Cuillin Ridge 2009; TD Gap to Inaccessible Pinnacle

These photos were taken during our final attempt on the ridge, when we were the most successful. In this shot, I am soloing An Stac before moving on to the In Pin. What appears at first sight to be a rope, is in fact a sling hanging from Jim’s harness as he bends to take the photo.

Here I am on An Stac again, – you can see the exposure and how chossy the rock is, meaning that you have to watch where you put your hands and feet, not only to stay on yourself, but to ensure that you don’t kick stuff off onto other people, From here a rock could potentially travel right down into a corrie, – a long way.

Soloing the Inaccessible Pinnacle

This shot, shows me soloing the Inaccessible Pinnacle, you can see a little stone bivvi ring that climbers and ridge-traversers have made, way down below me. This is very similar to the one we have just rested in the night before, although we made sure ours was up on the ridge, not below a great pile of friable rock.

Cuillin Ridge, Skye, Inaccessible Pinnacle

Soloing the Inaccessible Pinnacle

Cuillin Ridge, Skye, Inaccessible Pinnacle

Here I am abseiling from the top of the Inaccessible Pinnacle and hoping that the rope that did not reach the ground when it was thrown down, will stretch enough to allow me to land safely. (weight-saving)

Cuillin Ridge, Skye, Inaccessible Pinnacle

Once I get to the bottom I can take photos of Jim abseiling from the top

Cuillin Ridge, Skye, Inaccessible Pinnacle

The rest of the Ridge stretching out in front of us, – we are about a third of the way along it