Three years of work, fund-raising and organisation came to a successful end last month (20th) with opening of the Gairloch Climbing Wall. This corner of Scotland has long been known for quality trad climbing and, more recently, it has gained a reputation as one of the best venues for sport climbing in Scotland (and possibly the UK). The one ingredient lacking was a venue where local climbers can train, where young climbers can cut their teeth and where visiting climbers can retreat when the weather turns. go further Scotland’s Paul Tattersall has been at the heart of the local campaign to get the wall built and pushed things forward at various times when all seemed bogged down in council red-tape.
The new wall has replaced an (almost) useless blockwork and cement ‘climbing’ wall in one corner and a blank blockwork wall in another. Hopefully, it shows the way forward for other venues in the Highlands and Scotland where vertical space can be utilised to make leisure centres hugely more appealing and useful. Perhaps with this success, more pressure can be put on Highland Council to follow this lead in other areas - such as Ullapool.
As well as giving everyone in the area a whole day to visit and try the wall, the opening included other activities including rope climbing, spinning and rowing. Climbing films were screened and stalls were provided by Tiso, Craigdon, the local mountain rescue team and local businesses. Volunteers provided a feast of baking and snacks and Gairloch High School provided much of the support and the additional space. The day was a fantastic success, where the whole climbing community came together to support what must be the best boost to climbing the area has yet seen. Thanks again to the companies and organisations who supported the project - Ineos, SportScotland, Highland Leader Fund, Great Wilderness Challenge have all contributed to the money raised by local community.


Everyone who came along had the chance to try the routes.


Local climbers with some of the team from Avertical World (Dundee) who built the wall.


Relaxing with tea, cake and a climbing video.


Some familiar faces. Local climbers - Steve and Ray from the local rescue team.


Rowing challenges....


....and spinning tasters put on by Gairloch Leisure centre.

Tags: Gairloch, Gairloch Climbing Wall

The new Gairloch climbing wall will officially open on November 20th. The event is being marked by an open invitation to everyone interested in the new facility to an open day between 11.00am and 16.00pm at the Gairloch Leisure Centre - part of the Gairloch High School. As well as the climbing, the organisers are arranging activities for children and refreshments.

The wall, which has room for roughly 65 routes, has been taken forward by the Gairloch Community Climbing Wall Partnership (GCCWP) and has taken three years to raise the £100,000 necessary. The wall has lead routes and top-roped climbing for all levels of ability. Ineos, SportScotland, Highland Leader Fund, Great Wilderness Challenge have all contributed to the money raised by local community. go further’s Paul Tattersall has played a key role in the planning, design and organisation needed for the whole project. Here is a quick preview where the go further team were enjoying a few routes after a technical session with the wall’s builders - Avertical World.

Tags: Gairloch Climbing Wall, Great Wilderness Challenge, Ineos, Highland Leader Fund, sport Climbing

go further’s Paul rounded off the season in style with two trips helping Cameron McNeish and his film crew on Harris in the outer isles and on Knoydart in the West Highlands. The trips are for Cameron’s next series on classic Scottish walks. On one day the team ventured onto Eaval on North Harris and were blown away by the stunning view and magnificent route. You can read Cameron’s description of the day on the Herald’s site here.



Cameron and crew on Knoydart.

Tags: Cameron McNeish, Eaval

We’ve had a glorious start to October with strong easterly winds keeping any significant cloud well to the south. The good weather coincided with Alexa and Simon’s visit for four days hiking with go further. They didn’t have specific objectives so we suggested four of the best walks in the area. Luckily, we managed to some interesting shots during their trip which show off the weather and the walks.


We started the week with an ascent of Beinn a'Chearcaill - one of the lower Torridon hills but a walk that takes you into the heart of the Torridon area to the west of the Beinn Eighe massif. The summit of this hill is an unusual plateau of Torridonian sandstone littered with boulders. Strong winds battered the area from the East on this day and it was almost impossible to take any pictures near the summit.



The descent from Slioch at around 900m looking south to Torridon.



Later in the week we did the long coastal walk on the Slaggan peninsula starting at Mellon Udrigle beach where we watched a seal before setting off. The hill in the distance is Beinn Ghobhlach on the Scoraig peninsula to the north.



Another view at the start of the Slaggan coastal walk.



A sandy beach on a small hill loch high on Beinn Ghobhlach.



The view of the An Teallach massif from the summit of Beinn Ghobhlach later that day.

