A short break at Easter staying at a friends house near Inverness.

Summary:

Sea Cliff climbing at Rhue, Old Man of Stoer, Jetty Crag Gruinard Bay.

Day 1 - Rhue Sea Cliffs Coigach and Assynt.

Practise day at Rhue, ticking off several short climbs from VD to about HVS (note the overhanging heal hook).

Day 2 - Old Man of Stoer a 60m high Sea Stack Coigach and Assynt.

A short drive to the road head for the Point of Stoer, then a walk in for approx 1 hr past the illegal “No Dogs” sign!

The scramble down the cliff to the platform on the mainland side of the Tyrolean was rather nerve-racking, however once there, a chat o some old Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) friends; an adjustment to tighten the Tyrolean using a side pull tensioning rope and we were off!

Following a 7m rope traverse across the channel with the waves crashing just 2 metres below - we arrived at the base of the stack.  A quick recce round the back to see if the first pitch could be avoided (it could be avoided by walking and scrambling round the back at low tide) but we decided to follow the first team to do the route proper.

5 pitches in total essential on the day because of route traffic:

1.      10m Left traverse gets 5a which is a bit high, but there is only limited protection after the first 3m.

2.      10m 4b Up and trending slightly right then left on good holds to a ledge.

3.      20m Slab then ledges, through overhangs by a crack to a large cave belay.

4.      10m 4c Traverse round landward face trending up and right to a small edge belay on an overhang above the channel with crashing seas 40m below (atmospheric).

5.      15m 4c up an awkward V corner groove to a chimney and left trending ramp to the abseil point.

Tips:

1.      If there is no Tyrolean rope set up then it may be possible to scamble over a large rock an up a 3 m wall to reach the base of the stack.

2.      50m ropes are NOT long enough for the abseil in one, suggest 2 x 55m ropes or preferable 2 x 60m ropes – the mid way anchor point at approx 40m is not the best but did hold.

3.      The temp was approx 12c, but in the afternoon the sun places the landward face in shadow which gets cold so climb in a windproof.

4.      The route snakes around left then back onto the landward face so route finding is essential to follow the line of least resistance.

5.      Be careful of tide times, and keep the Tyrolean rope as tight as possible to ensure that the traverse is as easy as possible.  A static rope will help here.

Day 3 overcast windy and with occasional showers so ot the best day for climbing so we had a walk around the Reiff sea cliffs where there is much scope even for new clims, but limited parking.

Day 4 - Jetty Crag Gruinard Bay, Gairloch area.

Several routes including the strenuous Anthrax Flake VS 5a  approx 35m, and yes my arms were telling me that it was early ion the season!  The sun reflecting off the sea made for a wonderful day whilst much of the British Isles was lost under a blanket of cloud!  Only a 60m walk in from the car!

Richard Harrison (Tenko),
Kelly Conn and
John Scholes (Flock).