Skye weekend - Torrin - 9-11 May 2025
The fantastic weather and continuing high pressure encouraged 19 members and prospective members to the bunkhouse at Torrin, for a variety of adventures on the justly famed Isle of Skye.
Saturday 10 May
Relatively high winds forecast for Saturday kept most people off the main Ridge but there is still plenty of excitement to be had.
Dubh Slabs, Sgurr Dubh Beag
A group of 4 (Colin, Andrew, Chris and Emily) caught the first boat at 9am from Elgol to Loch Coriusk, aiming for the classic Dubh Slabs– over a kilometer of beautiful gabbro, either a Moderate rock climb or a scramble.
We clambered aboard the Misty Isle boat along with a couple of hard-looking climbers. The crew regaled us with stories related to the area and pointed out some harbour seals. After a welcome hot drink on board, we alighted in Coruisk.
The 2 lads set off ahead of us and after about 30 minutes we arrived at the foot of the slabs. The name Dubh means dark/black, and what a suitable name it is. The great boiler plates of sandpaper-like gabbro covered the mountain as high as we could see. The 2 lads started too far to the left and had to retreat and start again more to the right. They saved us some time. We put on harnesses and helmets and started up a grassy gully, soon to move onto the slabs themselves.
The scramble posed no great difficulty, and it was always possible to escape sideways to easier ground if required. It is a continuous scramble of high quality for 700m of ascent. For fun, some of us tried walking up the slabs without using hands. We didn’t need the rope until we reached the top.
After lunch at the summit of Sgurr Dubh Beag at 733m, we set up the 60m rope (doubled) for the famous abseil. There are lots of conflicting bits of advice on the rope length, so we opted to go longer just in case. 50m might have been ok, but only just. I’ve never seen so much “abseil tat” in one place, in various states of degradation. For many of us it was a new experience, dangling in free space in the awesome surroundings of the Cuillin Ridge.
The lads were making their way to the nearby Munro, Sgurr Dubh Mor, as we abseiled into the Bealach. We decided to skip it and head on down as we had to catch the last boat at 4.30pm.
The descent down north of the ridge into Coire an Lochain was an awkward mixture of scree, grass and loose rock. We had to keep moving left to avoid steep drops. With some relief we gained the Lochside path and managed to get to the jetty with plenty of time to spare. The 2 lads made it onto the 4:30 boat just as we were about to depart.
Bla Bheinn
The weather report was promising blue skies so it made great sense to go to the wonderful Bla Bheinn. A team of 6 set off: Richard was determined not to enter a car and walked off at speed whilst the 5 younger participants (Dan, Irene, Katie, Myles and Shona) shared a car. The tops were hiding in the cloud at setting off but did give a teasing glimpse as we approached. However they further clagged in and that combined with a destabilising wind led to a decision for a simple up and down of the northern peak. The ‘path’ up is a horrendous flow of scree and so we enjoyed light scrambling up rocks at either side. There were nice views of the red hills of Skye on ascent though the top unfortunately offered none. A nice day out nonetheless.
Beinn Na Cro
On Sunday our most senior members headed Beinn Na Cro. It's quite steep with a fairly rough path until it levels out into a pleasant grassy ridge approaching the summit. They were largely doing it to settle a score, as we were turned back by the weather on our previous attempt, on the Torrin meet last year. (no photos)
Sgurr na Stri, South-South-East Buttress
A party of 2 – Hugh and Hazel – set off from the car park just past Kirkibost, on the track to Camasunary. A short 2.7 miles (and 600 feet of ascent) on a pleasant track brought us to Camasunary, with the old bothy now transformed into a house, and a new bothy tucked int to the east end of the bay. They hurried on, fording a river (the Abhainn Camas Fhionnairigh) which was in very low flow, to head directly up the easterly lower slopes of Sgurr na Stri to the start of the route. A very pleasant hour was spent picking a line up a series of rocky steps, more or less following the guidebook, and admiring the stickiness of the gabbro and its sandpapering effect on fingertips. After 250m of ascent in increasingly blowy conditions, they arrived at the eastern summit and then onto to the western summit, with a lunch pause to admire the truly fantastic view of the Cuillin, all the way up Loch Coriusk and peeking into the upper part of Harta Corrie and Sgurr nan Gillean. They waved at the climbers on the Dubh Slabs and their cap of cloud, and then turned to admire Bla Bheinn which also wore a little cloudy hat.
