The Inaccessible Pinnacle, The Black Cuillin, Skye

7 June 2007 - a glorious sunny Day
Start: OS Explorer 411 GR413204; behind the toilet block, Glem Brittle Campsite!

Set off: 1000
Return: 1600
Duration: 6 hours. Distance: 9km
Total Height Climbed: 986m

A non walking westie route by Steve - Note hill walking can be dangerous and this route involves lots of scrambling and very narrow crest walking, these details are for info only.

Well, it had to come eventually, and on a glorious day in early June, I set out with my neighbour Jason (having assured our good ladies that we'd be sensible) to "have a look" at the In Pin! We set off with a cloudy sky at Crossal, 2.5 miles down the road it was brilliant blue sky and a scorching day beckoned! We parked at the beach at Glenbrittle, got kitted up and headed off through the campsite and up the path behind. We'd only gone a few hundred yards before the sweat started - wholly due to the temperature and not the scary bits to come! It's a fairly steady slog up the path and we eventually reached Coire Lagan for a wee drink and a rest whilst orientating ourselves with the surroundings! We decided to ascend the left edge of the An Stac screes as this looked the most straight forward route and, as we worked our way up, we also watched the progress of another climber heading up the Great Stone Chute! Getting higher up we scrambled over the last outcrop of rock and followed the path up onto the ridge below An Stac itself. The view through this gap was amazing with low cloud over the sea across to the mainland and there were good views to the islands. After some book perusing and deciding a grade 3 scramble should be okay, I gratefully let Jason lead ahead up An Stac with both of us concentrating on completely avoiding the "horrifying drop on the right". Although exposed, it was a straight forward scramble and we soon surmounted An Stac and were presented with the view of the In Pin as seen left!
After some lunch on An Stac whilst still checking the In Pin was still there, we eventually wandered down to the foot of the east ridge, dumped rucksacks and contemplated the start. With no ropes etc, our only option was to climb up and down the east ridge, a moderate rock climb which we were completely content to climb but knew coming down would be difficult!
We climbed the first section to the top of the flake on the left and then worked our way back down to make sure we could! Then, whilst we contemplated our options, another group arrived with the leader, Alex, keen to climb the In Pin but his companion and another chap who came up with them, decided it was not for them. What astonishing luck for us when Alex said he'd be happy for us to follow him up and use his equipment to abseil off the west end - a fantastic offer that we couldn't decline! Even better, one of them said he'd be happy to take photos of our progress with our cameras!
So Alex lead off, with me in the middle and Jason close behind. We were soon up to the top of the flake where we'd been before as this section is very straight forward and obvious. Now it is necessary to move onto the east face proper and do an exposed move up using a low hand hold which made me nervous and we did contemplate getting roped up. However, with a wee bit of feeling around, I found the right handhold and pulled up fairly simply - this turned out to be the crux of the climb as the remainder was very straight forward. We then simply worked our way up the narrowing and exhilarating ridge. Everything was obvious and the only caution required was with a couple of loose rocks (sheer drops either side excepted of course!) There were a couple of flat areas where we kept low but we soon came onto the final slab which lead up to the summit blocks - WOW!!! It was a fantastic feeling to be there (and not be worried about the climb back down!) Having touched the top of the bolster stone, we then edged around to the abseil point and settled down (there's plenty of space) whilst Alex set up the abseil. Jason went down first and then I followed - we both paused for the compulsary mid-abseil photo and there we were, back on terra firma with the In Pin bagged!
We then met up with another couple of guys who were in Alex's party and we all decided to come down together as one of the party wasn't feeling well which may have been a bit of sunstroke. So we headed off down the west ridge of Sgurr Dearg which is a fairly straightforward walk down with a few areas of mild scrambling and down climbing. Once we reached the lower top it was a steep descent down lots of scree so the descent was quick! We parted company at the bottom as they were headed back to the Youth Hostel and we had to get back to the campsite, however, on our way back we did see them walking along the road to the Youth Hostel and the least we could do was give them a lift back!
What an amazing day topped off by an extremely lucky opportunity which was all down to the generosity of Alex agreeing to help us abseil!