Tags: Beinn a'Chearcaill, Slioch, Greenstone Point, Beinn Ghobhlach

During a busy summer the go further team have still found some time to put up a few more routes in Wester Ross. There is a lot of rock on the Poolewe to Slattadale path near Gairloch but few sections hold much potential for worthwhile rock climbing. One exception is an obvious clean corner of gneiss to the east of the path about 1km south of the A832. Paul has established four new sport routes here with a good spread of grades:
Creag na Oisean (Crag of the Corner)
From R to L the four routes are:
The Otter Final 7a+
Oshan Toshan 6a
A Game of Towels 6b
Stormy Monday 5+

Paul is pictured here on the first ascent of Otter Final.

Another location with few established rock routes is Dundonnell. Colin has also put up four new routes here on a substantial sandstone outcrop - Creag Nan Ord (Crag of the Hammer). The routes, all at least 25m in length, offer varied climbing on immaculate rock. Ray Wilby is pictured (below) on the crux of Siostan (6c).This month also saw the first ascent of the crag’s best route - Guga, (7a) - a 30m line with a strenuous start and a delicate finish. More on this crag soon.

Tags: otter final, Creag na Oisean, Creag Nan Ord, Siostan

Conditions for the runners couldn’t have been much worse for the 25th Great Wilderness Challenge event last Saturday but, as usual, the atmosphere was excellent. The picture shows Colin about 22 miles into the 25 mile route. Strong headwinds, especially on the high paths, saw most people well off their target times. Colin was more that 30 minutes slower than his personal best but managed 11th place overall and 1st local.

Tags: GWC, Great Wilderness Challenge

A full traverse of An Teallach is one of our biggest days out with few less than around 9 hours. On Tuesday Susie and Chirantan wanted to complete the traverse and include some navigation practise during the day. We started off in brightening conditions but as the weather became less and less comfortable it became more and more useful for navigation training. go further’s Colin covered a range of techniques needed for a safe day out on an exposed ridge such as An Teallach. This picture was taken on the summit of Bidein before a cold shower lashed the ridge and visibility dropped to a few metres. See our navigation pages for more.

Tags: navigation

go further have had several family climbing days this year where we are able to use excellent venues to give children some outdoor climbing experience while giving Mums and Dads the skills to take the family rock climbing independently.The Mackay family, Muzz, Karen, Sol aged 12 and Molly aged 9 managed to squeeze in a day of rock climbing just before the school holidays finished. Paul took them to Kuhjo Crag near Poolewe. With a five minute walk-in, it means you spend time climbing rather than walking, Kids love that, don't we all?

Paul gave them instruction on placing gear on trad routes, sorting out belays and top belaying. They practised how to abseil safely and of course climbed. Karen was joyful to get up her first outdoor climb and realised that she could in fact go to the crag and join in with the rest of the family given the right venue. Muzz tried his first 6a which was a great eye opener for him and the youngsters Molly and Sol ran around jumping on everything, doing their first outdoor leading, safely belaying Dad and just lapping it all up.

Tags: Kuhjo Crag, poolewe, family climbing, Clown slab

go further’s Colin (left) will be running the 25 mile mountain route in this year’s Great Wilderness Challenge on Saturday (21st of August). This is the 25th anniversary of the event so everyone is making a huge effort to raise a record amount for vital local charities. Colin has just set up a JustGiving page where you can make easy donations to help him reach his £400 target. Donations are welcome after the event for a couple of months. The 25 mile option runs from Dundonnell, through the Fisherfield Wilderness to Carnmore and then follows the rough track for 8 miles to Poolewe. A route that also makes for a magnificent long-distance walk.

Tags: GWC, Great Wilderness Challenge

Here’s another - very different - shot of the In Pin. This time go further’s Paul is with Eric and James (pictured) and two others on the summit of the Inaccessible Pinnacle. Although the In-Pin is famous for its exposed scramble, it is also a perfect position to take in the scale of the Cuillin with tremendous views in every direction. After the In-Pin the group went on to reach Sgurr Mhich Choinnich which you can see in the top right of the picture. The picture is taken looking South East.

Tags: In Pin, Inaccessible Pinnacle

We recently helped Martin, Chris and Tom reach a few summits on the Cuillin and thanks to Martin for this image of the Inaccessible Pinnacle he had just climbed. Weather has been very mixed recently with some low cloud. On this day the cloud base was sweeping in just below the summits making for some dramatic views as the sun broke through unexpectedly.

