On Saturday I travelled up to Skye and stopped off in Glen Shiel to head up Saileag and Sgurr a’Bhealaich Dheirg. The ridges in the area are generally snow free apart from some remaining cornices lips and a few patches. South and West facing coires are mostly snow free whilst North and East facing coires still have considerable areas of old snow above about 850m.
On Sunday I met up with Jonathan and we climbed Sgurr a’Ghreadaidh and Sgurr a’Mhadaidh. We gained the ridge of Ghreadaidh via Eag Dubh, which gave a fairly straightforward climb on old snow with the exception of a broken section near the top; this section pushed the winter grade up to around III on the day. We descended via An Dorus, which still has a significant section of snow and an ice axe will be useful here for some time.
On Monday we climbed Sgurr Alasdair via the Great Stone Shoot in fairly Dreich conditions. We were hoping for snow to make this ascent more pleasant, however there are only patches left and axe/crampons aren’t required. A good couple of days despite the lack of views and wet rock on the ridge.
