Yesterday Ivor, Nettle and I headed to Glen Creran on a hunch by Nettle that the rarely visited granite slabs would provide an entertaining way to the summit. We approached via the South-West ridge of Beinn Sgulaird to give us a look at the slabs before stashing sacks at the bealach and dropping down to the main slabs.
The slabs had patches of damp and some seepage, but the granite was rough and clean enough to allow us to climb the very good and varied VS of Tokalosh, which is worth a couple of stars. This was even the case when it started to rain on the upper pitches and Nettle made a particularly good lead of the top pitch in increasingly wet conditions. The route is low in the technical grade, but requires a bold approach on some sections. The pitch lengths in the guidebook are a little bit out. This allowed us to link pitches two and three for speed. It’s also worth noting that it’s possible to push on beyond the final belay as described to a good block belay, which avoids climbing unroped on the steep grass exiting the slabs. We then headed up to the summit of the hill before returning via the South-West ridge.
An excellent day on a remote crag with very pleasant climbing.