After climbing the In-Pin we went on to summit Sgurr na Banachdich. If the weather permits and you are up for it, we always try to take in at least one other Munro during days when we do the In-Pin. For more options see our Skye pages.


The Inaccessible Pinnacle.


Martin and Chris on the summit of the In-Pin with go further’s Colin.

Tags: In Pin, Inaccessible Pinnacle, Sgurr Dearg

We’ve had one of our busiest June’s ever enjoying nearly three full weeks on Skye with 15 people in five separate groups. We’ve covered most of Skye’s dramatic Cuillin Ridge and made ascents of nearly all of the Cuillin Munros making the best of a mixed spell of weather that has seen settled but frequent low-lying cloud with spells of light rain.

On Saturday 26th the south end of the Cuillin Ridge remained below a heavy cloud base and despite an early shower we completed a tremendous mountaineering day with Judy, Mary and Karen. Starting at sea level at Glenbrittle bay we walked through the atmospheric Corrie Lagan and accessed the ridge via the Sgumain stone chute. After Sgurr Sgumain there is a long scramble (with one significant roped pitch) up the Western summit ridge of Sgurr Alasdair - Cuillin’s highest summit at 993m.


Judy and Mary on Sgurr Alistair.

During the day the cloud base remained just above the highest tops giving us some dramatic views west to the islands.


Rhum from the Cuillin on the same day.

From Sgurr Alasdair there is a tremendous scramble over Sgurr Thearlaich to the bealach between Sgurr Mhich Choinnich and Sgurr Thearlaich. From here we traversed the famous Collie’s Ledge up to the summit ridge - a long and easy approach to reach this peak but very exposed with a few awkward scrambling moves in places.

During June, go further’s Paul and Colin were also guiding on the north end of the ridge with a large group on Am Basteir and the fabulous scramble up the western summit ridge of Sgurr nan Gillean. We took in Sgurr a’ Mhadaidh and Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh during a wild, windy and misty day. And we also helped 10 people in two groups reach the top of the Inaccessible Pinnacle during long days when we also reached the summits of Sgurr na Banachdich and Sgurr Mhic Choinnich. See or Skye pages for more options.

Tags: Sgurr Alasdair, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Sgurr Thearlach, Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir, Sgurr na Banachdich

Here’s our latest route profile - this time a two-pitch trad route on one of the best outcrops of Gneiss in Scotland. We were there earlier this month.

Diabaig’s ‘Main Cliff’ is known for its steep first pitches followed by technical slab climbing after good ledge belays at mid-height. Northumberland Wall, with two 5c pitches, takes an unlikely line surmounting the steepest section of the crag. The three-star route starts up an obvious corner to the second small roof shown in the shot below. The line then takes a delicate traverse right before the crux section through the black streaked rock in the top right of the picture. From below the first roof the pitch is sustained, demanding good route finding with a crux move to get established in the upper crack.


Colin Meek on the first pitch of Northumberland Wall - Diabaig Main Cliff.

The second pitch starts up a hard-to-protect slab before traversing left under an obvious overlap (easily seen in the picture below). Above that, the route leads through a steep slab using a thin crack that becomes steadily more useful. Hard moves then lead to a broken feature with better holds.


On the crux of the second pitch.

Generally thought to be a tough E2, it is undoubtedly one of the best routes at Diabaig. The climbing at Diabaig is about 30 minutes from Torridon village and, with a range of grades on fantastic rock, it is a great venue to try some multi-pitch climbing. South facing, it has to be in one of the best positions on the West Coast. More route profiles from Diabaig soon.
See our pages on Guided Climbing for more.

Tags: Diabaig, northumberland wall, Gneiss

Every year we run a special promotion for guiding in one of our key areas in Skye and Wester Ross. For this summer only we are cutting the cost of our Torridon Munros three day option from £420 to £360 for one person.
- for two people the cost is £180 each;
- for 3 people £145 each; and,
- for 4 people £110 each.
Three of Scotland’s most famous peaks - Beinn Alligin, Beinn Eighe and Liathach - and six Munros. Tackle all three over three days or pace yourself by spreading the days out over a week or longer. Some easy scrambling and superb ridge walking. See our Torridon page for more information or click on the Liathach tag below for a news post.

