Enjoying the relatively easy route across Collie’s Ledge (Section 4)
Play to each other’s strengths, so if one of you is a much better climber then that person should lead all the technical rock pitches. Finishing the ridge is more important than being able to list the traverse as alternate leads in a logbook. Be prepared to help each other out and don’t be too proud to accept help. For example, if one of you is flagging, then the other can offer to carry both rope and rack.
Ability is not the be all and end all – climbers operating right at the limit of their ability have completed the ridge, having stacked the odds in their favour by researching the route and training hard etc. Conversely, top climbers have failed due to underestimating the undertaking.
Physical fitness
A high level of fitness alone won’t guarantee success but it will improve your odds and enable you to make the most of any weather window.
Walking, cycling and running are all good for general fitness. Going to a wall or climbing hard outside won’t necessarily help but the more grades that you have in hand, the better prepared you will be to effortlessly solo the easier parts of the ridge and cruise the technical pitches.
There is no substitute for sport-specific training so long scrambles and lower grade climbs, long, rough walks and the like will be brilliant practice. Consider link-ups of long easy climbs – choices abound in North Wales and the Lake District.
All training is best done carrying what you anticipate using on Skye. Thus, a fully loaded pack and your choice of footwear should be obligatory. Wear approach shoes and a pack when training at your local wall and concentrate on grades appropriate to the Cuillin. Getting the miles in is more important than flashing hard routes.
Make sure you train whatever the weather. Movement on damp or wet rock, navigation in poor visibility and setting up a bivi in the dark should all reap dividends in getting you ridge fit and ensuring these things become second nature. Think outside of the box and maximise what you have to hand. Your walk to work can be built into the training; wear a rucksack and balance along kerbstones or have a quick traverse of a stone wall. Or, walk up flights of stairs in your office rather than taking the lift. Sea defences and bouldery beaches provide good training opportunities.
Psychological fitness
Most teams will not only be physically exhausted by (or long before) the end of the ridge but also mentally drained. Lots of people after their first attempt on the ridge comment on the scale of the exposure – not just the steep cliffs and big drops involved but the continuous, unrelenting need to remain 100% switched on as you concentrate on the terrain. Mental resilience and a determination to continue is essential, especially on the second half of the ridge which can seem never-ending. You cannot simply plod on and push through regardless because you must stay alert and concentrate on every foot and handhold. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating the mental pressure of constant scrambling in potentially dangerous situations for hour upon hour, especially as the time ticks by and the darkness draws ever closer.
With clean cut holds, The Spur on Sgurr an Fheadain is doable in the wet (Classic scramble 2)
Become slick
Part of the US Navy SEALs’ mantra is ‘slow is smooth, smooth is fast’, and this is what you need to aim towards. Your movement along the ridge needs to be smooth, an uninterrupted flow forwards. Haste has no place and will lead to mistakes and premature expenditure of energy. Practice pacing yourself and make every single action efficient. Learn from mistakes on your practice days out.
Here are a few hints on being slick:
Have food and drink to hand in order to negate the need to stop and remove your pack then reverse the process. Keep food in your pockets, water in a bladder and a drinking tube carefully positioned so as to be accessible.
Refine your clothing system so there is zero faffing with layers on/off/on. If conditions dictate then wear a hat and gloves then remove and put in pockets and vice versa.
Start with the rack arranged and clipped to the leader’s harness ready for the off. Put the rope in a stuff sac or stuffed in pack ready to deploy so as to reduce time wasted uncoiling it and the risk of tangles. Only use the rope when absolutely necessary. Nothing is going to consume time more than endless pitching or abseiling on terrain that can be scrambled up or down-climbed. The weaker climber can use a screwgate to clip into a figure of eight on a bight for speed and after any use of the rope the leader can just take in more coils once the knot has been freed from the screwgate.
Have a map and guidebook in your pocket and readily accessible rather than in your pack. Map cases are a real faff and will definitely be a big no-no for climbing/scrambling.
Get into the habit of saving energy. For example, contour everything from the big hills to the smallest rock traverse. Losing/gaining height is bad and requires an unnecessary expenditure of energy. Adopt the motorway mindset of maybe going a little further than if you were driving on A roads but the process is quicker and more efficient. Constantly scan slightly ahead and planning each foot placement and hand hold.
Communicate with your partner and stay within sight of each other so the second doesn’t have to make the same mistakes as the leader. Point out the easiest line to each other, warn about loose rocks and generally help and look after each other, especially as the day progresses and people tire.
Get into the habit of overly loosening your pack straps as you remove them so they are easy to put back on later.
Pack your rucksack so that anything needed during the day is easily accessible. Bivi and cooking gear can go at the bottom of your pack with items needed during the day close to the top.
Wear clothing appropriate for the conditions and don’t hesitate to shed layers to avoid overheating. Remember, if you can’t be bothered then you probably should.
Concentrate all the time both for safety and navigation. It’s all too easy to be distracted while talking and to lose track of where you are especially in poor visibility.
Make any transitions from walking/scrambling/climbing slick and avoid unnecessary time wasting.
Ensure your shoe laces are well done up and if they are overly long, cut them down. Lots of modern footwear comes with laces that seem to come untied incredibly easy, so experiment. Stop and remove stones from your footwear as soon as you notice their presence rather than plodding on and getting blisters.
Remember, practice makes perfect.
Climber on slabs/corners leading up to Sgurr a’ Mhadaidh’s third top (Section 7)
Research
Research is probably the most common denominator between successful teams. Make sure you read accounts, watch videos on Youtube, look at photos and peruse guidebooks until you know the ridge inside out. Become a Cuillin bore, a Cuillin obsessive and ruthlessly devour all available information. Below are some recommended resources:
UK Climbing has several informative articles and a very active forum with more than 350 different threads on the Cuillin alone (www.ukclimbing.com).
YouTube has lots of videos ranging from amateurish, nausea-inducing head cam productions to full scale advertorials. The pick of the latter include a traverse sponsored by Salewa and another by Rab. In the former, a reporter from Trail Magazine is guided along the ridge over two days whilst the latter features running the ridge in a day.
There are several guidebooks and inspirational books about the Cuillin mountains. Details can be found in Appendix B.
Practice