Classic Rock - a 30 year adventure

Another bright morning, another perfect day for scrambling on Skye, we stuffed in the porridge and double brew. A little weary but satisfied that, so far at least, all was perhaps not exactly going to plan, but was going as well as we’d hoped. In some ways day 2 was less memorable, partly because we were suffering from 3 poor night’s sleep but more because the ridge just carries on going. That could sound like I’m talking it down and making it sound monotonous, no way; the northern end is no less challenging, in fact we found some of the route-finding trickier. However, without the high summit of Alasdair and the excitement of the Inn Pinn, the day blurred into a long period of scrambling over terrain that mostly wasn’t too technical, but the seriousness of the route meant each step still demanded care and every small mistake could cost you time or something worse. So I can tell you that we continued to pick off the munro peaks and we attempted to climb Bhastier tooth but couldn’t find...

Way before the idea of completing Ken’s Classics came about, “The greatest mountaineering challenge in Britain” had long been on our agenda. The superlative experience that takes in the entire Cuillin Ridge had been attempted and aborted by greater climbers than us and we had previously planned and recced the ridge only to have decent weather and diary gaps fail to line up. Yet the allure of this pure challenge remained and kept forcing it’s way into conversations and potential diary slots until finally in May 2018 all the right elements lined up. If you’ve never driven through Glencoe by moonlight I’d thoroughly recommend it. If you’ve never driven through the night without sleep from Leicester to Glen Brittle, hoping to get your head down on a busy bank holiday camp-site just as everyone else is getting up, I wouldn’t recommend it. We knew we’d be knackered after the ridge, but we didn’t expect the sleep deprivation to begin this early. After a little lie down but no real rest, prepa...