Tags: Liathach, Beinn Eighe, Beinn Alligin, torridon

From time to time we profile some of the best climbs in Wester Ross so here are a few shots of gofurther’s Paul and Colin on Snowflake - one of the best routes on Goat Crag which is one of the best sport-clmbing crags in Scotland. The pictures, taken in the last couple of weeks, hopefully capture how steep the crag is yet, after the mid-height crux, the holds become a lot more forgiving as the climb leads diagonally up and left over a massive jagged flake.



The climb starts delicately up a steep face to a bulge above the second runner. The climbing is not hard for the grade here, but the holds aren’t obvious.



The crux section starts after leaving the obvious diagonal break. As the angle steepens the route goes left on good holds before turning back right over the obvious bulge above Paul in this picture.



The hardest section of the route from a different angle. Here you can see the obvious flake line at the top of the picture which takes the climb up and left to a second hard section at the top of the flake, just below the lower-off. A knee-bar rest is possible when you reach the flake.

Snowflake is the furthest left route at Goat Crag which now has more than 15 routes of the highest quality ranging from 6a+ to 8a. A topo should be available from Wild West Topos soon.

Interested in sport climbing or climbing instruction? See our climbing pages for more.

Thanks to local climber Ian Taylor for this bolted line.

Tags: goat crag, Snowflake, Gruinard, Gruinard climbing, Wester Ross

Despite a week of hot and humid weather earlier this month, our spring has been dominated by cool norther westerlies and mostly dry conditions. We’ve seen plenty of showers, but they’ve been very light and brief and the burns and rivers are unusually low. We don’t know why, but the spring flowers this year are spectacular - especially on south-facing slopes and areas where the bracken hasn’t yet matured. Here are two shots from the Gruinard River - Wester Ross.

go further has already seen Skye’s Cuillin mountains in a range of moods this year with full winter Munro weather lasting well into April. Our latest trip last weekend coincided with perfect conditions - dry, cool and with a slight breeze. Over four days we tackled nearly all of the Munro tops in the southern Cuillin including Bla’Bheinn (Blaven) - the dramatic outlyer of the Black Cuillin to the east of the main ridge (see picture below).

Over this weekend we reached three of the Cuillin’s 12 Munros on Saturday and Sunday. On the first day Gair and five of his friends tackled Sgurr a’ Mhadaith from the notch in the main ridge known as An Dorus. From here we scrambled south over the narrow and exposed summit of Sgurr a’ Ghreadaith pictured below. Here we are traversing the South Top from the main summit in the distance.



From this point, the ridge drops sharply down to the south east before a steep easy scramble up to the summit of Sgurr na Banachdich.

On Sunday we set out to reach the three most southerly Munros on the main ridge via the narrow and spectacular Corrie Ghrunnda. Once we gained the main summit ridge we travelled south to Sgurr nan Eag then north to the Sgurr Dubh an Da Bheinn top which offers extensive and easy scrambling to a dramatic summit with a view into three of the Cuillin’s corries. From here, a complex coll leads to the second Munro of the day - Sgurr Dubh Mor which is reached by a steep but easy scramble. From here, the main ridge goes north west where we traversed around the head of the Corrie Ghrunnda to tackle the Cuillin’s highest summit - Sgurr Alasdair - from the south west. This requires a long roped scramble over difficult ground to reach the famous summit.



Here, Pat and Rory are just arriving at the summit with Loch Brittle far below (go further’s Colin in red).



Gair - taking in the view on his last Munro.



The quickest way down from Sgurr Alasdair is the Great Stone Shoot (above). On May 10th, the day after our trip to Sgurr Alasdair, gofurther’s Paul took this picture (below) with a group from London tackling Sgurr Dearg and the Inaccessible Pinnacle. Fresh snow arrived overnight on a strong and cold north easterly. The highest peak is Sgurr Alasdair with Sgurr Mhic Choinnich on the left.



The best view of the whole Cuillin ridge is from Bla Bheinn (Blaven) which sits to the west of the main ridge on the Elgol peninsula. Although daunting to look at, Bla Bheinn has a relatively easy route to the top which requires almost no scrambling. From the summit you can see the entire main ridge from Gars-bheinn in the south to Sgurr nan Gillean in the north. Below, Maggie on the summit on Friday with the main ridge in the distance.

The whole ridge: 8 miles long with 10,000 feet of total ascent - a big expedition. More on that soon.

