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Sgurr a'Mhadaidh to Sgurr Dearg
12th July 2005 & 5th June 2006

Route: Ascent 1530m = 5025'; Distance 7.0 miles; Time 7 hrs.

The col between Sgurr Thuilm & Sgurr a'Mhadaidh. The Brocken Spectre at the col between Sgurr Thuilm & Sgurr a'Mhadaidh. The east ridge of Sgurr Thuilm. The west ridge of Sgurr a'Mhadaidh. Sgurr a'Mhadaidh from the col between it and Sgurr Thuilm. Loch Coruisk from Sgurr a'Mhadaidh. Garbh-bheinn, Sgurr nan Each, Clach Glas and Blaven from Sgurr a'Mhadaidh. The third top of Sgurr a'Mhadaidh from its summit ridge. The west ridge of Sgurr a'Mhadaidh from Eag Dubh. Sgurr a'Mhadaidh from Eag Dubh. Panorama from Sgurr Dubh Mor to Sgurr Alasdair from Eag Dubh. Typical terrain on the summit ridge of Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh. Looking north to Sgurr na Banachdich and Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh. Panorama from Sgurr Dearg. The Cioch from Sgurr Dearg. Richard ascending the east ridge of the In Pin. The In Pin. Yes, the rope's a bit short! Yet another photo with the standard view of the In Pin. Eas Mor with Coire na Banachdich behind.

Route: The references below are to J. Wilson Parker’s “Scrambles in Skye”, Cicerone Press, 1983, and provide scrambling grades. On 12/7/05 I managed to stray off the path several times in the cloud and wet. The paths are almost invisible in the damp. Dry, clear conditions make things much easier. Both sets of times below are rather slow. It should be easily possible to improve on them.
This route starts with an ascent to the col between Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr a'Mhadaidh. An alternative (the usual) ascent of Sgurr a'Mhadaidh from Coire Ghreadaidh is given by going via Coire An Dorus and An Dorus, but it is also possible to go via the summit of Sgurr Thuilm. There are also alternative easy routes down from the ridge without having to go as far as Sgurr Dearg. One of these is NW from Sgurr na Banachdich over to the col with An Diallaid and then W/NW down the path beside the burn in Coir' an Eich.
If the best route is chosen, the main difficulty is climbing out of An Dorus towards Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh. Make sure to be on the crest of that ridge when approaching the obviously-named Wart and then go to the right (west) of it. Also, keep left of the three Teeth on the NE ridge of Sgurr Thormaid by taking the clear and easy path initially down to the right at the Thormaid-Ghreadaidh gap.
Weather 12/7/05: Low cloud, initially about 550m, descending to 200m. Persistent light rain all day. Too bad for any photos.
Weather 5/6/06: Perfect, sunny weather.
Map: By far the best map to use for the Cuillin is the 1:12500 scale Harvey's Superwalker map, “Skye: The Cuillin”. The Ordnance Survey 1:25000 map suffers in clarity from too much heavy shading for cliffs.

12/7/055/6/06 Description Alt.Asc.DistanceGrid Ref.Parker
0950  Glen Brittle Youth Hostel   15   00.0 milesNG40952248 
10251115 Path ENE beside Allt a'Coire Ghreadaidh.
In lower corrie take left branch of river N for
200m then E to river split in middle corrie
(Coire a'Ghreadaidh). 		3803651.75 milesNG43422334 
11201225 Follow path by left branch of river into upper
corrie (Coire An Dorus). Then path up to col
with Sgurr Thuilm. The final 100m of ascent
follows a ledge diagonally up from right to
left.		 7457302.5 milesNG44422377 
11551345 Ridge ESE (R1?) then S to
M Sgurr a'Mhadaidh – SW Peak 		9189052.75 milesNG4470023512#61, 4S
12001400 Ridge S to An Dorus pass 847 2.85 milesNG44602338#62, 4S
 1410 Ridge to Eag Dubh 905     
12251430 S via W side of The Wart to
M Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh 		97310303.05 milesNG4452423123#58, RI
   S to col 928 3.1 milesNG44522304#59, 4S
 —  Path below T Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh S Top
 96910703.1 milesNG4453823005#59, 4S
1310  SW to Thormaid-Ghreadaidh gap 849 3.3 milesNG44312277#57, 3S
1320  SW up ridge (avoid 3 teeth on E side) to
T Sgurr Thormaid 		92711503.5 milesNG4410022600#56, 4S
1330  SW down ridge (100m) to Bealach Thormaid 888 3.55 milesNG44022258#55, 3S
1340  Keep to W side of difficulties on ridge S to
M Sgurr na Banachdich, N top		 96512253.6 milesNG4404722447#55, 3S
   S to col 922 3.65 milesNG44072239#54, 4S
1400  S to T Sgurr na Banachdich, "second" top 94212453.75 milesNG4410522289#54, 4S
   SSE to col 905 3.8 milesNG44142220#54, 4S
1410  SSE to Sgurr na Banachdich, "third" top 91712603.85 milesNG44182213#54, 4S
   SSE to col 860 3.95 milesNG44292197#54, 4S
   SW to Sron Bhuidhe 87812754.0 milesNG44342190#54, 4S
14201615 SSW to Bealach Coire na Banachdich 851 4.05 milesNG44322182#54, 4S
14401630 S up ridge to X Sgurr Dearg (large cairn
overlooking the In Pin.) 		97814004.25 milesNG4438321556#48, 1W
 —1700 Option: Ascend the
M Inaccessible Pinnacle via its E ridge		 98614754.3 milesNG4440421566#50, R2
 —1710
-1730		 Return to X Sgurr Dearg (large cairn)
via abseil down In Pinn west ridge		 97814904.3 milesNG4438321556#51, R3
   Initially S for 100m then 50m SW over
narrow ridge, W down ridge to Sron Dearg		 80415254.67 milesNG43882141#47, 3S
16251900 W to path by Eas Mor waterfall and
then path W to road at Memorial Hut 		  10 6.45 milesNG41162159#47, 3S
1645  N on road to Glen Brittle Youth Hostel   1515307.0 milesNG40952248 

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