Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland
Price: £625 per person
Ratio: 1:2
Length: 5 days

Introduction: The traverse of the Cuillin Ridge on Skye is arguably the finest mountaineering trip in the UK. The route includes 10,000ft of ascent taking in 11 Munro tops and many other tops between 2500 ft and 3000ft. The ridge drops down into the sea giving tremendous views across the surrounding islands of Hebrides, it is a fantasy, a mountain lovers dream and for Lawrence Pilkington, one of the first pioneers in the 19th century, it was as for so many since "a glimpse of the promised land".

The first successful traverse of the ridge was made in June 1911 by Leslie Shadbolt and A C MacLaren and was the result of much meticulous planning and careful preparation by two very experienced climbers. It has an epic quality and everything about the route is entirely beyond the norm for the British Isles, comparing more to an Alpine Route. Read more about the history of mountaineering on Skye.

On this course full skills training is provided prior to the two day expedition, which involves a bivouac half way at our pre stocked site. This facility enables clients to travel light, with increased levels of enjoyment and higher odds of success. The course is run on a 1:2 ratio all week with MIA/BMG Qualified Instructors/Guides.

Excellent fitness and scrambling skills are necessary to achieve the full traverse. You need to be prepared for 10-12 hours and 5000 feet of ascent each day, with lots of scrambling and some V Diff rock. If poor weather prevents a full traverse, we will climb principal peaks and major sections of the ridge during the week.

Sample Programe
We allow 5 days to give the greatest chance of success on one of the toughest mountaineering routes in the UK. The first day is usually spent on the ridge getting tuned into your surroundings and having a general shake down day.
We then aim to spend a day heading onto the ridge to stock the bivvy site. We leave food, sleeping bags and mats on the ridge to save carrying it and to increase the chance of a succesful traverse.
The ridge traverse itself is done over 2 days with an overnight bivvy. You can expect to be scrambling for 12-16 hours each day.
The final day is spent collecting the bivvy stash and recovering from the previous nights celebrations!

Dates
We have found through personal experience that May, June and September are the best months to visit Skye as the midges tend not to be out and the days tend to be drier than the summer months. This course is only run for people booking as a pair or group of 4 and you must be known to us as per the previous experience set out below.


Previous Experience
This is the hardest and longest mountaineering expedition in the UK. You need to have the following experience to join this course:

Have experience of seconding Severe Climbs and abseiling. This can be done on our intro to climbing course. 

You must have previously attended our advanced scrambling course or our 5 day Skye Scrambling course. 

What about accommodation?
We do not include accommodation with this course. We often rent a cottage and all chip in together. Alternatively we recommend the Sligachan Hotel which has comfortable bunkhouse accommodation with open fire and self catering accommodation for £10 per night or Bed and Breakfast in the Hotel itself. The hotel is famous for its range of over 65 malt whiskies! More details can be found at www.sligachan.co.uk or you can call them on 01478 650204.