Eschewing the guidebook’s proposals, we descended down an obvious path to the North for around 0.5km, then struck out down Sgurr na Stri’s eastern flank, picking a way down steep grassy slopes between small gabbro craglets, and following a use trail back to the banks of the Abhainn Camas Fhionnairigh and a crossing. From here on, there were quite a few encounters with people from the UK, Europe and Canada undertaking the “Skye Trail”, which we had not heard of but which is on Walk Highlands. The Skye Walkers were on day 5 of huge backpacks, on their way to Elgol.
There was a quick sidebar into the new Bothy at Camasunary, which is very cosy and well-equipped with bed platforms – but no stove or fire – before undertaking the return trip up the much-regretted hill to Kirkibost. A shorter day could be had by taking the boat to Loch Coriusk then walking the “bad step” to the base of the route.
Mountain biking
The cycling team of Michael and Ewen headed for Elgol, with a brief off-road diversion to Glasnakille to see if they could access Spar cave - they couldn't, due to the state of the tide and failure to find a route down to the shore. Very impressive if you're there at low tide and can get down to the sea, though. They pedalled on to Elgol, checked out the new cafe and walked down the coast to Prince Charles's cave, admiring the huge rockfalls where previous caves had been. Some climbers nearby said the bit they were climbing was ok!
A Raasay outing
Saturday saw Robin, John and Arthur catch the ferry to Raasay with multiple objectives: Robin to visit a former work colleague who now lives on Raasay; John to visit the former Iron Ore mines worked by local residents and German prisoners of war during WW1; and Arthur to climb Dun Caan. All three were achieved on a super day with Robin emulating James Boswell by dancing a jig on the summit of Dun Caan. The day was rounded off by a visit to Raasay House for refreshments where we found the same “civility, elegance and plenty” that Boswell and Johnson found during their 1773 visit.
Sunday
The forecast was even better for Sunday than Saturday, but many of us were feeling the effects of Saturday.
Sgurr na Stri: a tale of two routes
The weather on Sunday was right to experience the finest mountain views in Britain over Loch Coruisk, the Cuillin and seaward.
Following the recommendations for this route, the Bla Bheinn team (less Richard) headed up the SSE buttress, picking a variety of lines at the whim of each member; all difficulties could be escaped or enhanced, depending on volition.
Robin, John and Arthur set off on the rough track south of Kirkibost to Camasunary and climbed the steep grassy corrie on the east side of the hill to join the route following the north ridge of Sgùrr na Strì to the main and west summits. The views from the west summit live up to the expectation and we sat soaking in the views for a while. Then we retraced our steps.
The seacliffs at Elgol: Suidhe Biorach
Andrew, Hazel, Colin, Emily and Chris headed off to Suidhe Biorach, to sample the delights of this “magnificent sea cliff of grippy sandstone, smothered in generous pockets”. The team climbed 6 routes between them, with some curious kayakers popping past to admire our camming placements which were more numerous than the cams we had to put in them. Another team of visiting climbers came past to stroll up some of the harder offerings; a busy day at the crag. An amazing day of fantastic climbing with the background of Rhum, Eigg, and Muck across a sparkling blue sea.
Mountain biking
Sunday saw the cyclists heading south from Torrin on the Suisnish track to see yet more caves; Calaman's cave was not so impressive, but the seacliff scenery was superb. They also scoped out a beach just south of Torrin for a swim on the next visit; the renovated Torrin schoolhouse is very comfortable, and we're sure to be back.
Beinn Na Cro
On Sunday Richard and Hugh walked from the bunkhouse north up Strath Beag to An Slugan, then up the NE ridge of Beinn na Crò (572m, a Marilyn), descending the tourist route down the south ridge. Great views of BlàBheinn and Belig to the west. No one else on the hill other than a shepherd and his collie at the summit.
Skye’s history
On Sunday the senior team walked from the end of the public road at Pole(?) to the clearance village at Suisnish, where they met Ewen and Michael, and a crofter/shepherd who talked interestingly about the clearance from Suisnish and Boreraig in 1853.