Tags: Cuillin, Black Cuillin, Bla’Bheinn, Blaven, Sgurr a’ Mhadaith, Corrie Ghrunnda, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Great Stone Shoot, Sgurr Dubh Mor, Sgurr Alasdair, An Dorus, Sgurr nan Eag, Sgurr Dubh an Da Bheinn, Sgurr a’ Ghreadaith

The Old Man of Hoy is one of the UK’s most sought-after ascents and gofurther Scotland has made two successful trips there either side of our amazing winter. Last weekend gofurther’s Paul made the trip with Malachy and completed the climb on Saturday during a spell of cold weather blown in on a light northerly.

The 135m Old Man is one of the country’s most inspiring rock climbing venues with a sense of adventure and isolation that you get in few other areas. The classic route, now graded E1, takes the original line up the landward face of the stack with the second crux pitch negotiating an awkward move out of a niche onto the face directly left of the main crack.



The sensational final pitch (with Malachy pictured below) is on perfect rock up 20m corner to the summit. With waves swirling below and stunning views over to St John’s Head (the tallest sea cliffs in Britain) it is certainly one of the most spectacular rock climbing moments.



Below, Malachy reaches the summit with incredible views over to St John’s Head and the hills of Hoy.




After 5 pitches a multi-pitch abseil descent is needed finishing with a 60m free abseil to the bottom of the stack on the landward side.



See our pages on Sea Stacks for more options.

Tags: hoy, old man of hoy, Sea Stack Climbing, Sea Stacks

After a couple of weeks of milder weather in March the winter returned with another long spell of calm high pressure and bitterly cold temperatures on the summits. This lasted well into April when these pictures were taken during a winter round of An Teallach.

Here the group is approaching the rounded summit ridge of Sail Liath - the beginning of the An Teallach ridge.



And this picture looks south-east to over the Fisherfield wilderness. Spring conditions have gradually won through in the North West and gofurther Scotland has been busy at the crag and on the summits throughout April and into May - perhaps these will be the last pictures of full winter conditions for some time.

Tags: Sail Liath, fisherfield, fisherfield munros, An Teallach

This great shot was taken in mid-February during Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team training on Beinn Dearg. Not only does it give a good impression of the scale of this peak it also shows the extraordinary dyke that runs from the tip of the North West Ridge (in the distance) to close to the summit. The drystane dyke, often built with huge blocks, is between 3 and 5 feet high in places but only the top-most layer of blocks were visible above the snow. Just after these pictures were taken the weather turned colder again and, in the second half of the month, another huge fall of snow took the snow line back to sea level and it has remained there since.

The picture below includes ‘Skye’ - a local member of the Search and Rescue Dog Association.

Tags: Beinn Dearg, Wester Ross

Go Further clients have experienced a series of special days on some of the north’s most famous peaks in perfect winter conditions.



In the first half of the month we found ourselves on Slioch - just north of Loch Maree (in the distance in the picture above with Torridon in the background). Here the group are just hitting the snow line at about 1500 feet.



Later that week we moved south to Torridon where this picture was taken of the the main Beinn Eighe ridge from the Liathach ridge. For more details on Torridon see here.



Liathach is a special mountain at any time of the year but, combined with An Teallach and Beinn Eighe, can there be a better series of winter summits to aim for on the Scottish mainland?

Another great day out is to tackle the Black Carls on the Beinn Eighe Ridge - one of the best Wester Ross scrambles and, in the winter, a great mountaineering adventure. Here the group is heading onto the main ridge...



...and here (below) we are heading towards the start of the Carls.

Tags: Liathach, Beinn Eighe, torridon, Slioch, Winter, mountaineering

Go Further also reached the wild spot of Carnmore in the heart of the Fisherfield Wilderness at the turn of the year. A very special place just after a heavy fall in the middle of the cold snap. The quickest way into Carnmore is an eight mile hike from Poolewe on the coast.



This shot (above) shows evening light on Carnmore Crag on the way into Carnmore and the picture below shows the famous Carnmore bothy. Not the best bothy in the area, but one of the best locations in the whole of the Northern Highlands for climbing and mountain walking.





Above, one of the most famous Fisherfield munros: A’Mhaighdean (The Maiden) and the Dubh Loch below.

Tags: Carnmore Bothy, Carnmore, fisherfield, fisherfield munros

Truly incredible winter conditions started early in Wester Ross and hardly changed through to mid-January. This picture looks directly south into the sun just after the shortest day of 2009 just after Christmas. In the middle is An Teallach’s Sgurr Fiona with the pinnacled ridge running to the left and the Western ridge on the right. Conditions were heavy going during this spell with a lot of fresh snow and little consolidation.

Tags: Winter, An Teallach