Wester Ross
Four of the Best Walks in Wester Ross
25/10/10
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.
Northumberland Wall (E2 5c) - Diabaig
14/06/10
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.
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.
Beautiful Winter Days in February
03/03/10
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.
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.
Early Summer Adventures
22/07/09
go further
has had one of its busiest summer seasons so far and here is a
selection of some of our best shots from recent trips.
In May Zoe and friends (pictured below) took a break from their running holiday to tackle a tough traverse of Ben More Assynt and Conival in the Inchnadamph area. This route starts at Inchnadamph and reaches Conival via the beautiful and narrow Gleann Dubh. From Conival there is a rough ridge walk (pictured here) to Ben More. From there we took the exciting south ridge that includes some exposed scrambling before dropping down to the spectacular Dubh Loch Mor.
We rested by Dubh Loch Mor for a long spell before tackling the long walk back to Inchnadamph. This long traverse is one of the most challenging in the area but variety and complexity of the scenery makes the long day worthwhile. This picture shows the burn running from Dubh Loch Mor with the imposing South Ridge of Ben More Assynt behind.
As we keep finding out, some of the best mountain days in the North West are to be found on the ‘Corbett’ tops - those mountains between 2,500 and 3,000 feet in height. Several are to be found on the fabulous Coigach Peninsula just north of Ullapool. In May, we had several long spells of bright and cool weather and one of those coincided with this visit to one of the most accessible of Coigach’s mountains - Cul Mor. This picture is taken from the summit ridge looking south west to one of the most visited mountains in the North West - Stac Pollaidh.
This picture is also taken from the north west top of Cul Mor looking north towards Suilven - one of the most spectacular and remote of all Scotlands ‘Corbett’ tops.
Despite some brilliant weather in May and June, we did see some very late snow and one of those flurries coincided with a complete traverse of An Teallach by Jill and friends (pictured).
Here, two of our group can be seen nearing the end of the pinnacled ridge a short distance before one of the main Munro tops which was in cloud.
The day started brightly but became overcast as the party reached the main ridge where we took this stunning picture of the full ridge.
In May Zoe and friends (pictured below) took a break from their running holiday to tackle a tough traverse of Ben More Assynt and Conival in the Inchnadamph area. This route starts at Inchnadamph and reaches Conival via the beautiful and narrow Gleann Dubh. From Conival there is a rough ridge walk (pictured here) to Ben More. From there we took the exciting south ridge that includes some exposed scrambling before dropping down to the spectacular Dubh Loch Mor.
We rested by Dubh Loch Mor for a long spell before tackling the long walk back to Inchnadamph. This long traverse is one of the most challenging in the area but variety and complexity of the scenery makes the long day worthwhile. This picture shows the burn running from Dubh Loch Mor with the imposing South Ridge of Ben More Assynt behind.
As we keep finding out, some of the best mountain days in the North West are to be found on the ‘Corbett’ tops - those mountains between 2,500 and 3,000 feet in height. Several are to be found on the fabulous Coigach Peninsula just north of Ullapool. In May, we had several long spells of bright and cool weather and one of those coincided with this visit to one of the most accessible of Coigach’s mountains - Cul Mor. This picture is taken from the summit ridge looking south west to one of the most visited mountains in the North West - Stac Pollaidh.
This picture is also taken from the north west top of Cul Mor looking north towards Suilven - one of the most spectacular and remote of all Scotlands ‘Corbett’ tops.
Despite some brilliant weather in May and June, we did see some very late snow and one of those flurries coincided with a complete traverse of An Teallach by Jill and friends (pictured).
Here, two of our group can be seen nearing the end of the pinnacled ridge a short distance before one of the main Munro tops which was in cloud.
The day started brightly but became overcast as the party reached the main ridge where we took this stunning picture of the full ridge.
Dry Conditions
09/06/08
Wilderness Walk
09/06/08
This walk normally takes around nine to ten hours. See our pages on guided walking for more.
Amazing skyscapes
12/12/07
A spell of more settled, frosty
weather has brought with it a series of stunning sunrises and
sunsets in the North West. This picture was taken today looking
South East along Little Loch Broom, Dundonnell. The peak on the
right is Mac is Mathair which is part of the An
Teallach massif - the most dramatic mountain on the Scottish
mainland. Sometimes spelt Mac 'us Mathair this unusual Gaelic name
means 'Son and Mother' in English. Some local people think this
explains the title 'An Teallach' because 'teallach' may derive from
the Gaelic word 'teaghlach' which means 'family'. Nearly all
mountain guide books, however, reckon An Teallach means the
'forge'.
Welcome
27/11/07
Welcome to the revamped and updated
go further Scotland website. We'll be using this new news
page to keep you up-to-date with everything mountain, climbing, and
mountaineering related in North West Scotland: news about
conditions, the weather, our activities, offers, trips, new courses
and much more......
First of all happy birthday to our newest guide - Murdoch Jamieson
- who joined the team this summer. Murdo is a local climber and
all-round mountaineer who just happens to be an awesome guide. See
about us for more on the go further
team.
We spent more time on Skye and Torridon in 2007 than any other year so check out these pages for the heads up on our new three and five day guided trips to some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in Europe: Ridge Walking, Torridon Munros, Skye, Sky Munros, Skye Scrambles.
Lastly, while go further tailors most of its guiding to suit individuals and small groups, we've decided to schedule in a few organised three and five day trips in Torridon, Skye and the Fisherfield wilderness. More on those soon....
We spent more time on Skye and Torridon in 2007 than any other year so check out these pages for the heads up on our new three and five day guided trips to some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in Europe: Ridge Walking, Torridon Munros, Skye, Sky Munros, Skye Scrambles.
Lastly, while go further tailors most of its guiding to suit individuals and small groups, we've decided to schedule in a few organised three and five day trips in Torridon, Skye and the Fisherfield wilderness. More on those soon....