Sgurr a Mhadaidh & Sgurr a Ghreadaidh
THE CUILLIN AND MINGINISH
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1. Park at Glen Brittle Youth Hostel; there is space on the left hand verge of the road both before and after the bridge. The walk starts on the excellent constructed path up the south side of the stream. The initial section passes a whole series of waterfalls as the stream tumbles down a small gorge. At several points paths head off to the right, but instead keep on the main path beside the stream. After two kilometres the well-constructed section of path ends and the route becomes more eroded. A short distance beyond, it crosses the stream either just below or just above an impressive waterslide – it doesn't matter which.
2. Continue up the far bank of the stream on a wide eroded slope. Coire a Ghreadaidh looks spectacular from here, with a great gorge issuing out from the upper corrie. The only routes up onto the ridge from Coire a Ghreadaidh are rock-climbs; our route follows the path beside a branch stream heading to the left, leading towards the higher corrie to the left of Coire a Ghreadaidh, Coire An Dorus. After a steep climb beside the stream, continue up the left bank until reaching the floor of Coire An Dorus.
3. There's a great view of Sgurr a Mhadaidh and Sgurr a Ghreadaidh ahead, with a steep chute leading up to An Dorus ('The Door'), the lowest point on the ridge between the two peaks. Pass through a dry gorge to find the start of a path which zig-zags up the steep scree towards An Dorus. Do not head for the higher, even narrower col on the ridge further right, which is the Eag Dubh ('Black Cleft').
4. The gully narrows part way up, and then narrows again dramatically just a short distance from the top. From here to the top of An Dorus the floor of the gully is made of slabby rocks and involves some scrambling. From the top, the route to Sgurr a Mhadaidh is very steep and awkward initially, but the scrambling soon becomes easier. This steep and awkward section can be avoided if needed by leaving the An Dorus gully a little lower down, just below the final narrowing. From here, a faint path slants easily upwards to the left (a full ninety degrees left from the line of the gully). The path continues in the same direction for a hundred and fifty metres, until it rounds a corner and the ridge leading from Sgurr Thuilm up to Sgurr a Mhadaidh comes into view across a wide bowl. From here, scramble very easily up to the right to reach a wide and easy scree slope. A cairn visible way over to the right is at the top of the hard section from An Dorus; you don't need to head right across to it, as the route from there continues up the scree on the left of the ridge until it is possible to scramble upwards to the crest of the ridge quite easily. The route onwards to the summit now keeps fairly close to the ridge crest, keeping to the left side to avoid any real difficulties.
5. The tiny cairn at the summit of Sgurr a Mhadaidh (Peak of the Fox, 918m) is soon reached. This is the only one of the four summits of this mountain to attain Munro status - a good thing for walking Munro-baggers as continuing to the other tops involves Difficult rock-climbing. The view is superb, from Sgurr Thuilm far below, taking in Sgurr nan Gillean at the north end of the ridge, and the great gulf of Loch Coruisk far below to the huddle of sharp serrated peaks around Sgurr Alasdair and the Inn Pinn. Most walkers attention will be fixed on the ridge up to Sgurr a Ghreadaidh, which looks intimidating from here. Return back down to the An Dorus gully, either directly to its head or using the variant already described (the variant could be harder to find in descent).
6. To climb Sgurr a Ghreadaidh, the wall on the south side of the An Dorus gap is usually climbed - a steep, stiff scramble - bear in mind that you will also need to be able to descend this way. A rope may be required, particularly if the rock is wet (an alternative route is described below). Above this section, the scrambling is more straightforward - and much easier than it appeared from Sgurr a Mhadaidh. The impressive gash of the Eag Dubh is passed fairly easily by descending slightly to the left. The next obstacle is a great boss of rock known as the Wart, but this can be avoided to the right on slabby rocks. Beyond, the summit is soon reached. If the climb out of An Dorus is wet, there is an alternative but somewhat complex and hard to find route that omits the hardest scrambling but has a lot of loose rock requiring great care. To find this, descend An Dorus gully until the foot of the rock wall on the left. Turn left here and climb steep scree towards the foot of the narrow, rocky Eag Dubh gully. From here, trend right a little and ascend again on scree to join a rake of boulders and scree which heads diagonally right across the cliffs. The rake (which is above the level of the main scree slope) looks like it runs out from below, but on ascent it is fairly wide. At the top of the rake is a cairn; from here, turn left up a loose, steep scree gully (take care). Once out of this, you can continue up the loose slope, zigzagging left and right to find the easiest ground, before emerging on the summit ridge of Sgurr a Ghreadaidh beside the Wart. Take care to remember the route for the descent, as it would be very difficult to find without prior knowledge.
7. Sgurr a Ghreadaidh (973m) is the highest peak on the northern half of the Cuillin Ridge. From most directions its twin summits have a gentle dome outline - an illusion that is shattered on reaching the north (Munro) peak. The section of ridge which continues to the slightly lower south peak is perhaps the narrowest arete in the whole of the British Isles, and sensationally exposed. The normal return route is back down the ridge to An Dorus, and then down to the path up the corries below. If the alternative route has been climbed to avoid the steep rocks above An Dorus, then this route can be retraced with care. The grade and times given assume that one of these options is taken.
8. Extremely keen and experienced scramblers (only) can continue traversing the ridge. Taking this route is very committing, as there are no practical descent routes until Sgurr na Banachdich is reached, a whole kilometre of sustained scrambling further on. There is nothing more difficult than the climb out of An Dorus, but there is a lot of exposure. This route starts by making the airy traverse to Sgurr a Ghreadaidh's south summit - the easiest way is to keep slightly to the right of the true ridge line, but whatever route is taken has great exposure. Beyond, the scrambling continues down to a dip in the ridge, before ascending again towards a group of pinnacles known as the Three Teeth - these can be easily avoided to the right. The next peak, Sgurr Thormaid (Norman's Peak, named after Norman Collie, one of the great pioneers of climbing in the Cuillin) looks intimidating. Its ascent is directly up the edge of the slab. Scramble down from the top into Sgurr Thormaid, passing right of some small pinnacles, before the final ascent up to Sgurr na Banachdich. Use either of the descent routes described on the Sgurr na Banachdich walk.
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