend to fizzle out. In contrast, climbing guidebooks often make only fleeting reference to some very attractive easier routes, and ignore others altogether.

It would be a strange sort of climber who did not find A’Mhaighdean’s North West Ridge deeply satisfying, though it could hardly be classed as a technical trip, and receives only a passing mention in the SMC area climbing guide. But just as the blinkered Munro-bagger ignores the best bits of a hill in pursuit of their summit tick, so some accomplished climbers scoff at the low-grade adventures, preferring instead the pursuit of everhigher numbers. Both groups are in danger of missing out. Though they have their uses, grades and figures are merely abstractions, and shouldn’t blind us to the merits of any route. Quantifiable goals like the next E5 or that final Munro are all very well, so long as people remember to enjoy themselves along the way. To paraphrase American alpinist Alex Lowe, ‘the greatest climber is the one having the most fun’. If this is true then the most enjoyable climbs must also be the best. And it’s hard to imagine routes more entertaining than the ones detailed in this book. The selection plugs something of a gap in the literature by ranging widely across the grades, on the basis that accomplished hill users, from stately hillwalkers to honed rock jocks, can find their middle ground on classic Scottish ridges, and all go home enriched.